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  1. R

    Estella Ice Makers

    I'm very fond of the Eugenio Monesma YT channel. Today I stumbled on this entry concerning an old craft being recreated in the vicinity of Estella. The Camino memories came flooding back and I just had to share it... Most times I think I'm too old to hit the track again. But sometimes...
  2. R

    Those of You Who Started at Tui....

    I walked there from Le Puy. (Go one, beat that. You can't, can you.) Seriously, I got so sick of walking against the signs on the way to Porto I turned about at Valenca and walked back to Santiago and then Fisterra. Much better. Only thing is, I had to get a new CP credencial from that guy in...
  3. R

    CP Rest Day?

    Pontevedra!
  4. R

    Solo woman in November: which Camino?

    While I walked the Le Puy route it struck me that I would be comfortable with any female family members doing what I was doing. That's regarding people and situations encountered and general politeness in France Profonde. There should be enough people about while the invasion of top spots by...
  5. R

    Bed bug bite HELP

    I was bitten on the hands and lower arms in Sarria. Being Australian I had no experience of bed bugs. Simple acidity was the most accessible remedy, as with so many bites and stings. Travelling with a bottle of vinegar for some days was awkward and nothing could have stopped the furious itch...
  6. R

    Will it EVER slow down?

    Pssst...Just walk in winter, stay in hotels and do late starts in case a few other pilgrims are about. You'll have the Frances to yourself. You'll meet a few pilgs (Japanese and Koreans take hols in winter) in the evenings, but they'll be gone next day while you're still deciding on brekky. If...
  7. R

    Are there snakes on the Camino?

    Nana, one of my diamond pythons a few years back reached 12-13 feet. Not sure, since I didn't feel like getting him to stretch right out. (Crocodile Moso: "Call that a snake? THIS is a snake!")
  8. R

    Are there snakes on the Camino?

    Found quite a big one, freshly squashed, after La Romieu on the Le Puy route. Here is the visual evidence: https://slowcamino.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/a-chai-in-armagnac/ Where I live on the midcoast of NSW I have lots of yellow-belly black snakes and too many browns (one brown is too many!)...
  9. R

    CP Coastal Route - Recommendations for Where to Spend Rest Days?

    A big vote here for Pontevedra.
  10. R

    Sock Liners. Yes or No

    My Pamplona-Santiago-Valenca-Santiago-Fisterra stage (unlike my Le Puy-Pamplona) was done in hastily acquired oversized Columbia mids filled out with Superfeet Green, wool or silk liner socks, and normal hikers. I swear by the system (for myself). Not only were there no blisters but I didn't...
  11. R

    Help! The walking pole makes me feel like the walking dead!

    I like to waddle and dawdle, with just the odd acceleration (for some reason uphill once my body is warm). Having inherited poles at my first gite out of Le Puy, I kept using them, but, really, they're not for me. Descending to the Allier River, for example, I found them a hindrance as I...
  12. R

    The Camino Portugues...Does one Need to SPEAK Portuguese??

    With English and French (if you have some) you're good to go in many places. You might be okay with Spanish but... A lady in the library at Valenca where I went to find maps told me (snappily) she was only prepared to speak Portuguese or English. You'd reckon with Spain just across the river a...
  13. R

    Segments for Le Puy

    Hey, go easy on Decazeville. It reminded me of several bomby old mining towns in Oz. Plus it's a rugby mecca and it has a huge department store reminiscent of an Aussie Big W. It even has feral kids hanging out the front...but they're way too smooth and polite, being French 'n all. Really...
  14. R

    How green, or not green, is the meseta in the fall/winter?

    When I walked it in the winter I had an eerie but interesting experience. At one point there were no birds or insects, no wind at all, no people or vehicles. Realising the only sounds were my feet and the creaking of my pack, I came to a dead halt and held my breath. There was complete silence...
  15. R

    A new pack that could be a Camino fav!

    This is personal, but I've never looked for lightness in the pack itself, just comfort and performance. Useful features which add weight can make a pack lighter in effect once it's loaded. Best to save weight on what I put into the pack. Like a lot of walkers, especially Australians who've gone...
  16. R

    Insole question

    A long term plantar problem went away after I walked the Great North track from Sydney to Newcastle in an old-fashioned pair of heavy Blundstones with stiff soles (no inserts at all). I put the cure down to irregular clambering on rigid soles, since exercise in soft runners on regular surfaces...
  17. R

    If you want to take 4 rest days on the CF, where would you stop?

    I can only speak with authority on how and where to spend 40 rest days. Someone had better tell me where to spend 4 active days. The guy on the road publicising the best-ever albergue in Villafranca got sick of giving me leaflets. It was all the churros in Ponferrada. Seven years on, and I still...
  18. R

    Boot Repair

    A tip about some Asolos produced a few years back. I had three (different models) in storage and happened to see a YouTube about Asolo midsoles disintegrating, a chemical thing actually made worse by lack of use. I checked my Asolos and one had the soles right off. The two other pairs...
  19. R

    O Cebreiro in the snow

    Great pics. I was lucky to ascend on a winter's day which was perfect. https://slowcamino.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/o-cebreiro-the-ascent/ In 2010 the Pyrenees were closed in late spring, though I was eventually able to pass via Valcarlos. When I came back in winter 2011 to restart in Pamplona...
  20. R

    A Hard Question?

    As an authentic tourist and dawdler I'm disturbed by all these pilgrims crowding out the Camino. They're especially hard to avoid in France where one is expected to check out of hotels by 10 AM.

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