security

[David Hough]

I didn't encounter any of this in two months in France
and Spain, but it undoubtedly does happen from time
to time there, as well as at home.   It helps to be
able to travel in pairs or groups
so the packs are never alone.

It also helps to carry an extra atm card and credit
card and some cash
(different cards for different accounts, not just
duplicates of the
ones in your wallet), along with your passport
in a money belt of some kind
that is always on your person.   This is a nuisance
taking a shower, of course, in the many albergues that
don't provide any kind of hook for hanging up clothes.
But you can hope they won't get your money belt and
your wallet at the same time.

My money belt was actually a little pouch hanging from
my neck, lying on my chest.    I had to launder it
two or three times when it got too aromatic.

--- Kerrie Littlejohn <kerrielittlejohnaHOTMAIL.COM>
wrote:
> just one more thing. i have always heard the camino
> as being one of the
> safest places in the world to travel. it really is
> like a vacation for nice
> people as we have been joking about. that and for
> teachers because everyone
> is a teacher, or at least one out of every 2 people.
> anyways, i met one man
> in puente la reina he had his backpack and all of
> his possessions stolen
> from inside an albergue. he put his bag down and
> when he came back to it
> everything was gone. the only thing he had left was
> the sandals on his feet
> and the clothes on his back. he bought a few things
> and was traveling with a
> plastic bad. fortunately he was spanish so passport
> and money were not as
> big of an issue as being a foreigner. then i ran
> into a danish man i had met
> the first day. he and another girl had their wallets
> stolen from their
> backpacks in an albergue. he had great difficulty
> getting money transfered
> from home without any i.d., but was finally able to
> and continued. the point
> is, it isn´t even safe to leave your possession in
> the albergue, people  can
> and do just walk right in and they can take your
> stuff. there are so many
> people and so many backpacks you just don´t notice
> these things. one day we
> went into another albergue to look for a friend and
> we were just able to
> walk right in and go up to the rooms with the beds.
> that meant anyone could
> have done that. keep your belonings with you at all
> time, at least the
> expensive ones. you can always buy a new pack and
> clothes, but you need your
> wallet to do that. or find a trusty travel companion
> to hold on to them for
> you like if you are in the shower. even in burgos,
> they have bars on the
> windows because people had been coming in through
> the windows to steal
> things. so take care and watch your things. there
> have also been some cases
> of people being pickpocketed in the big cities and
> there was a rumor, i
> don´t know if there is any validity behind it, but i
> heard through the grape
> vine that a girl was robbed and raped on the camino
> outside of carrion de
> los condes. don´t take my word on this, it was told
> to me by another pilgrim
> who had been told this by the hospitalera in carrion
> de los condes because
> myself and another peregrina were going to be
> walking alone at night. so it
> could have been some kind of scare tactic. anyways,
> be careful. kerrie
>
>
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