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I met a guy from the Netherlands who retired on a Friday, spontaneously decided to do the camino and started walking from Pamploma on Sunday. Not much time for prep there. :)
As for me, I made the decision about sevens months ahead of time. As for preparation, I didn't really need to buy much...
One of the components in altitude sickness is the amount of time you spend at the higher elevation. You will only be spending a couple of hours above 1,200m and by the time you reach Roncesvalles you will be back under 1,000m. Even for someone with a heightened (no pun intended :) )...
Things are still pretty warm in Spain in September. Unless you have circulation problems, your hands are likely to be fine.
Having said that, by the time you reach Galicia, the rains may have returned, at which point a pair of light gloves might not be a terrible thing to have. Just understand...
I am hoping to walk some part of the Camino starting in roughly mid-September 2017. I walked in 2013, unfortunately some fairly serious back problems are currently posing challenges. I tried walking with a local Camino group back in June and I only managed about 8.5 km and was in a lot of pain...
Without knowing your precise dates, I randomly picked May 1st and June 6th.
Air Canada has a flight non-stop to Paris on the 1st, and a return flight from Madrid on June 6th for $767 Canadian. The flight into Paris arrives at 8:45 AM, which means you could book a second flight to Biarritz (the...
As long as the card works with one of the major ATM networks (PLUS, Cirrus for example), you should be fine. If you look on the back of the card, it should show you what networks it works with.
It is still possible that there may be individual ATM's that won't accept your card. I ran into an...
I hope to return to the camino when I turn 50, less than 2 years from. now. Probably aiming for a late September start after the worst of the summer heat has gone.
My back has deteriorated to the point that I may not be able to carry a backpack, but we will see.
I was a somewhat similiar situation a couple of years ago. A few years younger and I was used to walking, however I had done very little training with a backpack and I was probably 65kg overweight.
I had some challenges early on (the first day was a disaster), but I got there in the end.
In...
Assuming you meant April 2, 2013 (otherwise, kudos on your impressive time-travelling skills :) ) , you left SJPDP on the exact same day I did (and arrived in Santiago a couple of days earlier than I did May 7th for me).
I mention it for a couple of reasons:
1. I think this is first I noticed...
In the spring of 2013 I budgeted 35 Euros a day and had little difficult sticking to it (well, not counting the nights I splurged on private accommodations - 8 days out of 34). Were it not for my unfortunate addiction to agua con gas :) , I probably would have managed 30/ a day.
Just remember...
When in April are you walking? In general, April shouldn't be a problem, however Easter is April 5th. If you are walking right at the beginning of the month, it might a little more challenging.
I am not surprised that it was handed in, I too think most people are good. However, it wouldn't have shocked me to hear of it going the other way too.
Another story on the plus side: A couple of years ago while hiking in Italy, I found myself walking along a narrow ledge with a steep vertical...
I posted a blog when I walked last year. After a particularly difficult day, a friend left this as a comment:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is...
Of all the things I worried about while planning for the camino, bears never entered into my thoughts. But then, I live in Vancouver, and virtually every hiking trail in SW British Columbia has at least the possibility running into a bear. Seen a couple over the years, fortunately from a...
I didn't have the problem of people asking me why I was so slow (it was perfectly obvious to anyone that looked at me), but I did overhear comments on a couple of occasions of people who were sure I was going to quit any day. And this was not early in the camino, but past Burgos. I also had a...
Generally you are not obligated to each at your albergue if they offer a meal. In some cases though, you may have not many options (San Bol comes to mind). Also, the L'Espirit du Chemin in SJPDP, strongly discourages anyone from booking who doesn't plan to eat there (or at least it used to a...
The only drawback to the alternate route is the lack of shade. How little shade is there, you ask? Well, let's put it this way, after walking out of Mazarife around noon, I was so happy to see a little bridge with a tree providing some shade, I took a picture of it. :) And this was in mid to...
I used a pair of Black Diamond trekking poles. They were relatively pricy (roughly $120 a pair), but they were collapsible, very lightweight and strong. The collapsible plus lightweight meant I could attach them to the sides of my backpack and forget they were there. (I know some people advocate...
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