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I walked the Camino de Santiago in 1998 beginning in June from St Jean
Pied du Port and arriving 29 days and 800 kilometres later in historic
Santiago de Compostela on the 23rd July in time for the famous festivities
of the 24 and 25th ...Santiago`s birthday.
It was a deeply special experience for me. I had been ill for some months
before making this incredible journey but my recovery was swift once I hit
the open road, under blue skies with wonderful people on this historic
journey.
These notes are a mix of practical and personal which hopefully may be of
interest to anyone thinking about walking some or all of Europe`s most
famous Pilgrim route.There are many guide books to the route.
I took only one as I wanted to travel light ..a small lightweight
paperback from the Confraternity of St James in London called the Camino
Frances. For route maps I shared with new friends who had a copy of the
excellent Millan Bravo Lozano's A Practical Guide for Pilgrims. Sharing is
the essence of the Camino.
The Confraternity guide advises on when to go, what to take, how to get
there,detailed route information and is especially good on where to stay
listing the Hostals or Refugios, where to eat, guide to churches and
architecture of the route. The London office is run by volunteers and they
have many other excellent guides including specialist topics such as
medieval music or guides to herbal plants to be found along the way.
We found that travelling in June-July the best strategy was to get up
early leaving by 6.0 ish depending on the distance youv'e planned for that
day, so that you can reach where you are going by 1 or 2 at latest before
the vicious heat hits the meseta by mid afternoon.
This kind of timing also gives you the chance to get some food to self
cater before shops close(when you are sleeping in villages or towns).
Other times we ate in restaurants with their very reasonably priced
pilgrim menus.
Its delightful then to walk into a cool hostal and take a siesta on cool
sheets before evening time.
As the Confraternity guide says beware a bit of a scrum trying to get a
bed in the later stages of the route as summer school groups hit the trail
and fill hostals early. Also most old hands warn against doing it in Holy
Years(Ano Xacobeo) when its far too crowded to enjoy its peace.
There is no need to walk everyday..I spent 2 full days without walking
which unless you are super fit is advisable or more depending on how much
time you have and what other things you want to do and see along the
route. With the friends I walked with we did 29 kms a day on average-most
of the route is paths with only about 10% on roads-beware the very
dangerous approach stretch to Belorado where 5 cyclists were run down by a
lorry
in 98 although the authorities may have installed a path through the
fields by now.
As far as getting ready before the journey..I had no experience of super
long distance walking and only had 3 weeks to do some preparation during
which I had to move house. The main point is that your fitness improves as
you walk so there is no need to feel pressure to get super fit before.
However some training is useful. I did some walking almost every day for 2
weeks before hand adding rucksack, and some extra load plus increasing
distance as far as was practical. Well walked-in boots are vital and
double socks the inner a thin specialist wicking sock for extra comfort
washed daily.
Water is critical. Fountains and supplies are generally very good but
certainly in the early stages from St Jean Pied du Port I was carrying a
litre bottle for the mountains and afterwards always had an emergency
quarter litre bottle buried deep in the rucksack. 3 litres a day is
advised which is a lot but drink as much as possible. If you are really
bored with water and a little crazy theres a wonderful free wine fountain
along the route too.
Sun protection for summer is a must. A 4 inch brim hat is ideal for neck
protection, good sunglasses, sun cream, something cool but long sleeved to
protect arms ...and as the day hots up/ becomes brighter you can add
protection and feel very safe. We had about 2 days with some rain during
the journey on one of which we got soaked but it wasn`t really cold
rain.Adjustable trekking poles are incredibly useful (available from good
outdoor/mountaineering shops).
I took two. They protect your knees taking about 60% of the load off them,
and for descending they give stability on steep paths and up hill
they will give you a lot of help especially when tired. But they do tend
to mark the palms of your hands.
Space prevents me going into details about the route which is so well
covered by the Confraternity guide(there are Confraternity Associations in
most countries including Australia- contact London Confraternity for
details) But some of the highlights along the route apart from
wonderful friends and endless Spanish hospitality were walled Pamplona
with its fire jumping and bull running and vast landscapes beyond; San
Juan de la Ortega the monastery and it`s friendly priest with gallons of
his famous garlic soup; Burgos and its fabulous cathedral and some chic
shops; Astorga especially Gaudi`s Palace with its mountains of incredible
stained glass; many tiny churches and convents, the tiny mountain village
of El Acebo(holly); sunset at Villafranca with storks circling on evening
thermals over distant hills; the mountains stretches of Montes del
Ocas...the stretches down towards Molinaseca with its myrtle shrub scented
hillsides and a cool refreshing river to swim in; paths strewn with wild
flowers and the air so often filled with birds; and of course Santiago de
Compostela which is so special.
We met those treating it like a race, ticking off sights, rushing on from
day to day seldom stopping as the moment took them to sample a shady
refuge in the middle of no where to share a coffee or special impromtu
lunch, a dip in a cool pool out of the summer heat.
As a priest at the famous St Juan de Ortega Monastery told us 'Lo que
obtienes del Camino depende de su motivacion'. What you get out of the
Camino depends on your motivation. So true for everything in our life.
Good
luck
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