Bathroom in October camino

[SherlyC]

Hi everyone! I’m currently on the camino and soon will be hitting the meseta. What worries me is that on stage 17 between Carrión - Terradillos there is a 17.2km stretch without any bars or bathroom. (mobile cafe only operates in the summer)
During the camino so far (the last two weeks) many crop fields were bald because the harvesting was done. I heard that you can go to bathroom behind the wheat and barley crops in the meseta, but now seeing all the bald grain fields while walking thru i am very very worried the bathroom problem on stage 17. Would really apprecite your advice if you’ve done CF this time of the year. Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 39850]

There are still rest spots with cover.

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi everyone! I’m currently on the camino and soon will be hitting the meseta. What worries me is that on stage 17 between Carrión - Terradillos there is a 17.2km stretch without any bars or bathroom. (mobile cafe only operates in the summer)
During the camino so far (the last two weeks) many crop fields were bald because the harvesting was done. I heard that you can go to bathroom behind the wheat and barley crops in the meseta, but now seeing all the bald grain fields while walking thru i am very very worried the bathroom problem on stage 17. Would really apprecite your advice if you’ve done CF this time of the year. Thanks!

I can ditto above poster.

You can also ask fellow peregrina to spread a wind jacket or even sleeping bag and holding it between you and the road with her back turned against you. You can offer the same favor to her.

Buen Camino!

 

[C clearly]

You do what you gotta do! And laugh about it.

 

[trecile]

I managed to walk that stretch twice without needing to use a bathroom. I remember stopping at a gas station/cafe right before I started that stretch, where I had an ice cream bar and used the bathroom.

 

[domigee]

You do what you gotta do! And laugh about it.

I have to share this... Walked with an 11 yr old boy who needed to ‘spend a penny’ - i think on that stretch...
... He was told to do it behind a bush/tree, no-one would notice.... Oh no, shock horror he thought. Instead he decided to run across the fields, as far as he could, away from everybody - but of course, in sight of everyone coming along!
So all the pilgrims walking turned their heads round pondering ‘why is that kid running in the middle of fields for?

 

[Anamiri]

I managed it too without a stop.

 

[David]

You could try one of these?? Oh - you are already on Camino ... but no one minds you know, and all you really need to do is to ask two pilgrims to stand in front of you (facing the other way )

 

[Turga]

You could try one of these?? Oh - you are already on Camino ... but no one minds you know, and all you really need to do is to ask two pilgrims to stand in front of you (facing the other way )

View attachment 47244

I think you’d still need a little privacy using that…..gadget

I walked that stretch at the end of August and didn’t come across many other pilgrims, so I think that in October you should be able to find a suitable ‘timeslot’.

 

[Kanga]

There is another reason to wear a wide Macabi skirt....

 

[oursonpolaire]

On my first Camino, somewhere on the meseta by a ridge, I came across four male German pilgrims standing in a row singing Bach's "Christ lag in Todesbanden," which I recognized from an old Paul Robeson record.

I admired their singing and their devotion but, as they came to an end, a young woman ran out from behind them grinning and doing up her trousers. They had evidently been providing her with a visual and audio screen to protect her modesty.

I think that this is the best possible solution, and both edifies and entertains other pilgrims. I urge SherlyC and other woman pilgrims to emulate this excellent practice.

 

[notion900]

I can't remember where this was, but I once got so desperate on the way out of a town, I had to pee on a working building site . Also I once 'went' in such a hurry to avoid people, I got loads of thistles caught in my knickers. Just got to laugh about it.

 

[Via2010]

Hi,

I just checked the photographs I took when walking that stage. When leaving Carrion de los Condes you pass Monasterio San Zoilo (worth a visit) and a petrol station. Both places have public bathrooms. On the camino there are some bushes and some water channels which will at least offer some protection in case you need it. In october there are also less pilgrims which makes ist less likely that you will be caught in such a private moment.

But you should not worry too much. This june, on Camino Primitivo I also needed a bathroom but there was only a narrow forrest track, with steep rocks on one side and a river on the other side. No possibility to go behind the bushes and hide. so I looked around, thought the camino to be "clean" and sat down just beside the camino. But then a dutch female pilgrim came around the Corner, recognized what I was doing. She waited in a distance until I had finished. Later she told me about it. I think she felt more ashamed than I did. Peeing in my trousers would have been worse for me.

BC
Alexandra

 

[Bodi]

Just walked that stretch today. There are lots of trees and bushes and not too many pilgrims. Don’t worry!

 

[Kathar1na]

I'm a bit amused that the device shown in the photo of a young and fit looking woman peeing down the Grand Canyon is suggested and (so far) liked by male forum members only . But I'm biased: I own the thing, have never used it outdoors and have stopped taking it with me.

Sisters, if you can bend your knees - I know that some of you have an issue with this - and you are not yet used to spending long hours outdoors and away from urban areas, just practice to do this very quickly without any assistance whatsoever, human or otherwise. You'll be amazed how fast you can do it.

 

[Peggy and David]

Ask a fellow pilgrim to point into the air as though seeing something. Everyone nearby will look up to see what it is...and you are left in squatting privacy

 

[trecile]

When leaving Carrion de los Condes you pass Monasterio San Zoilo (worth a visit) and a petrol station

That was the petrol (gas) station that I stopped at. Last year I walked this stretch in the afternoon, since I had started in Población de los Campos that day - about 15.5 km before Carrión de los Condes. I only saw about 4 other pilgrims between Carrión and Calzadilla de la Cueva. This was in July.

 

[Kathar1na]

Like many of you, I have watched that movie, and the scene - first it's her turn and then the three guys' - was funny. @oursonpolaire's story is even more hilarious. But seriously, Christ lag in Todesbanden? I dont' think I would have been able to perform with such a musical accompaniment as background ... but perhaps with Es klappert die Mühle am rauschenden Bach .

I think the reality is more prosaic: If there are male companions, you tell them to keep walking and to not turn around. If there are female companions, you ask one of them to stay behind at a strategic point and to yell "Someone's coming" when someone is coming.

 

[Anamiri]

That was the petrol (gas) station that I stopped at. Last year I walked this stretch in the afternoon, since I had started in Población de los Campos that day - about 15.5 km before Carrión de los Condes. I only saw about 4 other pilgrims between Carrión and Calzadilla de la Cueva. This was in July.

I walked the exact same stretch from Población de los Campos, that walk was HOT!

 

[David]

Like many of you, I have watched that movie, and the scene - first it's her turn and then the three guys' - was funny. @oursonpolaire's story is even more hilarious. But seriously, Christ lag in Todesbanden? I dont' think I would have been able to perform with such a musical accompaniment as background ... but perhaps with Es klappert die Mühle am rauschenden Bach .

I think the reality is more prosaic: If there are male companions, you tell them to keep walking and to not turn around. If there are female companions, you ask one of them to stay behind at a strategic point and to yell "Someone's coming" when someone is coming.

Or, women could just stop being so ridiculously precious - we all pee, male, female, all mammals, we all have the same situation - .. next thing will be complaints about a pea under the mattress in refugio bunks!

 

[oursonpolaire]

Like many of you, I have watched that movie, and the scene - first it's her turn and then the three guys' - was funny. @oursonpolaire's story is even more hilarious. But seriously, Christ lag in Todesbanden? I dont' think I would have been able to perform with such a musical accompaniment as background ... but perhaps with Es klappert die Mühle am rauschenden Bach .

I think the reality is more prosaic: If there are male companions, you tell them to keep walking and to not turn around. If there are female companions, you ask one of them to stay behind at a strategic point and to yell "Someone's coming" when someone is coming.

I listened to many Paul Robeson records when I was young (not mainstream teenage musical inclinations in Cornwall, Ontario, in 1970, but...) and recognized the tune. I remembered it clearly and identified it from a more current youtube. They were very good. I met them a few days later and they were from the music school at a Saxon university, the name of which I have since forgotten.

 

[Kathar1na]

I remembered it clearly and identified it from a more current youtube. They were very good. I met them a few days later and they were from the music school at a Saxon university, the name of which I have since forgotten.

I'm not doubting your story and you told it well . It's not the tune, it's the words of the hymn/cantata: "Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands", quite solemn. The song that came to my mind is a well-known childrens' song about a mill and a brook rushing by and the German word for brook („Bach“) is also a regional word for a pee.

It happens to be the same word as the family name of J.S. Bach but that's a coincidence and a different story. Although now I start to wonder whether that's the reason they picked (unconsciously?) this composer.

 

[Albertagirl]

Regardless of the reasons for it, most women in Western culture are modest about performing some bodily functions with an audience. This is another disadvantage of the lack of public lavatories in Spain. Each of us manages this as best she is able when necessary. I would like to caution new female pilgrims to not use this as a reason to cut down on liquid consumption when walking the camino. You will need a lot of water, perhaps more than you feel thirsty for. Dehydration can result in various health issues, major and less so. Don't let it happen to you.

 

[Bradypus]

It happens to be the same word as the family name of J.S. Bach but that's a coincidence and a different story.

In Welsh "bach" means small but it can also be used as a term of endearment when talking to a friend. So in Dylan Thomas's marvellous "Under Milk Wood" a drunk organist addresses an imaginary Johann Sebastian as "Bach bach!"

 

[Telboyo]

"Ty Bach" literally translates as "small house" but means outhouse/toilet/bathroom.

 

[Anamiri]

That makes sense, in NZ a bach is a small holiday cottage, usually by the beach

 

[Lurch]

Just look for the side roads decorated with white flags.

 

[PeteF]

Hi everyone! I’m currently on the camino and soon will be hitting the meseta. What worries me is that on stage 17 between Carrión - Terradillos there is a 17.2km stretch without any bars or bathroom. (mobile cafe only operates in the summer)
During the camino so far (the last two weeks) many crop fields were bald because the harvesting was done. I heard that you can go to bathroom behind the wheat and barley crops in the meseta, but now seeing all the bald grain fields while walking thru i am very very worried the bathroom problem on stage 17. Would really apprecite your advice if you’ve done CF this time of the year. Thanks!

Don’t worry about it. The Camino will provide

 

[MaryGerarda]

Or, women could just stop being so ridiculously precious - we all pee, male, female, all mammals, we all have the same situation - .. next thing will be complaints about a pea under the mattress in refugio bunks!

Well now that you mention it .....

 

[Nocheechako]

It is a lovely stretch. And there is cover.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

A Canadian (female) pilgrim once said to me "It gives a whole new meaning to penis envy!"

As it's October and you'll probably need rain protection have you considered an Altus raincoat or one of those long ponchos with a rucksack hump? In the words of a young German pilgrim (also female) wearing one of those you could "drop and squat" in the middle of the Praza do Obradoiro and nobody would see.

 

[Karen Cap]

I have an overactive bladder. I would find a bush or something to squat behind. Once there were a few people around. So, I walked quickly ahead and slipped a couple of feet off the Way to relieve myself. As I was adjusting my clothes, I was met with a couple of grins. I also wore a macabi skirt.

 

[ginniek]

I listened to many Paul Robeson records when I was young (not mainstream teenage musical inclinations in Cornwall, Ontario, in 1970, but...) and recognized the tune. I remembered it clearly and identified it from a more current youtube. They were very good. I met them a few days later and they were from the music school at a Saxon university, the name of which I have since forgotten.

Fancy meeting someone from Cornwall, Ontario here. Seriously, in the mid-70s I used to spend time there on consulting projects for the firm I worked for in Toronto.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

I have an overactive bladder. I would find a bush or something to squat behind. Once there were a few people around. So, I walked quickly ahead and slipped a couple of feet off the Way to relieve myself. As I was adjusting my clothes, I was met with a couple of grins. I also wore a macabi skirt.

There's not a lot of cover as you climb the Sierra del Perdon and it's always busy. I'd met an Englishman in Pamplona who, having reached the top, ways dying for a pee. The descent was a lot more bushy with loose stone in those days (2001) and he said that behind every bush was a piece of dirty tissue paper.
Eventually he could wait no longer and relieved himself. Halfway through a Frenchwoman, or so he supposed by her accent, popped up from nowhere and said in perfect English: "Dark yellow pee is god's way of telling you that you aren't drinking enough" and walked away. He looked down and found he'd pee'd all over his boots.
Interestingly his main reaction afterwards was to ask how she knew he was English?