Bitten and smitten/questions about VdlP

[LTfit]

Hi All,
I guess that you could say that I am bitten with the Camino bug and smitten with the long distance, solitary walking experience (yes, I did experience this in July on the Camino Frances)..

I've been home for 2 weeks now and since being back have been (secretely) toying with the idea of doing the VdlP next summer. So for all of you experienced VdlP Pelegrinos/as here are my questions:

Is it doable in July/August? I fair well in hot weather and enjoy long stretches without seeing anyone. Also walked average >35 km/day

Is it possible to stay in only Municipal/Parroquial auberges? That is what I did on the Frances and was able to spend only E15,- per day all inclusive. Also don't like to plan, just walk and see.

If not, should I bring a sleeping-bag or mat? Only took a silk-liner this July

Is there enough water along the way? There were tons of fountains on the Frances and 2, 75 ml bottles were sufficient

Any good up-to-date guide books around? Used the Pili Pala Press for the Frances but their VdlP guide is from 2004 and there are not many updates on their website

That's it for now...not sure if I missed anything particular to the VdlP. Any and all suggestions/advice welcome!
Cheers,
LT

 

[lovingkindness]

Hi there, LTfit.

Is it doable in July/August?
July and August are exceedingly hot months on the Extramadura and beyond and the distances long between stages. In July this year I observed a dramatic decrease in the number of peregrinos arriving by foot at the Casa Paroquia/Albergue where I volunteered. Some days there were none at.

Is it possible to stay in only Municipal/Parroquial auberges?
For much of the way. In several places the only options are private or the tourist albergues which cost more. You could take a tent! I wish that I had.

should I bring a sleeping-bag or mat?
No, a sleeping sheet is enough until you reach Galicia. Galicia has cold dawns in July, with the possibility of fog and rain. Perhaps you could post ahead your summer sleeping bag to Zamora or somewhere further ahead, or extra clothing layers to sleep in rather than a bag.

A mat might be needed in Galicia, along the Via Sanabres. Recenty I stayed overnight in the Ourense Albergue. It was filled to capacity with long distance peregrinos and those beginning in Galicia.

Any good up-to-date guide books around?
The camino is well signed all the way from Seville to Santiago de Compostela. In October-December, last year I used Alison Rajus's Book (dated but still useful) and the CSJ guide as well for services and facilities along the way.

I hope this helps. Buen Camino, LTfit. Regards, Lovingkindness

 

[+@^^]

hi LTfit
there are 2 new VdlP guides on the market
probably the best and most up to date you'll get
camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic9022.html
camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic8961.html
!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Is it doable in July/August?

Joe and I walked in August. We lasted 8 days before we threw in the towel. It is VERY dangerously hot! The fountains listed in the guidebooks are DRY in August. You must carry a LOT of water, which equals a LOT of weight in extreme heat. Me, I'll do the VDLP again, but NOT in the summer!


Is it possible to stay in only Municipal/Parroquial auberges?
No, it is not possible in August. There are hotels that are more expensive. We spent one night camping out under the stars (with NO WATER) because there was no place open at Casa Forestal.

If not, should I bring a sleeping-bag or mat? I wouldn't bother with a sleeping bag unless it is a very lightweight one but I would certainly take a sleeping mat, because you will not find a place to sleep (or water) at Casa Forestal in August.

Is there enough water along the way? NO! NO! NO! Fountains are dry, and/or non-existant, as are streams.

Any good guide books? I'm not sure. The one we used was supposedly up to date, but I dumped it in Leon because it was so very wrong so many times.

I certainly would reconsider this plan ... walk the VDLP in Spring or Fall. Maybe walk the Aragonese or Coastal Route in the summer? Both are also quite beautiful!

Buen Camino

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, LTfit,

I'm a huge fan of the Vdlp, but I walked it in May and think it would not have been so lovely in July or August. I remember reading Annie's posts as she was suffering through it last year, it really sounded awful. Even in May you may get a blast of heat, but it will be nothing like what you will get in high summer. Check out some of the weather data and I think you'll see it's almost guaranteed to be unbearably hot in the south. And I think that would take away a lot of the enjoyment, and after all, this isn't about suffering! One Brazilian I met on the Vdlp this year told me he had started a few years ago in the summer and had to carry one of those big 5L plastic bottles of water every day. He switched to another camino after about a week.

If you are limited to July/August, I'd agree with Annie that you might want to consider other routes. One that comes to mind is the Camino del Salvador (Leon to Oviedo) followed by the Primitivo, but that's nowhere near as long as the Vdlp. It is stunningly beautiful,very remote, and not heavily traveled. Or the Norte, which is also beautiful, but it's not off the beaten path for much of the way because it goes through nearly every beach village on the northern coast of Spain. Or the Invierno (which I haven't walked but you can find info here) -- according to Rebekah's posts, that would meet your requirements of long stages and not many people.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll find many ways to feed your addiction to the Camino, Laurie

 

[Debinq]

hola LT

the mundicamino website has good info on most routes - the advantage is you can download track decriptions for each etapa and discard them after you've finished - log in again later on and download a few more for the next few etapas etc - that way you do not have to carry a guidebook around!

I walked VdlP in Oct 06 - from Sanabria - when at Ourense the alberge had only about 5 other pergrinos - they let me stay an extra night as the weather was atrocious - RAIN!

happy trails

Peter

 

[William Marques]

Walk the VdlP in August - I would not do it we cycled it in August and there were stretches which we barely had enough water even with two bottles and a camelback and we were covering the ground at three times the speed you would walking.

It is uncomfortably hot - much worse in Andalucia and Extremadura than the meseta.

Perhaps Start in Salamanca or choose another route.

 

[LTfit]

Thanks so much guys for taking the time to answer my questions!

Not surprised by responses (extreme heat, little water, etc.) but I am a bit bull-headed and so the jury is still out... can imagine that the VdlP is beautiful in May but I am indeed limited to July and/or August.

Del Norte is definately a possibility but I am allergic to rain/damp weather (get enough of that here in Holland) and so dismissed it initially. I also spoke to several pelegrinos/as on the Frances who started out on Del Norte in July but moved over to the Frances due to rainy weather.
I will definately need to investigate this more so if you see the same questions pop up again under the Del Norte thread you know why.

Would still be great to hear from anyone else who completed the VdlP + Sanabres in July/August.

Cheers,
LT

 

[Canuck]

Would still be great to hear from anyone else who completed the VdlP + Sanabres in July/August.

Cheers,
LT

Did it last year. Everything has been said above.

In a nut shell: It will kill you!

Don't come crying.

Still smarting,
Jean-Marc

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Just spent the weekend in Salamanca and Zamora, part of that time with the current hospitalera in Sal. Plenty of pilgrims around on the Via de la Plata, despite the August heat... most of them bikers. The six pilgrims I talked with said they walk mostly in mornings and evenings, and take a break in the heat of the day.
Which, I am told, is not so hot this year. There´s a breeze blowing, especially in the evenings and nights. But the dust. OMG, it´s bad.

Reb.

 

[muppet]

I'm flying to Seville on the 9th of September to start the la Plata and am intending to start walking around the 11th. Have the temperatures usually dropped a bit by then? I hope so!

 

[LTfit]

Pelegrina2000 - thanks for your wonderful reports and pictures of both del Norte and the VdlP!
Both look so beautiful but very different indeed. Important to me was your comment somewhere that the Norte offers less of a "camino" experience...

Jean-Marc-that is what I call a brief but candid opinion! (can we read anywhere about the details?)
And don't worry, I woundn't dare come crying to you :wink: !

Rebekah- more dust than the Meseta in July/August?

Muppet - see that you're also from NL. Look forward to hearing about your experiences on the VdlP. Keep us informed o.k.? (I had no inclination to get on the forum during the Camino but can't get myself off since returning!!!)

Must admit, even given all the drawbacks, the VdlP still seems to be calling me. Investigation continues!

Cheers,
LT

 

[Canuck]

Jean-Marc-that is what I call a brief but candid opinion! (can we read anywhere about the details?)
And don't worry, I woundn't dare come crying to you :wink: !

Cheers,
LT

LT,

Sorry, I suffer from Maslow's Hammer Syndrome: Déformation Professionnelle. I just can't come around to write long and windy posts. Direct and to the point.
As the saying goes: Old soldiers never die...they just smell that way.

Concerning the VDLP, it nearly killed me. Lack of water (dehydration), food poisoning, stress fracture in the right foot, heat in the 40-50 degrees during 15 continuous days, alone for many days, and more.
Voltaren share holders are sending me thank-you letters. :mrgreen:

Wish you the best!

Jean-Marc

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, LT,

Yes, you are right -- at least for me, the Norte had much less of that "camino feeling." Maybe it's because it goes through so many touristy (but beautiful) towns, and maybe it's because I wound up staying frequently in non-pilgrim accommodations, so there wasn't that sharing at the end of the day. I will say that I found the section of the norte from about Luarca onward to have more of a camino feel, and especially in Galicia. The albergues in Mondonedo, Baamonde, Miraz, and Tapia were super. I assume that as the numbers grow, the numbers of albergues will grow and the camino bubble will get stronger. Another downside, from my point of view, was the huge amount of asphalt.

If you have the Vdlp firmly planted in your brain, and knowing all the potential downsides and difficulties it is still calling, then hey, you should go for it. You may be lucky with the weather, you may tolerate the weather just fine, or you may decide to abort at some point and move over to another Camino. I don't think any of us are trying to tell you not to do it in the summer, we just want to make clear what the conditions are likely to be. But soldiers carry on in this kind of environment all the time, and pilgrims can dress much more appropriately for the weather and carry a lot less weight.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[muppet]

Hi Ltfit,

Yes I am indeed from NL and came across this forum while preparing to walk the Portugese camino in April. I walked from Porto to Santiago from the 1st till 10th of April and then the French camino from St Jean to Santiago from the 21ste of April till the 24th of may before spending a week in Finisterre on the Galician coast. I'm now hoping to make it a hattrick of caminos this year by completing the La Plata and maybe following some spanish lessons on the way in Salamanca if the budget allows. I wont be writting during the trip but can post my thoughts at the end. I'm also considering writing a book at the end of the third one with my experiences of all three if i make the last one.

Its certainly been a learning experience along the way and I've found it to be very addictive and therefore decided to try and do one last one this year before I start looking for work again in November/December (I gave up my job last year to do these walks among other things)

What has the caminos given and taught me so far?


Equipment and preparation:

1) Keep packweight down to minimum (i had 8,5 kilos) -10% of my body weight
2) Look after your feet!! (good socks and shoes are a must and preventitive taping and plastering also helps reduce the risk of blisters before they can occur)
3) Take hiking poles. I didnt use them that often but when i started getting trouble with my ankle (tendonitis) and knee they eased the burden. On long trips a wise choice whatever you may think of them. I had started with a wooden staff but that leads to an unbalanced walking style and movement and therefore overtaxed my other leg.

The advice and willingness to help on this site had been invaluable and is an extension of the type of people you meet on the road.

What did it do for me on a spiritual and human level:

1) Brought me back to the basics in life. You learn to appreciate food, warmth, a roof over your head, a bed, shower, camerarderie, friendship etc
2) Its timeless....you often dont know which day of the week it is.
3) Its simple daily pattern of getting up and walking every day is quite therapeutic....back to the basics.
4) You meet great people!
5) De stressing
6) It slows you down.....A days walking is a relatively slow process in todays 100 mile per hour rat race and therefore we experience and live those moments much more consciously and slowly. On the 2nd camino i was away just over a month but afterwards it felt like i had been away 6 months due to all the experiences, good/bad weather, pain and happiness etc.....time slows down and is more consciously spent.......that can only be a good thing in todays materialistic and fast world.

What i didnt like (for amusement):

1) The words "bon camino" are used a lot in a positive sense but the cyclists who arrive in Pelatons as if they are doing the tour de france also use it as they sometimes literally drive you of the path....so i have mixed feelings when i hear those words.

2) Shower timers in the albergues.....sometimes you pressed them (the round button ones) and after 2 seconds the water dried up again so you end up pressing the button the whole time....

3) Bad signposting. Somebody has put fairly new official blue distance marking signs for some stretches of the french camino but the kilometre distances they give are totally wrong.....no homework done there!

4) Getting to an albergue and finding that a bus load of day pilgrims has taken all the beds when you've just walked 40kms with your rucksack the old fashioned way.

5) Pilgrim meals...........the same 3 course menu for 30 days...but just better or worse

6) A squeak in one of my boots when it rained.......

7) Champion snorers and other noxious noises in the night.

I could go on ...

 

[LTfit]

Hi Muppet,

You have gone through a metamorphosis (photo) haha!

How fortunate you are to be able to complete 3 caminos in one year and quite brave to tackle them in the rainy/cool season. Can't imagine all those up/downhills in the mud and negotiating slippery rocks and stones.

Agree with many of your comments (at least what you learned) and as far as the "cons" are concerned - hey, I saw them as just another learning experience!

Yes, the Camino is addictive. When I arrived in Finisterre I hadn't had my fill and if it weren't for a job I had to return to I would have kept walking (but in another direction :wink.
I had several dreams that first week back home that I was still walking!

Succes met je voorbereiding!
Groet,
LT

 

[muppet]

Hi LT

Dank je wel! Especially for you ................. Beaker returns
Yes I cant wait for my departure to Seville...time will tell what sort of weather I experience during the trip....Hopefully not too much extreme heat and rain but after walking through snowstorms in April-May between Villafranca montes de oca and San Juan de Ortega nothing will surprise me.

A pilgrimage isnt always meant to be easy and the difficult days make the experience all the more intense and therefore also worthwhile in retrospect. If it was all plain sailing and easy we'd never remember it as we do now. How do you view your time on the Way now that you've had time to reflect on the experience and has it changed your focus, thoughts and direction now that you've returned to the status quo of daily life and work?

 

[o1s1n]

Hi LT - Some of the longer stretches in Extramadura are very unforgiving with no access to water and very little shade. In 40 C heat that would be pretty tough. Think "Ice Cold in Alex". It would be more than most people could endure.

 

[Sagalouts]

Hi to all.
just booked my flight to Sevilla for the 14th Sept, a bit behind you Beaker so if you can please leave stacks of water bottles and chocolate along the way. glad I,m not the only mad one as this will also be my 3rd Camino this year having walked from Le Puy in April and then the English way afterwords, I find I can no longer sit at home while the road calls.
this fool once wrote 2 years ago that I would only do the Camino once as I had no desire to be a repeat offender.
I am reading reports that not long after the start from Sevilla there are farmers festivals that go on for all of September and finding accomadation in the hotels-hostalls-and small private places can get a bit hard,as anyone ever carried a tent?
Ian

 

[muppet]

Hi Ian,

You might find a 3 day old melted bar of chocolate stuck to a rock along the way if you're lucky ;-)

I'm sure i'll see you during the walk as i intend to take my time and do shorter distances (especially the first week or two) this time. After every walk I've changed my focus a bit due to what ive learned and just like you i had decided after the french camino that i'd had enough for the time being but a few weeks later i was missing the whole lifestyle and simplicity, cameraderie and exercise as well as the way it makes you think and feel as you walk it. In other words...........One last hoorah for this year if i can make it!
Those festivals dont sound good news from an accomodation point of view but on the postitive i guess they might be fun to attend and witness along the way. I'm not planning to take a tent due to the extra weight but it might be a good idea.

As far as the stages go I'm going to use the posts from Laurie (peregrina2000) as a guide in her "My stages on the VDLP" posting.
I had bought a guidebook but I prefer travelling without a bulky one both from a weight point of view as well as the fact i enjoy discovering things for myself rather than reading all about it before i arrive....everyone to their own as they say.
Good luck with the trip to seville and if i dont see you have a great camino!

 

[LTfit]

Hi All,

Good to see thread active in my absence :wink:.

Hi Muppet/Beaker,

Didn't mean to ignore your question -

How do you view your time on the Way now that you've had time to reflect on the experience and has it changed your focus, thoughts and direction now that you've returned to the status quo of daily life and work?

...but have been getting back into the swing of things at home and haven't been active on the forum over the last 2 weeks. And must admit that I don't have a pat answer to your question. Lots of things come to mind but one word keeps popping up:

Simplicity. I took great pleasure in the daily routine of waking early, taking the first deep breath of fresh air in the morning, stopping for that first cup of hot chocolate after a few hours walking, chatting with locals in the bars and markets and with other Pelegrinos/as along the way.

Mindfullness. Another word that comes up when thinking about the Camino.
How lovely fresh water from a fountain can taste and how wonderful a hot shower feels at the end of a long, hard day. Taking the time (!!!) to see and experience daily, rountine activities in a different light.

Selflessness. I definately believe that the Camino brings out the best in us - our "true" side? I experienced great acts of kindness which greatly moved me.

Faith. And I don't mean faith in a religious sort of way but rather trust - in yourself , in others, that the Camino will provide (it did!).

Strength. Both physical and mental. I got re-acquainted with the powers within !

On that note I would like to quote Ian's blog written after his 1800km journey (hope that's ok Ian?!?)

I realise hey I'm pretty strong not only that but also the realisation that most of the people I walked with also came to realise that they too had a mental strengh they didn't know they had,to share that experience with people from all over the world was a heady thing, one I will never forget.anyone who has walked the Camino knows what I'm talking about, so I raise my glass to all that walked with me and all those still to walk it

Here, here Ian, let me raise my glass to you!

So no, I did not turn my life upside down, change jobs or move house when I returned - did that before the Camino. I just ask myself from time to time a simple question: why was I so happy (and light!) during the Camino? And try to apply the answer(s) to my daily life.

Best of luck to you two during your upcoming VdlP adventures!

Cheers,
LT

 

[muppet]

Hi LT,

"Lots of things come to mind but one word keeps popping up"

That was 5 words you highlighted not 1! ;-)

I agree with all of your statements! And I turned my life upside down before I left not after. I gave up my job and my rented flat and have been living life to the max for the last 8 months.....after this last camino I will have to indeed try and apply the things that made me happy on the camino to normal everyday life and work. . . . . first have to find work though!

The trail is beckoning again and I'm counting the days......... not long now..........i just hope the temperatures start to go down a bit....today i see was 39C in Seville....gulp.........I'm sweating already at the thought of it.