We leave a bit later than usual at 7:30 but not late enough for any bars or shops to be open though and so we’re walking on empty tanks.

After exiting via the staircase alongside the waterfall, we find ourselves at the very edge of town and directly onto a compact gravel track alongside allotments. 

The forecast today is for blanket rain from 09:00 which is the reason we have chosen to do a short stage today into a good size town, where hopefully I can catch up on my blogging.  We’ve been very lucky so far not to have been caught up in any storms – there have been a couple but during the evening or night.

It’s a very pleasant walk alongside the Rio Cifuentes. 

The track is briefly interrupted by a short spell on the road and then we are once again walking with river to our right and a field of young pea sprouts growing on the left, which I admit to plucking a couple.

Although the rain has not yet made an appearance it’s extremely humid and I have a bit of a glow going on. 

At 6 km we pass through the village of Gargoles de Abajo where we are told there are no facilities, but Paul manages to find a bar open, whilst Nina and I have already passed through without stopping. We’re immediately on another pleasant track and we assume Paul will catch us up in due course. 

Before we reach the next village, Gargoles de Arriba, at around 8 km the rain has started, very light and intermittent. 

We pass an area with a row of cave houses.

After the second village, there’s a short spell on the road which can be avoided by crossing behind the bus stop onto a track that leads directly to the camino trail. Then there is a reasonably steep ascent to a little chapel.  

I stop here to phone Paul as I would have expected him to catch us up by now. He describes where he is but it definitely isn’t where he should be.  I suggest maybe he takes the road to our destination and we see him there. 

The track is wide, driveable, easy and comfortable and it rises up in various degrees of incline. We reach a flat area where there are buildings unexpectedly.  And then I realise that this is the weirdly deserted housing estate on the edge of Cifuentes. 

The rain came down in some style just as we arrived at Cifuentes and even more so as we sat in the cafe – I enjoyed what might have been the best bacon butty of my life. But that may well have something to do with walking 13.5 km on an empty stomach 😉

We hear many rumbles of thunder and Paul tells us that there was also plenty of lightening that he walked through before he finally walked into the café looking like a well-drowned rat – soaked to the skin. 

The pilgrim accommodation here is in a sports complex far from the town centre. Again, the prospect of sleeping on a mat (if we’re lucky) is not appealing, so we opted for the Hostal San Roque where the señora gave us a minimal peregrino discount and we paid €27 per person. 

Cifuentes is a lively town with two huge churches a few meters apart. We find somewhere to shop and then somewhere to drink wine. 

The weather looks appalling tomorrow also. I don’t think the Ruta de la Lana is very fond of Nina and me.