maps and guidebooks

[Lisa Kraus]

Tourist offices are a great place to get maps of the camino, though most of them will only cover about a weeks worth of the trail as they are region specific (I used a combo of tourist maps and a guidebook about the culture and history along the Camino).  It's very helpful to have some sort of information about the altitude and terrain changes as well as distances.  
 
I also saw many people who had made photo-copies of maps out of guidebooks and then each day tossed out the page with the map for the part of the trail that they had just walked.  That definitely would cut down on the weight of books and glossy brochures.  
 
If all else fails, follow the "flechas amarillas" and you'll be fine.  
 
On another note, I strongly recommend taking some sort of book for meditation or prayer as well as a small notebook for a journal or sketchbook.
 
Buen Camino
Lisa

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Matt Omo [mailto:omovision at YAHOO.COM] 
	Sent: Wed 02-Oct-02 10:52 AM 
	To: GOCAMINO at PETE.URI.EDU 
	Cc: 
	Subject: Re: Introduction
	
	

	What is the CSJ book? and how can I get it?  Do I
	really need it?  Can maps of the camino be purchased
	along the way?  I have the Pratical Guide for Pilgrams
	but that's insanely heavy. Any info would help thank
	you.
	  Matt Omo
	
	--- Paul Newfield <pcn01 at WEBDSI.COM> wrote:
	>
	> I must admit that the walk from Leon to La Virgen
	> del Camino is a bit of a blurr (for me, May 13,
	> 1999).  I was walking with a companion from Belgium
	> that day, and he had the guide book.
	> At La V del C, I know there was a decision point (go
	> this way or that way).  Although I do not recall the
	> details, I can say that we ended the day at
	> Villadangos del Paramo, indicating to me that we
	> followed the "traditional" route, which apparently
	> goes along the asfalto.  We therefore bypassed
	> Villar de Mazarife, which seems to be more rural,
	> and without all the asphalt.
	>
	> I do not have the CSJ book, but I do have El Camino
	> de Santiago a Pie (El Pais/Aguilar, 1998, 213 pages
	> in 14cm x 23cm format, in Spanish), which promotes
	> the V de Mazarife option.
	> I also have Millan Bravo Lozano's A Practical Guide
	> for Pilgrim  (Everest, 1997, 264 pages in 17cm x
	> 28cm format - DON'T EVEN THINK OF HAULING THIS ONE
	> WITH YOU ON THE CAMINO!); it promotes the
	> Villadangos del Paramo option without even
	> mentioning V de Masarife.  For me, one of the
	> continuing frustrations that I had, was the lack of
	> good maps and guide materials.
	>
	> Paul Newfield
	>
	>
	> <snip..>  Note that there are two routes between
	> Leon and Hospital del Orbigo.  The traditional route
	> follows the highway and is somewhat shorter, but
	> there is also a "walkers route" slightly to the east
	> that follows farm roads and trails through an
	> agricultural area.  When the weather is good, the
	> "walker's route" is much more pleasant.  The routes
	> split at the hideous (in my eyes at least) basilica
	> at Virgen del Camino.
	>
	
	
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