Though it was very nice having our own cabin last night Rosie and I both agreed, with hindsight, that it was only good if you knew who was going to be in the other bed. The partitions between rooms were thin and it was soon clear that a patient soul in the adjacent cabin had been landed with a Very Annoying Man. Annoying Man has been to Santiago and is now walking back again, so at least we won’t meet him again ;-). The unsolicited and patronising advice handed out to Patient Man, who’d been walking himself for three weeks, would have led Rosie or me to swing for him, so perhaps he had a lucky escape!

Our Albergue in Ruitelan is small and friendly and we opt to eat dinner here as the comments in the visitors’ book are very positive and we don’t fancy walking back the way we’ve just come to the only other venue in the village. This turns out to be an excellent choice – for seven Euros we are fed delicious homemade carrot soup, salad, pasta carbonara and Spanish rice pudding, together with unlimited quantities of the local red wine. Amazing. Albergue Pequeno Potala will get rave reviews from us. Not sure we’ll have room for their breakfast tomorrow! We both appreciate the fact that there is a 6 am curfew, before which no noise is allowed. At some hostels people have been on the move at 5.30 am, which seems daft as it is still quite dark.