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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Elyssa,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>I walked the Camino de Santiago (Camino
Francais) last year in June/July. I carried a Visa bank card and used ATMs
I found long the way. They were pretty much everywhere, though the first
week out of St. Jean Pied de Port, they were a little more difficult to
find. However, that was just as much me not knowing yet what to look for,
and getting use to my new surroundings. Basically the bigger towns have
them, as of course the large cities. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>I didn't see any traveler's checks.
I think I heard they're a hassle in Northern Spain.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>More importantly, think twice bout
keeping your money around your waist in the ever popular exposed waist
packs. I was walking with another girl who did such, and a tall man in his
early twenties, wrestled her for her waist pack. Together we able to
"scare him off" after much yelling and screaming, pushing and
shoving. (The key was knocking his glasses off.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>It happened to us just outside a
tiny town called Terradillos de Templarios, about 6 miles from Sahagún. We
had started to walk through the tiny town, we passed a tall young man and
nodded hello. Soon, we realized the dirt road we were
following, really led out to the fields, and wasn't the Camino, so
we started to cut across a lumpy pasture, to get back on the road, just a
100 yards away. Then, suddenly the very man we passed grabbed my
friend from behind in a bear hug like fashion, trying to get her waist
belt.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Let me stress, he was never
violent. He never tried to hit or punch us. Plus, we never met
anyone else who experienced this. (However, do watch
your stuff, I did meet people who had stuff stolen.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>This is not typical of the Camino, but it
does happen. We found out later at the refugio in Sahagún, that it
did happen on occasion to women walking alone, or in two's in the general
vicinity where we were.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>So, keep you money hidden in your pack,
or under your clothes, if you walk alone. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>I continued to walk alone, even after
this event, and the Camino de Santiago will always be a highlight of my life,
and I will return to walk it again.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2>Lucinda</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=eeastaMAINE.RR.COM href="mailto:eeastaMAINE.RR.COM">Elyssa East</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
href="mailto:GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu">GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, April 16, 2001 5:52 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: $ on the Camino Francès, Camino del Norte</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
size=2></FONT><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>For those who have made the
pilgrimage on the Camino Francès or the most<BR>popular route, how did you carry
$? Were you able to change traveler's<BR>checks, find atms,
etc.............<BR><BR>Elyssa East<BR><A
href="mailto:eeastamaine.rr.com">eeastamaine.rr.com</A><BR><BR></BODY></HTML>