Zany Knights Templar albergue

[JillGat]

I've seen mention in a couple of Camino books of an eccentric couple of guys who like to think of themselves as Knights Templar and they run an albergue. Has anyone here had experience with them? Are they still there?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Manjarin after the Iron Cross. The place gets mixed reviews from those who stay.

Tomas actually has a very nice house nearby.

 

[Al the optimist]

He was ill last year and is now longer there

 

[Travellingman]

Stopped there a couple of years ago, around midday, with the thought to stay the night.
Decidedly strange atmosphere, so had a donativo coffee, and walked on. Very basic facilities, not that it put me off, but some back-of-the-mind alarm bells rang, so not for me.

 

[Tincatinker]

Tomas is/was always one of the characters of the camino, as well as a Templar. Manjarin may be a little basic, rough & ready. But, in a blizzard or a driving drizzle that would soak you to the bone then hearing that bell ring loud and clear told you that shelter and a welcome was near. I've slept in worse than Manjarin along the Ways.

 

[jsalt]

Hi, I didn’t stay here, but it was pouring with rain, so we squeezed inside with all the other dripping pilgrims for a donativo coffee. The coffee was now cold in the thermos flask, but, hey, it tasted great, and it was worth it to get out of the rain for a short while

 

[C clearly]

I was soooo happy to arrive at Manjarin to warm up, have a hot drink and add a layer of clothes. Chose to continue walking that late afternoon in early November in spite of the sleet and wet snow, but the welcome and shelter were very welcome!

 

[DurhamParish]

I took my nephew's picture with him on this past June 15, 2015. Is this not Tomas?

 

[Al the optimist]

He must have recovered. Thanks for letting us know. I know he had been in hospital with a heart problem and then was away for quite some time. I stopped for a drink in June and he wasn't there then and as I had not heard anyone say he was back before your post so I had assumed he was still off. Glad he is back in action.

 

[Icacos]

We did not stop in at this place in Manjarin so I can't comment. But one Swedish peregrina we met declined to venture in when she heard another peregrina, who was exiting this location, mutter to herself, "This is not the kind of place I need to stop at." For some reason the Swedish peregrina found this comment highly amusing. She was still giggling about it days later.

 

[Travellingman]

A Belgian peregrina friend described the place as "creepy".
As my earlier post indicated, definitely somewhat "off centre".
I would add that I did meet Tomas, and his 2 somewhat strange helpers, nothing wrong with them at all, I just didn't feel comfortable with the thought of passing a night there.

 

[DurhamParish]

We only stopped for a moment, and didn't go inside. What is it about the place that makes people feel uncomfortable?

 

[dcorrea951]

We went by early in the morning and watched the setting of the Knights Templar Flag.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I've seen mention in a couple of Camino books of an eccentric couple of guys who like to think of themselves as Knights Templar and they run an albergue. Has anyone here had experience with them? Are they still there?

One of the highlights of my first Camino.
Tomas IS a Knights Templar, in my book, and a wonderful person.
He treats the pilgrims with respect and offers them a bed and food for a donation.
The night I stayed there, when I first saw the beds, I was a bit put off, but we bucked up and stayed.
And I was glad I did!
It was wonderful!

That night, a young barefoot man wandered in as we were eating.
He did not speak and was quite ragged.
Several of us (including me) had first impressions that weren't so nice.
Tomas, on the other hand, welcomed the boy in with a hug, and sat him at the table.
Turns out it was a young man walking barefoot in silence.
Tomas recognized him as a "real" pilgrim, and welcomed him.
It was a good lesson for me in not being so damned judgmental.

There is no running water there, and so the bedsheets are not pristine.
Use your sleeping bag or sleepsack and don't worry.
Maybe it was too dirty for the bedbugs because nobody was bitten.

There is now an outhouse - when I stayed it was a simple hole in the ground.
I was thankful for toilet paper and recalled the days of my youth when we didn't have indoor plumbing. No biggie.

Kooky?
A Catholic Mass might be Kooky to a Pentacostal and vice versa!

Instead, we enjoyed wonderful hospitality, friendly conversation, a good night's sleep, and a big breakfast to get us out the door next morning.
I have nothing but good to say about Tomas and about his albergue.
If a person is too snooty to stay there, it's their loss, in my opinion.

 

[HalfDomeOrBust]

Great post Annie. One of the best in a long while. Thank you for giving us the nice lesson. (I now forgive you for taking the last room in a hostel I tried to get into last June somewhere on the Camino that I just cannot remember where we were....

I did find another bed in the next village as I recall so all was well....

 

[DurhamParish]

Thanks Annie. I hope to go back on the Camino Frances one day, by myself, so I can do as I darn well please, and not worry about anyone else, and I will stay at Manjarin with Tomas.

 

[JillGat]

We only stopped for a moment, and didn't go inside. What is it about the place that makes people feel uncomfortable?

Now I am more curious than ever. People say they are nice, helpful, welcoming, etc. and also creepy, scary and that it's an uncomfortable place to stay. What happens there that makes people skittish?

 

[kelleymac]

We stopped for a cup of coffee late morning early last Spring. The people there were really nice. Thomas fixed my rosary, which had been broken years before by my toddler. Here are two pictures.

 

[Travellingman]

[QUOTE="Anniesantiago, post: 337484, member: 3502"
If a person is too snooty to stay there, it's their loss, in my opinion.[/QUOTE]

One of the constant theme on this forum, about many topics, is: "trust your instincts".
As I said, nothing wrong with Tomas or his helpers.
And, nothing to do with being "snooty" either, miss goody2shoes.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

The thing I remember most about Tomas was him coming to Rabanal with the intention of burning the Municipal refugio to the ground . . . . It was summer 2002 and a young Spanish peregrina had tragically died of meningitis there and he was worried a plague would spread west along the Camino and only fire would cleanse the pestilence. A couple of us (hospitaleros at Gaucelmo) walked up to Manjarin the next day to try and placate him. I couldn't keep up with his Spanish but was told he considered the Municipal little more than a filthy plague pit (it wasn't, actually it was spotless kept by the local midwife).

I walked past Manjarin in 2003 and he had em calmed down a little but was wearing combat pants and a Templar flag as a cape. Definitely a character though, definitely; but I wouldn't say Manjarin was any worse than say the bar in Hontanas where the washing up water was darker than then coffee

 

[Anniesantiago]

Great post Annie. One of the best in a long while. Thank you for giving us the nice lesson. (I now forgive you for taking the last room in a hostel I tried to get into last June somewhere on the Camino that I just cannot remember where we were....

I did find another bed in the next village as I recall so all was well....

Wasn't me.
I didn't walk last year
Glad you liked the post though! lol

 

[Anniesantiago]

The thing I remember most about Tomas was him coming to Rabanal with the intention of burning the Municipal refugio to the ground . . . . It was summer 2002 and a young Spanish peregrina had tragically died of meningitis there and he was worried a plague would spread west along the Camino and only fire would cleanse the pestilence. A couple of us (hospitaleros at Gaucelmo) walked up to Manjarin the next day to try and placate him. I couldn't keep up with his Spanish but was told he considered the Municipal little more than a filthy plague pit (it wasn't, actually it was spotless kept by the local midwife).

I walked past Manjarin in 2003 and he had em calmed down a little but was wearing combat pants and a Templar flag as a cape. Definitely a character though, definitely; but I wouldn't say Manjarin was any worse than say the bar in Hontanas where the washing up water was darker than then coffee

Hehe. I've never heard this story.
Loved it!

 

[Anniesantiago]

One of the constant theme on this forum, about many topics, is: "trust your instincts".
.

Exactly.
Signed,
Miss Goody2shoes

 

[Anniesantiago]

Now I am more curious than ever. People say they are nice, helpful, welcoming, etc. and also creepy, scary and that it's an uncomfortable place to stay. What happens there that makes people skittish?

My personal experience is that people are often afraid of or "skittish" of anything different, or of people or things they can't quite wrap their heads around. It's a shame, I believe, because they miss out on some great new experiences.
Staying at Monjarin won't kill a person, and if you can relax and just "be in the moment," if nothing else, you come away with a sense of having been treated with kindness and hospitality, and you have a great story to tell other pilgrims.

However, if you like everything "a certain way" you may not enjoy it.
As with all things on the Camino, to each his/her own.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Great post Annie. One of the best in a long while. Thank you for giving us the nice lesson. (I now forgive you for taking the last room in a hostel I tried to get into last June somewhere on the Camino that I just cannot remember where we were....

I did find another bed in the next village as I recall so all was well....

Still trying to figure out if maybe I walked in my sleep?
LAST June, 2014? Or this past June?
Well, wherever and whenever, I'm so sorry!
I owe you a beer, or a coffee, or a tapa or ???

 

[Alan Pearce]

Our bishop was at our church today for a confirmation service. He has done 3 caminos and remembers very well staying with Thomas in 2000 on his first walk. He remembers his stay there with great fondness, and was astonished when I told him that Thomas was still there until quite recently. His comment was that Thomas must be very old by now!

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[clearskiescamino]

I've stopped at Manjarin on 2 occasions and had some welcome coffee, but not stayed the night. The signs are the first thing you see and his place has great character. Tomas is certainly one of the legends of the Camino. He will be talked about for many years after he has gone. I'm not sure I would call him zany though. If everyone was as charitable as Tomas and his friends, we would live in a better world.

 

[Alan Pearce]

A story my bishop told me on Sunday [ see post above ] was when he was having breakfast after staying overnight with Thomas. A walker who had stayed the previous night at Rabanal arrived and asked for some breakfast. It was just after daybreak so this fellow had walk through Foncebadon and past the iron cross in the dark. Thomas refused to offer him any hospitality, saying that he was a runner, not a pilgrim, and therefore unworthy of any assistance from Thomas.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Kanga]

For many years Tomas has provided emergency and safe haven for many pilgrims, particularly those caught in bad weather. He started his albergue without power or water, and built what is there from ruins and by hand. His albergue is very simple and basic, cleanliness is secondary to hospitality, and he is rather eccentric. I think that is what people find "creepy". I always stop for a coffee but I have never stayed there. In summer the flies rather put me off!

 

[Al the optimist]

Ditto Kanga. But I did miss seeing him this last time.

 

[Anniesantiago]

A story my bishop told me on Sunday [ see post above ] was when he was having breakfast after staying overnight with Thomas. A walker who had stayed the previous night at Rabanal arrived and asked for some breakfast. It was just after daybreak so this fellow had walk through Foncebadon and past the iron cross in the dark. Thomas refused to offer him any hospitality, saying that he was a runner, not a pilgrim, and therefore unworthy of any assistance from Thomas.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

1) They generally have just enough food there to feed the pilgrims who stay. It is a donativo refuge and like most, depend on the $$ they collect the night before for today's pilgrims.
2) I rather agree with Tomas. If the person was at Monjarin at daybreak, they were running toward the next bed and had passed several places that offer breakfast, though perhaps not that early.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

A story my bishop told me on Sunday [ see post above ] was when he was having breakfast after staying overnight with Thomas. A walker who had stayed the previous night at Rabanal arrived and asked for some breakfast. It was just after daybreak so this fellow had walk through Foncebadon and past the iron cross in the dark. Thomas refused to offer him any hospitality, saying that he was a runner, not a pilgrim, and therefore unworthy of any assistance from Thomas.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

But you get a free breakfast at Rabanal! He must have left VERY early - we used to open the kitchen at 6.30.

 

[Alan Pearce]

But you get a free breakfast at Rabanal! He must have left VERY early - we used to open the kitchen at 6.30.

As far as I know, Rabanal still offers breakfast around 6.30. [but it is not free, it is donativo] But the man in question arrived at Thomases just after day break so had left Rabanal much earlier than 6.30.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Ann Abfalter]

We stopped for coffee. Interesting place, but the lack of facilities put me off. The latrine is a hole in the floor of a very rough outhouse.

 

[SYates]

We stopped for coffee. Interesting place, but the lack of facilities put me off. The latrine is a hole in the floor of a very rough outhouse.

That is a huge step up to what it used to be Buen camino, SY

 

[grayland]

I have never had any inclination to stay there!
I have had a hard time even drinking coffee that was made there.
I guess I am snooty....

 

[SYates]

Just a wee bit @grayland I slept two times in Manjarin and live to tell the tale. And that was in the old, really interesting times 10+ years ago. Buen Camino, SY

 

[scruffy1]

Manjarin is not the only, ah..well...different sort of lodging on the Camino. San Bol in the old days had similar "facilities" and was considered to be a hippy albergue among certain of the older (sigh, mine) generation and to be avoided-of course I stopped there. Matías Locanda Italiana in Sarria has much better facilities and is also sadly avoided due to a similar undeserved prejudice. Strange since sleeping on the hard floor at Castrojerez (no longer allowed) or on the mats at Grañón is considered a good thing. Different strokes for different folks but one should follow his/her own instincts. Me? I'm willing to try anything-once.

 

[MTtoCamino]

I stayed the night there as well, the company was excellent. I was just glad I didn't have to sleep in the dirt. ( I am always happy off the ground). I found a lot of personal touches to the place.

 

[purplesage]

I stopped for a coffee (or was it tea.. I don't remember now) in 2012. It was late April. I was there in the afternoon, so the question of spending the night there didn't arise. I don't know if I would have. But when there is need, anything is good. I thought of years and years ago..... hundreds of years ago.... WHAT did those lovely people have in terms of accommodation?? Besides hospitals or churches?? There were no tents in those days as we know it now. They probably slept under the stars. A few hundred years from now.... someone's going to be saying the same thing about us... though I hope the simplicity of the Camino remains as pure as we'd like it to be. Buen Camino

 

[efdoucette]

There was a host at the albergue in Foncebadon in 2011 that dressed up as a Templar and carried a sword. He woke me shortly after I fell asleep, standing over me in an intimidating way, light heartedly I think. It was a little startling, all I could muster was a "whad up?" He laughed and moved on, I fell back to sleep.

 

[Anniesantiago]

That is a huge step up to what it used to be Buen camino, SY

Lol. Reminded me of my childhood!