Monday, June 11, 2012

The Right Way and Pace

Finding the right Way and Pace

It is true that everyone who does the Camino does it differently, and it is unique and precious for that reason.  But I thought I would offer some advice for anyone following after me, who is similarly challenged;
 to try to do it in a month, who wants to also see the coast, and who wants to try to see the "prettiest" most rural parts most of all.
-- And of course, someone who really doesn't want to do it in the manner of the Stations of the Cross, but an adventure which is mostly pleasant;  challenging, but fun!    For me, it was important to be prepared, and that meant getting to where I could do 15 miles a day, and where I could walk comfortably for 6 hours.  As it turns out, that is not enough-- when you get ready, you should also be carrying a pack every day, and work up to being comfortable with 10 lbs.  And if you are only doing drills every 3rd day, try to make your walks longer, to increase the stamina.  The water bag inside the pack makes it heavier; but it is a big help, and I filled it to 1.5 liters and tried to drink that much each day.  It has a tube so you can suck on it, intermittently, and keep your hands free to use your poles.   You need about 6 months, at least,  to build up to this much walking, if you haven't been an avid hiker, in pretty good shape for long-distances.  You should also have that much time to break in your shoes, and make sure you like the socks, the liners, the way your pack fits, and be able to adjust things. 
The book everyone carries is by John Brierly, by Findhorn Press.  It breaks the Camino into 33 day-long stages.  He gives information and maps for each day, and lists of the Albergues.  Andy says he is going to make an app for the phone so you don't have to carry the book, but it is worth perusing, to try to see how the stages are laid out.  He usually puts about 25 km into each day.  Sometimes it is better to go half-way, and stay at a nicer place than where his days end up.  Some days you will want time to explore or take the longer route.  Always take the yellow dot path when you can-- it is worth it to be in prettier scenery, off the main roads, away from traffic.  The yellow arrows help you stay on track.  
Day 1&2-- St Jean to Roncevalles;  we spent the night a little outside of St Jean, and started at St. Michel.  This was a plus, in avoiding big gangs of people.  It was also closer to the starting ascent up the Pyrennees.   I recommend breaking the day in half and stopping at Orisson, unless you are a fast and sure mountain climber.  Roncevalles has a lot of new albergues, (the monastery was full when we arrived) and seems sort of made for tourists-- but is otherwise not too interesting, and if you aren't exhausted, you could go on to a less touristy place.  
Day 3-- Roncevalles to Zubiri ( not as far as Larasoana).  You need some downtime after the Pyrennees!
Day 4--  This day you head toward Pamplona, which is a very big city, and you can mail things from there to Santiago. Hopefully you did already at St. Jean, but there is another chance here.  Pamplona deserves some time-- it is where they do the running of the bulls in June, but that practice is archaic now, and they really only have 1 week of bullfights in the big ring.  You can get around the town altogether with buses, and many peregrinos went to Cizur Menor, which has nice albergues, on the far side of the city.  We went in on the bus from the edge of the city, and explored, then left from the edge of town and walked past Cizur Menor to Zariquiegui.  The value of this is  you start the ascent early in the morning to the Alto de Perdon, where are the windmills and the statues in bronze of pilgrims hurrying toward Santiago.  The problem is that there are not a lot of spaces to stay yet, in this little hamlet.  We stayed with a family who had crammed beds into every available space in their home.   Cizur Menor is a safer bet for spaces to stay. 
Day 5-- Puente La Reina.  This is a great place, and the temple of the knights Templar at Eunate is worth seeing.  It adds a few kms.  There is a great albergue on the hill on the other side of the river leaving town. 
Day 6&7 Estella, Los Arcos.  A lot of people liked the hippie-esque albergue in Lorca.  We stayed in Estella, which is a big town, and has a couple of options.  Walking through this territory is pretty, but also there are buses, if you need to shorten your walking time.  I highly recommend going to VIllamajor de Monjardin.  We stayed in a wonderful private albergue there (Montedeio), but the castle of Sancho the strong was also worth seeing-- we climbed the hill up to it just before sunset-- it was a marvelous view of the whole area. 
Day 8 Torres del Rio; Logrono.  We stayed in a parish church in Logrono which was a very sweet pilgrim experience, with a blessing.  We got a bus to the edge of town, so we didn't have to walk in an area where they are redoing the freeway.  This is the kind of thing the Brierly maps help you see, and omit.  He also lets you know when it will be an area of scarce shade, and there are elevation maps to show when you will have to be climbing or descending mountains.  He also tells you if there will be no fountains for refilling your water bags. 
Day 9  is in a beautiful area, and worth walking.  You get to Santo Domingo de Calzada. 
Day 10--Belorado; then Villarfranca Montes de Oca.  This is where we stayed in a lovely hotel with a bathtub.  The area was wonderful, with good scenery.
Day 11 San Juan de Ortega -- beautiful area for walking
Day 12, looking at the map, you may want to take a bus for all or part of it.   You pass the Atapuerca archeological area, which Brierly didn't talk about much.  You are then coming into Burgos.  It is a huge city, and houses the Museum of  Human Evolution, which is breathtaking, and worth seeing.  We also did the tour of the cathedral, with a guide-listening device.  We were so lucky to stay in Casa Emaus, a beautiful Catholic pilgrim-hostel just on the other side of the river from the cathedral. 
Day 13-20-- This is the week we skipped, taking the bus to Leon.  The high flat meseta, or plateau, is considered hot& dusty--  and with very little shade, is a grind.  It was fine with me to drive in an air-conditioned bus through it.  On the other hand, John McLean told us of his experience in the place at San Nicolas-- a true piligrim's experience of being fed by candlelight, having only 12 people admitted,  and a deeply refreshing blessing by the community of monks there.  We got into Leon late,  and had to get all the way out toward the bull-ring, to an albergue which wasn't full.  This was not optimal.  But I loved Leon, and could have spent more time there.  It is like San Miguel de Allende or Guanajuato in Mexico-- full of students,  artists and ex-patriates.  The Leon cathedral is worth really seeing. 
Day 21-- Leon to Mazarife.  I recommend getting out of town and beyond the road construction before walking-- take the bus.  Mazarife was a good albergue, and a good day's walk. 
Day22-- Mazarife-- Orbigo-- Astorga.  Andy wanted to go beyond Orbigo.  I would have been happy to stop there.  Astorga deserved more attention, with the cathedral and chocolate factory, but we arrived exhausted.  The walk was  not as pretty because we took the grey trail instead of the yellow-dots, which meant we were on the side of the freeway most of the way.  Orbigo has an ancient Roman bridge.
Day 23-- Rabanal.  This is the highest mountain, and it was cold.  I went to bed early.  The albergue was good. 
Day 24-- big day-- Foncebadon, Cruz de Ferro, Molinaseca.  The cruz de ferro is a meaningful event for many people-- leaving prayers and burdens at the foot of the cross.  Then you come down the mountain.  It was a long hard descent through a sort of wilderness area.  Steep-- you need your poles, on uneven rocky ground. Molinaseca is wonderful-- like an alpine village--  it would be nice to spend a day there, when not so tired! 
Day 25-- Villafranca.  (try to get a bus around Ponferrada-- unless you want to see the church or museum, it is worth omiting the walk through the city, I think).  Also a wonderful day walking, and beautiful fields, to a lovely town. Great Albergue at the far end, but it would be merciless to have to walk back uphill if it were full. 
Day 26-- very tough day-- trying to get to O'Cebreiro in time to get a place at the Albergue is hard, as you are going uphill, you need time, and it fills quickly.  Consider staying in a hotel there.  The mountainous area is beautiful, and worth getting there-- the slate roofs and round stone buildings are touristy but worth seeing, and the view is breathtaking.  There is a mass at 7 pm.  The first sunrise over Galicia from top is joyful!
Dy 27-- Samos.  This is a lovely monastery and I am glad we went,  and got to see it.  And I am glad we took a taxi to get there after Padornelo!  My knees couldn't take the descent. 
Day 28-- Sarria.  This is the beginning of the "mandatory" part of the camino, to get the Compostela.  It is a good day's walk.   We had lunch in Rente-- it was fantastic.  Great path the rest of the day.
Day 29-- Portomarin.  We wanted to get past this bigger town, and walked on to Ligonde.  This place was not a great place to stay, but we were very tired.    Then Palas dei Rei.  I would recommend trying to get a bus or pay for a taxi from Campanilla or Cornixa to get past Melide.  This was a slog, through a big car-sales park outside of town, then in and through the town.  We stayed in Ribadiso, just this side of Arzua.  We started seeing that staying  just before or beyond the targets set by Brierly's book would allow us to be in smaller and more private albergues, and not feel like we were just in a big gaggle of tourists.  Ribadiso was nice. 
Day 30-- Arca de Pino.  There are enough places to stay here, because it is the last stop before going into Santiago.   Give yourself at least 6 hours to get to Santiago-- to make it for noon mass, you have to leave by 6 am and walk fast!  You cannot see the cathedral from out of town-- not until you are on top of it, almost. 
Santiago-- we loved our hotel  Hotel Pazos Alba.  I recommend it.  It has a big bathtub-- super wonderful.  The view of the Cathderal over the park is breathtaking.  The manager, Hector, was so kind, and helpful.  He allowed our mailed package to stay there til we got there.  Mass is at noon each day.  You can go before or after to get the carnet checked and receive the Compostela.   Our friends stayed at the seminary menor, which is a relatively new albergue. 
The bus from Santiago to the airport is on calle Horreos, not far from the hotel. ( Horreos are the grain-storage boxes made of bricks or stone, on pillars, you see all over Galicia).   At the airport you can rent a car.
 You can see Finisterre, Muxia, and in between them, Terignan cape, all in a day.
Muxia-- we loved the cafe O"Xardin, and our friend who is the bartender, Consuelo.  She has a private room for pilgrims.  There is the lovely hotel,  El Cruz, right on the harbor.  The beach praia de Louides  is on the other side of the town facing out to sea. 
Finisterre-- is where the ancient Sacred Stones are.  Brierly has a separate book about how to walk to Finisterre-- and the landscape is beautiful from Santiago westward-- but the car was a blessing for us. 

By judiciously using some buses, you can make your feet and joints bear up, and get through most of this in 30 days.  You can also send the pack ahead with the Jaco-tren people-- it has a different phone # in each part of the country, but it is a great help for long slogging days, when your shoulders can't bear the extra load.   
From Santiago, I recommend you take the bus to the coast, if you don't rent a car.  There is an airport in Santiago , and trains and buses, and probably the easiest airports to get out of the country are transfers through Madrid.  What we did is drive to Santander,  Bilbao, and San Sebastian;  then turn in the car, and take a train to Biarritz.  My plane was from Biarritz ( a small and easy airport) to Paris (with a transfer of airports from Orly to Charles De Gaulle, which costs 20E on the Air France bus) and home.  There are great freeways across the north coast, and it was not too hard to go from Muxia or Santiago to almost Bilbao in 1 day.  We stayed outside the city, in a pension in Castro-Urdiales.  There are albergues in San Sebastian.  

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