We have reached Larkhall. Notable only because, when we told the hotel barman in Glasgow yesterday that we were walking to Larkhall today, he nearly dropped my Highland Rebel cocktail. That would have been a great shame as the miso washed whisky based drink was divine. However, the barman came from Larkhall and advised that we should definitely not wear anything clean as we walked into Larkhall for fear of looking like we were worth mugging. This was also a shame as we had walked into Glasgow after 10 days on the road with no clean clothes left and were beyond excited that, post-laundrette, we now have nothing but clean clothes.

We needn’t have worried though, as every street from the centre of Glasgow, where the likelihood of being involved in a criminal incident as a resident is 50%, to Larkhall, has looked identical.

There are only 5 types of shops on high streets between Glasgow and here:

• Nail bars/beauty salons
• Barbers
• Convenience food stores
• Take-away food places
• Betting shops

Or as Mark would describe them:

• Places selling sex and/or slave workers
• Places laundering money from selling sex and/or slave workers
• Somewhere to buy snacks
• Somewhere to buy large snacks
• Somewhere to spend laundered money

I did read an article a while back on how the government is trying to address the number of small town high streets that can apparently support approximately 500 “cash only” barbers and nail bars and yet not one single post office or pub, but that effort has clearly not reached this far north.

There was one brief highlight though, apparently David Livingstone was born halfway between Glasgow and here, which clearly impacted him to the extent that he spent exactly half his life in Africa.

He famously died while looking for the source of the Nile: something as illusive as the holy trinity.

Yet, we are blessed on that score as the glove showed us the way, even when the path was tiny and therefore had a little bit of peril:

The Radstone Hotel, Larkhall recognises that shampoo, shower gel and conditioner are separate parts to the spiritual whole that is a shower. Sea Kelp be praised.

Distance – 28km, just a short one today before we hit the opal restaurant for dinner