The Gallegos and Portuguese understand one another quite well. I was told on my last trip to Spain that both languages have a common root of the Latin from the northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Spanish (castellano) evolved from a different Latin dialect.
I speak quite a bit of Spanish and have walked three full caminos: the frances, twice and the el norte, once. I'm considering doing the camino portuguese this September but don't speak a lick of Portuguese (which is quite different from Spanish - especially the pronunciation). Can I survive on...
I finished walking the camino del norte on October 4. A very different experience from the camino frances. Quite a bit harder than the frances and only about 5% as many walkers.
I've walked the entire camino frances twice and have also reviewed previous blog postings about the difference between the frances and the norte routes. I'm considering walking the camino norte this September. For those who have walked both routes, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most...
The go to site for this info is the US Embassy web site in Madrid. Here's the link to all the approved testing facilities. https://es.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/260/COVID19_Testing_Labs_Spain_January_2021.pdf
I arrived at the pilgrim's office in Santiago today, after walking approximately 500 miles, and had to wait almost 2.5 hours to get my credentials. I wanted to alert those hikers getting close to the end of the misery you are in store for. After standing in line for hours, one finally approaches...
I did Valcarlos on April 26. It has a total elevation gain of about 3000' as opposed to about 4500' for Napolean. With Napolean, the agony comes at the beginning. With Valcarlos, the agony comes at the end. About two-thirds of the way with Valcarlos, there is a steep elevation gain of about...
I am just in day 7 of the Camino, currently in Logrono. Have been trying to stay in private hotels, and am using a luggage transport service. I've just spent a fair amount of time on the phone trying to find a private room in and around, Ages, in vain. I called up the luggage transport company...
I'm taking the bus on 4/25 and bought tickets, on line, in advance. There are only 3 buses a day during April from Pamplona to SJPP. Why take a chance?
GAIA is an interesting product. Used by smart phones . Smart phone can be operated in airplane mode because GAIA uses satellite, not phone, signals. I expect the app to provide some real competition to GARMIN in the near future..
I did some more research today on Spain topo maps. Garmin sells...
Thanks VERY much for the info. I would never have found the Spanish map site on my own. Friends of mine who have hiked the camino frances have said it's pretty hard to get lost. I wanted to bring the Garmin so that I know about how far I am from waypoints.
I'm doing the camino frances in late April. I have downloaded the individual stage gpx files into my Garmin Etrex . Any recommendations on whether I should also download a Spain topo map? If yes, any recommendations on which topo map to get? Thanks very much.
I start my first camino on April 26. Drying socks is a problem. Of course, have lots of pairs. I plan to hang wet socks (not underwear) from my day pack with safety pins and let them dry as I walk. Buen camino.
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