February 5 2022 – pre-Camino ramble

 

So here we are just under 3 months before heading over to León to crack on with completing our trek on the Camino Francés from St. Jean Pied-de-Port, in France, to Santiago de Compestela. In case you didn’t know, there are many different Camino’s to Santiago. 



For us it’s the most well-known variant of the Camino de Santiago. Just over 500 miles long in total. So far, we’ve completed 297. Our base level plan is simply to get to Santiago. However, there are many that continue beyond there, heading out to the coast at Finisterre and then up to a village called Muxia where there’s an iconic shrine next to the sea. We are planning to try and do that additional part, which is around 6 days walking.


Muxia

After that we’re aiming to get the train down to Porto for a couple of days R & R.


This time around there are many things that make the adventure slightly different. First and foremost, we are familiar with the vagaries of “Camino life”, so for example, we’ll be travelling a lot lighter; happy to take things slower, have days where we only walk a few miles etc etc. not a bad thing as we’re not getting any younger!


Obviously, Covid has changed the world significantly and we are not sure how; if indeed, at all, it has impacted the Camino lifestyle. One thing we’re fairly sure of is that it is likely to be busier due to the backlog of people who’ve not been able to do it over the past 2 years. That presents a challenge regarding accommodation!

One thing we are sure of, is that the last 100km from Sarria into Santiago will be very busy. This part is known as the “Tourist Camino”. The reason for that is this - provided you get your Camino Passport stamped regularly along the last 100km, you will be eligible for a “Compostela” which is a Camino Completion Certificate, issued at an office next to the Cathedral. So, in short, there are many; in fact, the huge majority, who just walk the last 100km. It’s not wrong; that’s what the Compostela rules stipulate! Consequently, the numbers doing that last 100km on average triple; including many organised tours and groups. That presents an even bigger challenge regarding accommodation.


Back in 2019 we tended to book our hostels/hotels along the way a couple of days in advance. However, the freedom of doing that way just looks too difficult this time around. We can’t take the risk of not having anywhere half decent to sleep after a day’s walking. I may have been happy to literally sleep under a bush whilst backpacking around Kenya in my 20’s, or kip in a dormitory with 20 other farting and snoring people; but at my grand old age I’m not up for that!



So, for the last couple of days, I’ve been booking hotels and hostels all the way from León to Santiago. Peace of mind, yes. But not quite as free-spirited as 2019!

Training is about to begin in earnest. I regularly walk 6-8 miles nowadays, but we need to be able to do around 15 per day; day after day with backpacks. Cate has just finished her joyous week of isolating after getting covid, so now is the time for action. Luckily, she didn’t feel unwell, so we can get straight on it.

One thing that is very reassuring, is that we don’t have a first day of walking like the one in 2019. Widely renowned as the toughest day of the whole 500 miles of the Camino Francés – 16 miles with over 4000 feet of ascent. But we won’t be getting views like this….

 


This time it’s just 12 miles on relatively flat terrain, a lot of which will be the boring suburbs of León. This time we can ease into it far more gently!

That's it for now. Next update...."New boots and panties"

 

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