The rain in Spain, and snorers in our bunkroom...12km

I wrote my last post in an afternoon, missing out our fun evening. Tiny hamlet, Villamayor de Monjardin, home to 150 people, dates back to the 9th Century. It is stunningly picturesque. A cluster of stone houses round a steep square. A castle (now hotel) previously owned by a Navarre king, and a castle on the top of a hill.

It also has a bar which is open for a few hours before sista, then in the evening for dinner. Matt overindulged on Rum and Coke, then he walked up to the ruins. When he finally came back dinner was being unceremoniously served.

After choosing what we wanted off the list our food arrived "pronto" and we had eaten all 3 courses within about 3/4hr. At our next table were a couple of Australian guys we have bumped into several times. They announced that one was going home as tendonitis had rendered walking impossible for him.

That night our bunkroom was a nightmare. Matt got up and down 3 times, each time the sensor light came on and the door squeaked. Then he woke me for the key to my locker so he could take some panadeine. Then the man across the way snored like a train. It was very hot but we didn't want to open the window as it was raining. All in all not much sleep.

One lot of bunkmates got up and left at 6am.

When we got going at 8am it was cold and blowing. Walking was easy though, downhill and a wide, even path. It was pretty country, with rolling hills, vineyards, wheatfields and canola in flower. By 10am it was raining hard. We pushed on, in torrential downpours and even rolling thunder, to Los Arcos. Many of the house fronts in this photo are just facades, to preserve the look of the town.

By this time Matt was grumpy and hungry,

and we managed to find a cafe with hot food. Paella! What a nice change from ham and cheese sandwiches.

We settled in and dried our stuff on the radiator in our room. Then went to a cafe down the road for dinner...pork pie turned out to be pigs trotter much to Matt's disgust.

We are in a Pension for 2 nights, a rest day tomorrow! Yeehah!

(Photos for this stage added later when Matt wakes up)