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21.07.2009
Already on our second day, the Irish weather proved to be as bad as rumours say. It had begun raining during the night so that we had to pack our tent wet and stuffed our clothes really fast into the bags. We put on raingear and were on our way. Going out of Killarney we turned left onto the Ring of Kerry, headed for Glenbeigh - a pitturesque small town in the north of Kerry.
The Ring of Kerry itself is both a very beautiful but also a heavily frequented road in the southwest of Ireland. It is promoted all over the world by the Irish Tourist Board and therefore is well-known in many countries. This results in floods of tourists coming to visit the towns along the Ring of Kerry by coach, by car, by bike, by motorbike or even on foot. It still is nice though and not to be compared with crowded streets in other countries.
We started our tour in Killarney and passed Lough Leane. Unfortunately it was raining hard so we could not see very far and missed some nice views of the lake. We quickly realized that the wetness of our clothes was not only coming from the sky but also from passing cars and buses. Thus, we pedaled a little faster and treated ourselves to a break in a pub just outside Killorglin at 11:30 am.
To our relief we found hot soup and scones on the menu of the pub and added our first cup of Irish tea - delicious. But the next surprise was already waiting; when our clothes were just not dripping any more we found out that our shoes were not as waterproof as promised. And Thomas' Goretex-jacket also behaved like an old sieve.... hence we decided on a stop at the next shoe shop and dreamt of a warm shower in Glenbeigh.
Quickly and motivated we were on our way again. It led us past a couple of small houses, through woods and along streams that had turned into waterfalls. The route is very pretty on a narrow winding road that rises to Killorglin. There we spent some minutes looking for a shoe shop. And indeed, we were lucky. Thomas bought new boots and I got at least a pair of dry socks. Well-equipped we walked to the chemist since we found this to be the only shop where you can buy methylated spirits for the camping stove.
Shortly after Killorglin the sea sent its forebodings - the air smelled differently and every now and then you could catch a glimpse of some big water far away on your right: Dingle Bay. The last few kilometres before Glenbeigh were quite hilly and presented an idea of what lay ahead of us in the Kerry mountains. We arrived on the first campground of Glenbeigh and were quite happy to get off the bikes. We put up the tent, had a long shower and moved to the pub next door.
In Ireland, every day can have a nice relaxing end when you drink your Guinness, cider or whiskey and listen to the rough Irish accent or even to the Irish Gaelic language which is absolutely impossible to understand for foreigners only capable of English.
As the weather of our third day had not changed since the second, we decided to leave our bags and tent behind and just do a day tour. In the surroundings of Glenbeigh we found the bog museum, situated on the Ring of Kerry just east of Glenbeigh. This open-air museum shows you restaurated houses of a small Irish village of the 1900s. The village consists of approx. 10 houses which you can visit on your own.
You can find old machinery everywhere: ploughs, millstones, harrows, butter barrels, etc. We felt taken back in time when we visited the old forge with its huge bellows. Most of our questions were answered on a multilingual brochure that was included in the entrance fee. It told the tale of the inhabitants and their houses.
After the bog museum we went off the Ring of Kerry and pedaled to Lough Caragh. We found some fishermen and imagined a couple of nice spots to sit in the sun. But it was still raining and therefore we continued on our way through herds of cows and flocks of sheep - all standing in the center of the street and staring at us as if we were aliens. Probably they are more used to motorists and hikers than to cyclists. Back in Glenbeigh we walked a "tour of the town" which took approx. 15 minutes including shopping for postcards, dinner and Hershey's chocolates (my favorites!).
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