LEJOG day 48: Peebles to Carlops
Ah, another supremely forgettable day. I'm writing this a good four hours after arriving because I'm bored by the very idea. It's all my own fault- I was so worried about non-existent footpaths when I planned the routes in Scotland that today was virtually all road-walking and you really don't see as much that way.
I had a day off in Peebles! Things happened which I cannot share here but if you speak to me in person I may share the story. I don't want to say too much, but honestly it's a tragicomic farce with an unbelievable heroine (me, naturally, I'm telling the story), a post-modernist take on plot and an ending that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. The Guardian would give it five stars. Heck, they'd give it six if they could.
Other than that, I spent a lot of time in Costa, had a bewildering experience in the local museum/art gallery, which included a museum of museums (so meta) and hid from the local the-English-are-not-welcome-here display of horsemanship festival. I also had a decent curry and bewildered the waiter when he tried to make polite small talk and discovered I was insane.
Happily, yesterday's rest day also coincided with World Naked Hiking Day, saving me both from any pressure to participate and any risk of running into anyone participating. Thanks go to Anna for making me aware such an event even existed because I would have been blissfully ignorant if left to my own devices.
OK, that's far too much procrastinating. I left Peebles on the Cross Borders Drove Road or whatever it's called, a long distance trail claiming to follow the route along which animals were driven to market. It's 52 miles long and runs between Edinburgh and Hawick and I really struggle to believe anyone ever had to go that far to sell sheep, but it semi-guarantees the paths are walkable and ran in vaguely a sensible direction so I followed it for a bit until it hit a road. We all know I like roads, so I walked along that for a bit, got to what seemed like a very nice hotel, got a bit lost and walked past what seemed like a very nice B&B, went back to the hotel and made my way onto...the old road between two places you've never heard of, where I got back onto current roads again, which led to forest tracks (although the forest was gone, presumably to become furniture and be re-planted), what seemed to be someone's driveway, a nice café/community centre, an A-road and then some more quiet country roads all the way to Carlops.
I told you it was boring.
Distance walked: 16.58 miles
Time taken: 5h09
Percentage completed: 67%
Miles per £1 of boot: 5.53
Days since I was last rained on: 8
Lunch: egg and cress and Quavers
Last night's B&B: Whitestone House, Peebles: if I ever need somewhere to stay in Peebles again, I can guarantee you it will not be here
Fencing frog taxidermy: Victorian museums weren't intended to educate, but to "ennoble"
This is not alphabetical order and I an upset
This is not what an otter usually looks like
Even the kids go out to inspect the Borders for English Invaders
"Stinky: a portrait in an abandoned playground"
I think I walk over these tomorrow
I had a day off in Peebles! Things happened which I cannot share here but if you speak to me in person I may share the story. I don't want to say too much, but honestly it's a tragicomic farce with an unbelievable heroine (me, naturally, I'm telling the story), a post-modernist take on plot and an ending that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. The Guardian would give it five stars. Heck, they'd give it six if they could.
Other than that, I spent a lot of time in Costa, had a bewildering experience in the local museum/art gallery, which included a museum of museums (so meta) and hid from the local the-English-are-not-welcome-here display of horsemanship festival. I also had a decent curry and bewildered the waiter when he tried to make polite small talk and discovered I was insane.
Happily, yesterday's rest day also coincided with World Naked Hiking Day, saving me both from any pressure to participate and any risk of running into anyone participating. Thanks go to Anna for making me aware such an event even existed because I would have been blissfully ignorant if left to my own devices.
OK, that's far too much procrastinating. I left Peebles on the Cross Borders Drove Road or whatever it's called, a long distance trail claiming to follow the route along which animals were driven to market. It's 52 miles long and runs between Edinburgh and Hawick and I really struggle to believe anyone ever had to go that far to sell sheep, but it semi-guarantees the paths are walkable and ran in vaguely a sensible direction so I followed it for a bit until it hit a road. We all know I like roads, so I walked along that for a bit, got to what seemed like a very nice hotel, got a bit lost and walked past what seemed like a very nice B&B, went back to the hotel and made my way onto...the old road between two places you've never heard of, where I got back onto current roads again, which led to forest tracks (although the forest was gone, presumably to become furniture and be re-planted), what seemed to be someone's driveway, a nice café/community centre, an A-road and then some more quiet country roads all the way to Carlops.
I told you it was boring.
Distance walked: 16.58 miles
Time taken: 5h09
Percentage completed: 67%
Miles per £1 of boot: 5.53
Days since I was last rained on: 8
Lunch: egg and cress and Quavers
Last night's B&B: Whitestone House, Peebles: if I ever need somewhere to stay in Peebles again, I can guarantee you it will not be here
Oh Louise, what the hell happend in Peebles?????Are you okay???
ReplyDeleteArne and Maren - worried...
It was ok! I am fine! Just a bit dramatic and not the best B&B ever :)
Delete