[Gocamino] July 25th, 2009

[Rosina]

Hi Janan, 
With my own youth way behind me I can understand your concerns.
To begin with, I would not recommend staying in the albergues? because the rush to get there limits walking to the morning since the albergues tend to fill up by one p.m. and, I found, walking is easier, and more pleasant, in the afternoon.? Walking 3 or 4 hours in the morning, then stopping for lunch and a rest, and walking another three or four hours in the afternoon is less tiring and more enjoyable, and it can be done if?one isn't in a rush to get to an albergue on time to secure a bunk..
It is easier to book rooms in an inn, or a small hotel, ahead of time from town to town; usually the proprietor?of an inn will make arrangements for the next one, etc. The cost of such accommodations is not much more than?what a private albergue would cost, and there is the?added bonus of privacy and bathroom availability.
Also, by this method, one can send the heavy backpack ahead (it costs about 3-4 dlls. to do so and there are taxis, etc., that?do this) and carry only the indispensable items for a day or so. Logically, this makes walking much, much easier and effective without the weight, and discomfort, of a heavy burden.
The news are that this year, as most recent years, the Camino is chock-full, and the albergues are so overloaded that the municipal authorities of the various towns?are fitting up sports arenas and parks with tents for pilgrims. I really don't think that deferring the pilgrimage from 2010 to 2011 would make that much difference insofar as crowds and places to spend the night are concerned.?And then, doing so you three would miss the extraordinary?opportunity of experiencing the?wondrous and special celebrations of a Holy Year, which will not come around for another eleven years.
What I would counsel the three of you, strongly, would be to avoid the French Camino and opt for one of the other several routes which often are, in my view, more beautiful, more significant and more inspirational. The Camino del Norte and the Primiivo are quite?lovely and very welcoming; As you surely know, one need only walk the last 100 kms. to Santiago to earn a Compostela, and while the entire Via de la Plata maybe too much of an undertaking, the last 100-150 ms. through Orense are hauntingly?beautiful, and certainly free of?the frantic activity and crowds of the French Camino's segment from Sarria to Santiago which at times can be likened to Grand Central Station in New York City at rush hour.?
Some pilgrims may disapprove of sending the backpack ahead, yet, in the first of my four caminos, ten years ago, I asked a priest?in Roncesvalles about it. He told me that?the church strongly disapproves of self-inflicted corporal suffering, and reminded me that when Saint Francis made his pilgrimage to Santiago he carried nothing but his walking stick and a bundle made of a handkerchief containing a Missal and some bread and fruit.?
In fact, my very favorite Camino-related?work of art is precisely a painting of Saint Francis descending the Pyrenees on his way to Santiago wearing just such a garb.
I can send you a copy of the painting, if you wish.
Hugs!
Rosina
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