We’ve stopped 3km out of Larrasoana. The coffee is good, a cockerel is crowing, the jambon sandwich is excellent and the murmuring river is only a few feet away. All very idyllic – in complete contrast to last night’s shenanigans which mum will now tell you about.

Pilgrims, you’d imagine caring people, looking out for each other, treading carefully. There’s a welsh saying”angel penffordd, diafol pen tân” simply it means angel on the highway and devil on the hearth( at home). Last night was an example of this, they barged around after lights out, talking, coughing, walking to the toilets , flip flop, flip flop. Slamming doors, using phones as torches and shining them in other people’s faces. Dad was able to fall asleep and was totally oblivious of all this, but I lay awake, totally irritated by their selfishness. So , now I’m exhausted. Enjoying my morning coffee, today is a new day, hoping for a private hotel tonight.

Plenty of other pilgrims joining us for coffee now. I’d thought that we were (deliberately) the slowest today but it seems not. After the first 54km or so the joint of my big toe, damaged by half a dozen episodes of gout is now playing up again. Definitely should have brought the ibuprofen cream.

Buen Camino