Andalucia Day 6 L'Ametlla to Alatoz

During the night it rains. This was not forecast and therefore we lie in the tent listening to the rain soaking the tent, the tarpaulin around and beneath the tent, the table, chairs and washing I'd hung up to dry and everything else and wish we'd put some of it in the car. Day dawns late and soggy and we dry off things as best we can, feeling soggy ourselves.

The journey goes well, there's some traffic around and after Valencia but for a long stretch before that the motorway is mostly empty.

Our destination is Alatoz, a small village of just over 500 inhabitants in the province of Albacete. Unremarkable in itself, Alatoz is handy for visiting Alcalá del Júcar, one of the pueblos más bonitos de España, a white village crouched around the rocks below a castle in the canyon formed by the Júcar river.

The 20 minute drive from Alatoz is nearly as nice as Alcalá itself, through a high and wide plain (Alatoz is at 800 metres) bordered by mountains, the land is pale apricot coloured, stony and bare, sprinkled with olive trees and almonds and pistachios.We drive a little way down a lane between fields and spread out the tent to dry in the breezy sunshine.

Alcalá is practically deserted at 5pm and we wander up and down its narrow streets finally reaching the castle at the top. The river area is normally pretty too, with a Roman bridge, but the river now is brownish red and must have overflown its banks with the rain of the previous night leaving mud on the beach and picnic areas.

Back in Alatoz we are hosted, through Airbnb, by Manuel who looks after his 93- year-old father while renting out rooms in his peaceful and welcoming house to pay for renovation. We've stayed many different places with Airbnb but this is definitely the nicest from a people point of view. Manuel is friendly and hospitable, we manage to chat for a while thanks to my limited Spanish and Manuel's unlimited patience. We feel really at home here and this evening the sound of rain and another storm approaching fails to perturb us.

Kilometres by car 340

Kilometres on foot 5