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One thing you can do to help you decide is to go out walking uphill in your rain gear for 2-3 hours, preferably carrying your pack. You might find that the rain gear keeps as much moisture in as it keeps out.
As long as it was warm and the wind wasn't blowing hard I found it more comfortable to just get wet. I wore nylon rain pants over a nylon swim suit and a fast dry tee shirt with a rain cover on my pack. Any kind of rain gear - even expensive supposedly breathable stuff - caused me to overheat...
For me, the 2-3% of the time when I would have like to have a pole was not worth carrying and keeping track of it for the rest of the time. I think that for many it more of a fashion accessory - "everyone has one"- than something that is really needed.
It took the Brierley guides on both the Frances and Portugese. I was able to find a plastic bag the book fit into perfectly that served as the book's "raincoat" when I carried it in a pants pocket on rainy days.
There is an Orange store at Avenida San Ignacio 14 which is, according to Google maps, 280 meters, 4 minutes walk from the bus station. The bus station is at Calle Yanguas y Miranda.
Go to http://www.maps.google.com, enter "bus station Pamplona Spain". Click the get directions tab, then...
I would take out anything that allows you to carry more than 1.5L of water. If you have it you will be tempted to fill it and carry unnecessary weight. There are very few places where you would need more than that except in the dead of summer and in those places you can pick up an extra bottle...
I used Merino wool microfiber tee shirts and loved them. They breathe, dry in a flash and best of all not smell even after being worn multiple days without washing. When the weather was warm I didn't wear any rain gear because I got just as wet with it as without and did not overheat...
That alcohol gel the Annakappa mentioned is also very useful for controlling the bacteria that can result in foot odor after using the same footwear day after day, especially it doesn't fully dry out.
My Osprey Atmos 50 has been on 3 caminos plus 3 trips in the Dolomites and it is still going strong. After one trip I discovered that one of the internal metal braces had broken and Osprey replaced it free. The only real drawback is the fact that it is toploading but the light weight and...
Try applying some hand sanitizer to your feet in the morning. Most foot odor is caused by bacteria and the sanitizer will help control that. It sure has worked for me.
Another option is to buy an inexpensive unlocked GSM phone (I got mine on ebay) and buy a pay as you go SIM card in Spain. Stores are everywhere and you can recharge the card in many places, as Ivar says.
David: Someone suggested that rubbing your feet with disinfectant hand cleaner in the morning would help with the smelly feet/socks/shoes problem and I found it to be very effective.
In my experience, even worse than a poncho is a Gore-Tex rain jacket. No amount of breathability can keep it...
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