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you are right. I forgot about muscle damage!
Mine was the old problem of the cushion between the vertebrae bulging and pressing in the spinal nerve. The old medical advice was bed rest, but now, they say that you should build up your muscle strength which will help to hold it all in place...
Hi
If it is any consolation I have twice had a slipped disk and on one occasion, like you, couldn't get out of bed in the morning. I saw a physio who said that walking was the best cure (I had no bone damage). I went straight out and walked 15 miles a day for the next week with no trouble...
Hi Howie
A few years ago, when I was walking in Patagonia, I met a guy who was spending the day organising his next couple of weeks to the last detail, whereas I spent the day pottering and watching the world go by. Several days later we met again by chance. I had enjoyed my loosely...
Oh Sil, what memories you bring back - the sort of warm friendly oldfashioned Byre smell that you get in the small villages (everything is too processed and "Friesianed" in England now) and the Gaita lessons that I had in a Pulpo cafe when I was foolish enough to tell the locals that I played...
Hola Buena
Last year (May/June) I carried a sleeping bag the same weight as yours and it was just right though I may not need as much insulation as you. There were nights when most of me was outside the bag because of the heat, but there were also cooler nights when I needed it. I also took a...
When I was on the way last year I took a mouth organ but never got round to playing it. I was completely submerged in the camino lifestyle. I wouldn't have taken my fiddle; it would have been too fragile without a case and that would have been heavy and clumsy. I agree that a mandolin makes more...
Please, please, please don't take a head torch if you intend to use it at night in the albergues. You will wake everyone and may not survive the experience. Last year I got on very well with a single LED hand torch and that included several walks in the dark.
As to water, I bought 3 half...
I did it at the same time as Dawn (Hi Dawn - glad to hear you are still around - how is the walking?) and agree! I wouldn't have missed the napoleon route to Roncesvalles for the world. It is hard, though and so is the second day, but with six weeks you have plenty of time to catch up. I would...
Hi Carole
You could always try thinking outside the box - don't use poles (I hate walking with them anyway) and buy a knife when you get to spain (they are cheap and good). Then you can take everything on hand baggage, thus being sure of not losing it, being forced to keep the weight down...
I admit to being a regular user of Ibuprofen especially when I got tendonitis on the Camino Frances in May/June this year. They seem to be easily available and not expensive - ask at any Farmacia - the name is the same but pronounce the I as ee not eye. However, yes, they do vary in strength and...
There was a woman called Carol White who used to work for English Heritage and who painted some lovely watercolours during her walk. If this is the person, yes -she did make it to Santiago on about 15th June. She was in good form and we went to a special mass together. I vaguely remember that...
Hi
I walked from SJPdP in May/June in great heat and always carried 1.5L of water. By topping up at every opportunity I seldom had to break into the last 0.5L but would not walk without it. The danger is that you start rationing yourself and then you start wondering why you feel so tired. I...
Everything is well marked for the first week or so of the walk and by the time that they get a bit casual about it you will have got the hang of how the Camino works and shouldn't have any problems with a bit of common sense. I did the same walk as you are planning from mid May to mid June this...
Hi Sean
I don't normally get blisters, but with the heat on the Meseta last month I got enormous ones. On my left heel I had a blister on top of a blister on top of a bruise. Anything you can do to keep your feet cool will help.
If you go on to the British "NHS Direct" web site or the BBC...
Hi Cronan
There are two buses a day (you can check on the ALSA website) one daytime one which leaves at 8.30am and one in the evening which goes overnight. I have no idea whether they take bikes.
Good travelling
Paul
Hi Martin
I've just come back from the Camino Frances. I took leather boots and found them horribly hot in the extreme conditions on the meseta (temps in the 40s were being reported). I don't get blisters normally but I gotr them in spades this time. It helped to only lace the lower part of...
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