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We made the trip in May 2008, so information is dated. Having done the Chemin St. Jacques (GR 65) we were in decent shape, but found we had run out of steam by Larrasoana. The municiple albergue did not appear to be an option, so thought about going on, but the next listed albergue was Trinidad...
It is good to hear someone had a good experience at the beginning of the season. We tried the alberque on 26 May 2008. The dread "senora attitude" stamping passports, however, turned us off as did the sight of the overflow and absence of food in the village as the bar was closed on Luneses...
Not sure, but we took the train back from Santiago to Vitoria in June 2008. Enroute we passed through Ponferrada and Astorga and Leon. The RENFE website may provide route information if the train going the other direction passes through these towns. :?:
We went in June 2008 taking twelve days:
Leon - Hospital (long)
Hospital-Astorga (short)
Astorga-Rabanal (moderate)
Rabanal-Ponferrada (long)
Pontferrada-Trabadelo (long)
Trabadelo-O Cebreiro (moderate)
O Cebreiro-Samos (long but downhill much of the way)
Samos-Portomarin (long and somewhat hot)...
I am afraid that we hit the exhiliration point as we reached the airport. Nervousness only crept in on a few bad etapes (albergues, etc.), which only confirmed how great the rest of the pilgrimage was.
Except, perhaps, for language barriers there are no real problems other than physical ones...
Many people might recommend the last portion if you only have eight days, in order to ensure that you get your compostella.
We took the route April-June 2008. There we met a Danish woman taking her nephew on a "designer camino." They had evidently started in St. Jean to Roncevalles, bused to...
That would be really pushing it. :o
It took us twenty days in May 2008. You could go faster, but I would keep a plan to take a bus part of the way should a leg give out or something.
Good Luck.
We did the sixty day route from Le Puy last year. It seems that more people had to drop out in France rather than in Spain, but there were only a few.
One Swiss lady in Conques (France) had been suffering back pains and when we last saw her, the doctor had told her that she would have to...
We did the camino last year (April-June 2008), starting in Le Puy en Velay.
Apologize for not following your order of questions.
No real need for gloves, unless you envision sustained cold weather (below 10 degrees Celsius).
Do recommend that you try to adhere to recommended backpack weight...
Just to add our two cents. We left Leon on the morning of 14 June last year (2008) and arrived at Santiago at about 1000 on the 25th. We had about three long etaps (over 30 kilometers). Stops were at:
Hospital de Orbigo
Astorga
Rabanal
Ponferrada
Trabadelo
O Cebrerio
Samos
Portomarin
Ligonda...
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