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Recent content by Johien

  1. Johien

    Cup of tea on the Frances?

    Me and a fellow South African, Frieda that I met on the Camino saw a restaurant across the Cathedral in Leon with Roi Boos on the menu (we assume it will be our South African Rooibos tea - just a spelling mistake) and it was rooibos!! We were in the clouds to have rooibos and a toasted ham and...
  2. Johien

    Santiago pilgrim surprises!

    I started the Camino in June 2013 all on my own in SJPdP and met a fellow South African in Rocesvalles and we stick together until the end and during our walk we met several South Africans in different places and did not see them again until one night we all ended up (8 South Africans) in the...
  3. Johien

    What really is the pilgrim experience?

    Before my Camino, I have hiked a lot in South Africa and a few times in The Fish river Canyon in Namibia and when it was time for the Camino I just took everything that I already have and it was fine. My hiking boots were then 8 years old and like old friends, after the Camino it was the end of...
  4. Johien

    Seven Week Training Program

    You can do it without any training, but why suffer for the first few days? Prepare, do as much training as you can fit in and enjoy! I have surf the web for training programmes before my Camino and did find one that fitted my schedule and I did enjoy my Camino without any blisters, or any...
  5. Johien

    Experiences and SJPP to Santiago de Compostela?

    33 Days. I used John Brierley's guide to the Camino de Santiago and he shows you how to do it in 33 days. I never had any problems or bumps or blisters! At that time I was 53 and I did not have any days to spare for rest days so I had to do it in the 33 days.
  6. Johien

    What was the hardest part of the Camino de Santiago?

    Indeed - why did I not learn more Spanish?
  7. Johien

    I need a laugh.

    Viranani, I don't know why you need a laugh but I am sitting in my office in Pretoria, South Africa and when feeling very sorry for myself, I sometimes read the stories on this forum. I am so glad I did it today because I laughed myself into a better mood. When walking the Camino I met a women...
  8. Johien

    LIVE from the Camino Was I conned or what?

    If someone ask for money it is my decision to give or not but to take what you want without asking, no! In Astorga, also a Hungarian approached me when I walked right pass the albergue and look a bit lost and he offer to show me the albergue, but he was touching my arm and my backpack and make...
  9. Johien

    uggg my packing list has no fun

    I agree with J Willhaus, the scarf is a must. I accidentally lost mine in a albergue but two days later a young lady that was sleeping next to me in that albergue handed me my scarf, she was looking out for the two South African ladies and I was so grateful. I have jotted down notes/memories...
  10. Johien

    Rainjacket/Packcover or Poncho in September

    I've walked with a poncho the first day over the Pyrenees and NEVER again, flappy indeed ! I have walked the rest of the way with a pack cover, rain jacket and rain pants. Rain never seeps into my back and it rained nearly everyday. It was May/June 2013. Maybe you must first try it out...
  11. Johien

    any moments of "what the heck am I doing here" ?

    That happened to me the very first day on the Camino. I slept in my bed at home for the last time on the Thursday, the Friday morning I went to work and after work to the airport to depart. We had a stop over in Egypt for a few hours and then departed the Saturday morning but when approaching...
  12. Johien

    Music on the Camino

    I don't listen to music while walking, but my daughter has a voice like an angel and she recorded for me two songs to listen when I was feeling blue on the Camino namely: " I dreamed a dream" and "Halleluja" and it made me cry every time that I listened to it. But the most beautiful story of...
  13. Johien

    Patches, Shells, & Symbols

    Depend on where you start but you will find that the shell can be bought almost every where on the route. I don't know if there is a Confraternity of St James in the USA but when I joined the one in South Africa, I was able to bought my Pilgrims Passport (for the stamps "sello's') and also a...
  14. Johien

    Let's run the Camino from SJPP to Santiago

    In 2013 I have hiked my first Camino and there was more than one moment that I felt putting down my back pack and run and run but unfortunately my hiking boots was not the right shoes for it and I was 53 then and the last time I have run was in my army days when I was in my twenties. Run and...
  15. Johien

    The story of your Stone at the Cruz de Ferro

    One of my stones was a unpolished "tiger eye" from the Northern Cape Province, South Africa with the names of my son and daughter-in law. The other stone was a brown hard round pebble like stone from a farm near Thabazimbi, South Africa with the names of my daughter and son-law and I also...
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