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That is all REALLY just common sense. Funny how we have to remind some folks about that though.....Thanks for the reminder....I just walked from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago. It was an amazing experience but I wanted to share a few thoughts that stuck with me throughout my walk. Imagine living along the Camino, having to deal with “us” pilgrims month after month. The amount of toilet paper, rubbish/trash and discarded clothes that was left along the way was a blemish to the experience. It was not hard to put used toilet paper into a bag, and dispose of it at the first available bin/trash can. When I had to lighten my backpack, I left those items at an Alburge rather than on the side of the road. The times that I left the Alburges early in the morning, I tried to be consciences about the local people who were still asleep but on numerous occasions heard Pilgrims talking loudly or using walking poles without the rubber tips through the villages. It is their homeland and we are the visitors … please be courteous and respect the land we were so privileged to walk through.
There will be future walkers who ask about their "packing list". Perhaps we all can do our part to suggest they carry a "toilet kit". Maybe this can be as important as plaster, wine bottle opener, earplugs.
Good idea. It's always heartbreaking to see people treating any place with disrespect, and one of the worst things is seeing them consider anything as their toilet (in regards to leaving paper when they're done). It's a pet peeve of mine, especially in areas of conservation. I don't understand the mentality.
Understanding the motives of others is an ephemeral activity, and quite outside of one's control. When the clicking bothered me, I stopped for a few moments and let it pass, something that I was in control of. I just don't like compromising my contentment on the camino by getting irritated by things I cannot control. I can't understand why other pilgrims can't do the same thing.This worked well for me, and I can't understand why other pilgrims can't do the same thing.
Most "ferretrias" have tips for sale. And... they usually open well before any other shop!Just a note about walking poles....mine started out with rubber tips, but they wore through about a week into my walk. I didn't see a sporting goods store in Leon
I am very sorry to hear this. However........... and the lady in the cafe was telling us that some very ill senior citizens were getting woken up early every morning by inconsiderate pilgrims and this was making their health even worse.
If you go past the first row of trees in every forest of the Camino, you will find a forty-acre latrine! It is a problem that is partly hidden from view.If it is becoming such a problem
We use wooden poles so also need to buy new rubbers while on the Camino. Like with spare camera batteries we bring a spare set of rubbers from home and as soon as we use them we start to look for replacements. For anyone on the Primitivo the 'roperia' in Lugo, just through one of the gates, has a wide selection of rubbers of all sizes, and the most amazing selection of ropes etc.Most "ferreterias" have tips for sale. And... they usually open well before any other shop!
If you go past the first row of trees in every forest of the Camino, you will find a forty-acre latrine! It is a problem that is partly hidden from view.
Most "ferretrias" have tips for sale. And... they usually open well before any other shop!
Most "ferretrias" have tips for sale. And... they usually open well before any other shop!
It's not campers who make 99% of the mess.This is the reason I don't recommend camping on the Camino Frances!
It's not campers who make 99% of the mess.
It is WOMEN!
I know its not the campers that make the mess, but this is the reason why I would never camp along the Camino Frances, after reading about it and then seeing it firsthand, I definitely won't camp out along the trail. I can deal with albergue living (I have five years sea time on ships) no problem, I'd rather sleep in an open bay room of bunk beds than sleep in a latrine field that smells of urine and scattered with TP.
Really, the only people who can do anything about the clicking (which annoys the heck out of me too) are the locals. They might be encouraged to put up a "no poles in town" sign? lol
I first saw the Camino Frances in 2000, when I cycled from home in France. I started walking from home, a bit at a time, in 2009, after walking the Norte and Primitivo. I got a bus home from Castrojeritz last week because I couldn't cope with the squalor I found on the Camino itself. Every tree had its snowdrift of toilet paper and worse. Cups, bottles, sweet wrappers underfoot.
My decision was also influenced by the people who insisted on getting up at five in the morning in order to walk for two hours in the dark, and not caring who they woke in the process. It seems that they wish to go to bed at eight and for everyone to be silent for them, but they are unable to extend the same courtesy to others.
Many walkers were having a great sporting and holiday experience, but with no idea of the origins or intention of the, dare I say, pilgrimage they were undertaking. I attended Mass in Santo Domingo, with every albergue full. More than I could say for the church. How many of those people will be claiming a compostella?
Sorry, Saint James, but I won't be walking the rest of the Camino Frances.
I am not sure how the perpetrators are punished, but the Camino is about finding yourself, and if stopping helps you do that, buen camino.but I won't be walking the rest of the Camino Frances.
Thank you, I know where I am. Your mileage may vary. Smiley or not, your reply was unhelpful.I am not sure how the perpetrators are punished, but the Camino is about finding yourself, and if stopping helps you do that, buen camino.attachFull6387
I may be treading into a quagmire here, but IMO I don't think falcon269 meant this the way I think you have taken it. I did not take it that way. But falcon269 does not need me to defend him.Thank you, I know where I am. Your mileage may vary. Smiley or not, your reply was unhelpful.
This is a good post. Thank you for sharing. Most people are ok with being coached as that young man. Others are not though.....There should be a sign in each albergue and pension beside the door that when leaving keep the noise down for respect to the people who live in the area/village.
We have placed a noise restriction in our inner suburban hotel/pub for customers leaving that is " very strictly" enforced.
Because of this the whole neighbourhood treats it as the local meeting place for families.
Walking into SDC last year we were passed by a young couple having a very loud conversation and with the poles making that damn noise.
At the stop light i asked them did they know where they were ?
Got a funny look
Put the finger to my lips and then pointed at the sticks [ we were carrying ours in one hand] .
The looked at the other couples @ the crossing who were also carrying their poles.
They walked on in peace
* Later that night the young guy[25-30] leaving their albergue saw me having a beer in the best place .... San Clemente Square .
Thank you he said .......we got carried away in the rush , I got him a beer. * He then admitted that he had met the young girl the previous night at Arca.
They were good kids and actually talked about it before they came across us.
He was in a courtship one would say and he was very thankful when he realised where he was ....he only had 300 metres to go and did not realise it.
Maybe i was rude however i believe if we all pointed out these little things it might become a different walk for many.
I'll second that !!!................Vicrev
Some sources claim that sleeve buttons originated in the 18th century with Frederick the Great of Prussia who didn't like his soldiers spoiling their fancy uniforms by wiping their noses on their sleeves.
sexist remarks are not called for. peregrinos and peregrinas are equally to be blamed for the litters along the path of the caminos. there are many empty plastic water and soda bottles threw away by passing peregrinas/os without a care to the environment. also many plastic bags and food wrappers on the path of the caminos. of course there are the discarded toilet papers.
please be considerate. do not discard anything on the path of the caminos. pigs we are not. do not give the camino community a bad name.
Or just a good ole "farmer's blow!"I admit that I don't inspect all litter closely, but I think most of the tissue ON the trail is discarded nose-wipe. Can't everyone just use their shirt sleeves to wipe their noses?
The toilet paper is usually behind the tree line, and, yes, it would make camping most aromatic...
An invention for kids to wipe their noses:
View attachment 6389
sexist remarks are not called for. peregrinos and peregrinas are equally to be blamed for the litters along the path of the caminos. there are many empty plastic water and soda bottles threw away by passing peregrinas/os without a care to the environment. also many plastic bags and food wrappers on the path of the caminos. of course there are the discarded toilet papers.
please be considerate. do not discard anything on the path of the caminos. pigs we are not. do not give the camino community a bad name.
I am standing and applauding!I disagree 100%
MOST men do not squat, pee, wipe, and walk away.
Most men I know just stand, pee, and shake.
MOST of the litter is toilet paper, and MOST of that is left by women.
Also, I doubt many men are leaving tampons and sanitary napkins.
I can be sexist if I want to ::grin:: as I'm saying MY SEX is responsible for MOST of the litter along The Way,
at least the most disgusting type, toilet paper.
And I'm standing by that opinion.
Don't leave home without it (an American Express credit card makes a very poor shovel).Does anyone else carry a small shovel for this purpose?
And, I'll shake to that!!!I disagree 100%
MOST men do not squat, pee, wipe, and walk away.
Most men I know just stand, pee, and shake.
MOST of the litter is toilet paper, and MOST of that is left by women.
Also, I doubt many men are leaving tampons and sanitary napkins.
I can be sexist if I want to ::grin:: as I'm saying MY SEX is responsible for MOST of the litter along The Way,
at least the most disgusting type, toilet paper.
And I'm standing by that opinion.
Hahahaha. I am crying from laughing so hard! Good on ya!And, I'll shake to that!!!
The tissue on the trail is generally kleenex. Back in the woods, it is not.
I never carry actual TP (too bulky), I carry tissues (discrete in my pocket) (Kleenex) and use accordingly. That said I would never leave either on the ground!
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