Torres del Rio to Logrono 21km

We set off today for Logorno which will be our last big town for a while.
A very steep start to the day with alot of ups and downs and ... well you get the point.
At this point, Isabel is now seriously considering a campaign for bridges.
The walk to Viana is quite pretty, we even find a stone hut to explore, that is until we discover the BIGGEST beetles/cockroaches ever. Disgusting.

We pass through Viana and onwards to Logrono. This part of the day; not so nice. Our first impressions of Logrono are some horrid smelly factories, motorways and a VERY circuitous route into the city. With no shade we cant wait to finally arrive.

A lady at a street side stall stamps our passports and only halfway through the whole thing we realise we are being filmed! The queue for the hostel is a long one but patient girls that we are we finally get a bed 2 hours later. We end the day with some exploration of the city a yummy pasta dinner cooked in the hostel kitchen, and the satisfaction of knowing that we are now under the 600km mark.

Villamayor de Monjardin to Torres del Rio 21km

After a nice breakfast in the hostel (never had before!), we headed off at 6am in the direction of Torres del Rio. After the previous day being quite strenuous we were pleased to find for the first time ever that the path seemed to find its way around the mountains, rather than sending us up and down!

The tracks were good, and weather nice, so we headed on to the town of Los Arcos as a good pace.
For the first time we were in overtaking mode, with some people even commenting that we were getting speedy!

Arrived in Los Arcos and found a little ´panaderia´ in an old ladys house where we bought some fresh bread to put in the rucksacks for breakfasts and lunches.

Heading on again we found our way across to Torres del Rio via a small town called Los Arcos.

Arrived at a hostel before 12pm and literally did nothing but rest our legs for the rest of the day.

Cooked some dinner at about 4pm and were tucked up and asleep in bed by 8pm!

Cirauqui to Villamayor de Monjardin 25km

We awoke in Cirauqui to a misty morning, setting off in the dark we presumed it was drizzle that was about to clear.. hoping for not too hot a day we had a little shock at what was in store for us..

As we travelled down an old roman road the rain started, getting heavier and heavier, torrential in a way we had never experienced before. With uneven rocky paths, decending steeply, slushy mud pouring down them it was a task and a half to get down in one piece. We continued on through flooded paths until we found an under road tunnel where we had a moments respite.. and a small picnic of stale bread and bruised pears!

We continued for 14km over very steep and hilly tracks, to the town of Estella. Entering it by the river we stopped for a lunch break before heading on to Villamayor. Weather had eased at this point but was still very overcast and grey. Clothes had dried out a bit and we were ready for a little more pain before bed!

After climbing a 2km hill out of Estella we found what can only be described as the BEST FOUNTAIN EVER! Located beside the Monastery of Irache is the ´Fuente Del Vino´. When we are used to filling our bottles with water from fountains, and drinking about 2 litres a day, we could only think we were hallucinating when we found a fountain that poured nothing other than delicious wine!!

After our little boost we continued on, the path sending us up and down many more hills, Isabel constantly pondering why bridges were not built! We arrived into Villamayor to a huge welcome in a voluntary hostel from a lovely guy called David. They were really hospitable and kind, even though we were about 60 people lined up in a converted cow shed to sleep!

We met some nice Australian guys tonight, so had dinner with them and went and visited the ´sights´ of this little hilltop town.