Top Travel Memories: The Gap of Dunloe

September 2010

Halfway through our big Ireland adventure, we found ourselves in Killarney, Ireland. We stayed at the most incredible little B&B there, which was the perfect landing place after the crazy day we had when we hiked the Gap of Dunloe.

The Gap of Dunloe. Incredible. Beautiful. Amazing. Powerful.

Of course, our guidebook mentioned taking these little "jaunting cars" on the road and said you were not allowed to drive. For the hefty $40 price for the jaunting cars (little horse-drawn carriages), we decided we could just as well get some exercise and walk. It was only 3 miles, afterall, and we were in fairly good physical shape.

I'll start out by saying that if you are NOT in good physical shape, spend the $40. Hands-down. Do it. It's not a difficult walk, but add in the rain, and it's not the most enjoyable when you're already physically strained.

Even in good physical shape, this was one of those experiences where we seriously questioned what the heck we were doing after a mile in. But we could see "the gap", so we figured it couldn't be THAT far away, right?

Wrong.

After the first 2 miles, a light mist started falling, and by the time we reached the Gap, it was coming down pretty steadily. Our clothes were mostly soaked through before we even started walking back. It was so windy that even with an umbrella, it wouldn't have made a difference. We did have on good rain jackets, but our jeans were drenched, and it wasn't much fun walking 3 miles back in drenched jeans.

But would you like to know why this was one of the most memorable experiences we have had in our entire lives? Because of this:

But really? Mostly because of this:

It was the most incredible scenery, and the sheer exhaustion of it - walking 4 miles in the rain, drenched, soaked from the waist down and cold - made for one of the most incredible memories ever. We ended up having to strip down once we got to the car (thankfully our shirts weren't soaked through our jackets) for the drive back to Crystal Springs B&B. That shower was one I will remember for the rest of my life lol It felt SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!

Adding to the excellent day was our incredible evening at Danny Mann Pub where we enjoyed dinner and some fun entertainment for a few hours before crashing. Hard.