[Gocamino] July 25th, 2009 BAD ADVICE

Sat Aug 1 10:44:38 PDT 2009

I agree with Howard on this.  I found the afternoon heat very oppressive and all the Spaniards are taking a siesta in the small towns, so the walk seems very solitary.  I usually started about 7 am and walked until about 1 pm.  I always found a bed in an albergue and met many really great people from around the world at the albergues.  I ate my main meal after a shower and then had a siesta and then the rest of the afternoon and evening free to do whatever I wanted.  I was on the Camino Frances and enjoyed it tremendously.  Also I found that many albergues would save a bed for those over 50, so I never went without a bed.    In most towns the hospitaleros are very good about finding other available beds in the town for people who arrive after their albergue is filled up.

I don't think you can let any of your fears and concerns hold you back from doing the Camino how you want to do it.  It always works out and sometimes gives you a greater adventure than you had expected.

--- On Sat, 8/1/09, hme347 at aol.com <hme347 at aol.com> wrote:

From: hme347 at aol.com <hme347 at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] July 25th, 2009 BAD ADVICE
To: GOCAMINO at oakapple.net, saintjames at yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, August 1, 2009, 12:55 PM

BAD ADVICE! ?

Depending on the time of year, it is probably best to walk as much as possible in the morning, or early in the day, because the afternoon sun can be brutally hot and oppressive. ?

Also, many towns do not have inns or small hotels. So refugios may be your only choice. Some of my best friends from the Camino are those that I met at refugios where you have great comraderie that you can never experience in a hotel.

The French Camino is popular for good reasons. ?It is beautiful, significant and inspirational. ?At no time did the number of people walking compare to Grand Central Station, and I am a native New Yorker!

Howard Mendes, NYC

-----Original Message-----
From: Rosina <blaroli at aol.com>
To: GOCAMINO at oakapple.net; saintjames at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 11:20 am
Subject: Re: [Gocamino] July 25th, 2009

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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