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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Bus some of the route?

confusicus

New Member
Hi guys,

I'll be doing the Camino in a week's time, and unfortunately have been told I can now only take 3 weeks!

So my question is - Is it possible to bus some of the route?

IE - Start at SJPP and walk as far as Pamplona, then getting the bus there to Leon. Then walking the rest of the way?

Will I still be able to recieve the compestella if I do this? And will I need to get the 2 stamps per day, or will 1 be enough considering my starting point?

On a side note - Does Bordeaux and Bayonne have stamps for the credencial?

Thanks for your help in advance!
 
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Hi,

Well, all you basicly have to do is to walk the last 100 km before Santiago to be able to obtain your compostella. However - I find it a shame to interupt the walking with talking thee bus... but of course it is posible... it is your camino and YOU decide how.

But why not start out in Burgos and walk all the way with out interuptions?
 
It is a pity that you have to rush your camino but don't be too perturbed. The ONLY criteria for earning the Compostela is that you walk a distance of 100km from Santiago to the city. It would be advisable to get two sellos (stamps) per day along this section.
I could set out from my home on the east coast of Africa, walk a zillion kms getting a googleplex stamps - all for nought IF I don't walk the last 100kms to Santiago!!
If I only had three weeks and had set my heart on starting from St Jean I would walk 7 days to Logrono (about 165kms). From there I would get a bus to Leon - but not to start walking from there - I would have a look around, visit the cathedral and then get another bus to - perhaps Astorga (259kms to go) and walk from there to Santiago.
Bordeaux does indeed have stamps - and a wonderful brass plaque outisde the cathedral showing the St Jacques route. You can get stamps anywhere in Bayonne - at the tourism office, post office, police station, churches, bars etc.
You will have a wonderful camino!
 

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If I had just three weeks to do it in, I'd probably start in Leon...and then see if I had time to get to Fisterra at the end.

It depends how fit you are - or how fit you become.

Alternatively, you could do it in two stages; take three weeks to get from St Jean to Leon this year and go back next year to finish the job.
 
confusicus said:
So my question is - Is it possible to bus some of the route?
`
Not only is it possible to bus some of the route, but it seems to be getting quite a popular way to do the Camino, by those who just want to walk the ´best bits´. I'm writing this in León, having just done the Calzadilla to León section. I set off at 6 a.m. and arrived here shortly after 4 p.m. It was a gruelling stretch of country to get through in this heat. Between Calzadilla and Mansanilla (on the option that takes you through open country on dust track, not the one that follows the main road), I did not see a single pilgrim.

I only just managed to get a bed in the albergue in León, and I saw that a whole bunch of people I overtook in Sahagún yesterday were already here! There are quite a number of people who are jumping on trains and buses routinely. In one sense it really is a matter for you, but on the other hand, there´s a wider issue: the refugios are for those travelling on foot, by bike or on horseback, and if they become filled with tourists seeing the Camino sights by bus and train, it makes it more difficult for those who are making their way properly and who really need that bed at the end of a long walk!

Gareth
 
Gareth - I am really pleased to hear how you are getting on. I was following your progress on your blog but you say on your blog that you have given up posting on your blog until someone makes a donation. Isn't that counter productive? If people give up reading your blog because there are no new posts you might not get any more sponsorship for the Whizz-kids.
I think you mis-read Confuscius' post - he didn't ask it was OK to bus from place to place to place on the camino - only if it was possible to take a bus from Pamlpona to Leon and start his camino 'proper' from there.
People who don't have months to spare do that all the time: start on one route, then take a bus north or south and continue on another route. I don't think it makes them any less a pilgrim.
Go well - hope you make lots of money for your cause.
bendigáis.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I think he´s just saying that if you´re going to ride the bus or train, you should not take up space in albergues. It IS frustrating to roll up after a very long day and be denied a bed because the place filled up early with people who walked only as far as the train station. It is not fair. Go get a hotel room.
 
I know what Gareth is saying and I agree with you Reb. However, if you apply this to pilgrims coming from afar (e.g. Pamplona to Leon) then likewise the folks who bus up to Roncesvalles should not sleep in the albergue because the walking pilgrims who have come from St Jean or beyond deserve the beds more. Or those who arrive in St Jean should book into a hotel because others have come from further back in France and so on.
 
For Gareth:
who are making their way properly and who really need that bed at the end of a long walk
It would be interested to know what you consider " making their way properly"? We have been hosting 120 young pilgrims from Nebraska in Christchurch who are on their way to the World Youth Day in Sydney for the past week. Most are billeted comfortably in host family homes here but there are others staying in school hall and sharing communal showers. We accept them as all pilgrims as a bed does not make a pilgrim.
Sil asked:
*you have given up posting on your blog until someone makes a donation. Isn't that counter productive?
Is this not a form of commercialisation?

Rebekah
It is not fair. Go get a hotel room
Could not agree with you more, one of the first thing I did to save my wife from hanging about outside an albergue and ending up with a cold shower was to find hotels on the route. This was very difficult then as most Euro 15 to 25 per person per night accommodation were not listed in the CSJ or other lists. Things have changed now and every list of these alternative accommodation are now eagerly distributed by others and copied. Yes, we will walk, and also get a hotel room if there is one available. At the end of the day, we will not be judgmental, but feel it is our Camino, irrespective whether it is was done "properly" or not as considered by others.
We will however drop by to Moratinos as we respect, and admire, what you are doing for the pilgrims and make a donativo.

Kwaheri
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
When I went through Roncesvalles, the hospitaleros had roped off several beds for those arriving on the late bus. Because of the crowds, every other place in town was booked. Imagine 20 to 40 people having to stand outside all night because there was no place at all. In any event, there was room for all.

People take the bus for a multitude of reasons: time, injury, interest. When I go back next time, should I find a hotel because I haven't walked any distance yet? They didn't ask how far I walked when I showed up in SJPdP, or in Logrono, when I went back in September.

And as for donations for posts, it's costing Gareth money out of his own pocket to post & very few are donating.

Kelly
 
Hi Kelly,
I don't think it matters to those running the private albergues whether you have arrived by bus or walked - or how far you have walked - but it does matter to the municipal albergues, especially in Galicia.
Last year when my husband joined us in Sarria I thought he could have a short first day and walk only 14km to Ferriros. There was a notice on the door to say that only pilgrims who had walked from AT LEAST Triacastela could stay there and others should walk on to Portomarin (another 10km away). It also listed the names of local taxi operators in case you had an injury and could not walk further - so even that would not have been an excuse.
We continued to Portomarin and from there booked beds ahead at the private albergye in Palas de Rei - just in case the in-between albergues (Ligonde, Eirexe) had the same policy and just in case we got there too late for a bed at the municipal albergue.
 
Hmmm, what about Burgos? I'm considering starting there the next time, & will need a new credencial. I know the one on Lain Calvo won't let me stay there (since I won't have walked at least 20k that day), but what about the albergue in the park?

Kelly
 
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The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
I'm not sure but would like to know as well. I have emailed the AASC Burgos and will let you know when they reply.
 
WolverineDG said:
Hmmm, what about Burgos? I'm considering starting there the next time, & will need a new credencial. I know the one on Lain Calvo won't let me stay there (since I won't have walked at least 20k that day), but what about the albergue in the park?

Kelly

Kelly, we were amongst the last pilgrims to stay in the albergue "in the park". The new municipal albergue was opening up in town within a few days of our stay (just behind the Cathedral), and they told us they were closing the one in the park down.
Margaret
 
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Gareth Thomas said:
I only just managed to get a bed in the albergue in León, and I saw that a whole bunch of people I overtook in Sahagún yesterday were already here! There are quite a number of people who are jumping on trains and buses routinely. ... it makes it more difficult for those who are making their way properly and who really need that bed at the end of a long walk!
Gareth

I understand your frustration entirely Gareth! I guess I was fortunate in that I seemed to walking just ahead of the summer "bulge", so we never struggled to find a bed. I have no problem with people taking buses for part of the journey, if that is the way they wish to do their Camino. And in Spain, there seemed to be large numbers of people who routinely took buses/ taxis for at least part of their daily journey. Sometimes this is of course for reasons of injury. But it certainly makes it harder for those who have walked the whole distance if they then find they have missed out on a bed as a result.

You will be coming to the mountains again now Gareth, and I hope your spirit is rejuvenated there as mine was!
Margaret
Kiwinomad
 
sillydoll said:
However, if you apply this to pilgrims coming from afar (e.g. Pamplona to Leon) then likewise the folks who bus up to Roncesvalles should not sleep in the albergue because the walking pilgrims who have come from St Jean or beyond deserve the beds more. Or those who arrive in St Jean should book into a hotel because others have come from further back in France and so on.

Actually, in O'Cebreiro they did seem to be applying the walking rule very strictly. About 7.30pm a taxi arrived with two women and three teens who were intending to start from there. They were not allowed into the albergue, as priority was given to those who had walked and cycled, and they all ended up sleeping outside, despite the fact that they only had day packs, and really did not have much in the way of warm clothing or bedding. I saw this group most days on the way to Santiago - they had unsuitable footwear as well and ended up with horrendous blisters- but they all made it the same day we did. And oh they were so happy to arrive!

I know that when I rang to book into "Esprit du Chemin" in SJPP, I got a reservation, as they kept a proportion of beds aside for those walking from further north in France. Since it is hard to book too far ahead when you are actually walking on the trail, I was grateful for this.
Margaret
Kiwinomad
 
It is sad to hear of people sleeping outside. To some people it seems like Not Finding a Bed is a fate worse than death. I certainly do not enjoy sleeping on the ground, and I would get a cab to the nearest truck stop if faced with that.
...And then, last night, Patrick met Christian and Mara. They were getting ready to camp out on the church porch in the plaza. He brought them home.
They´d walked from Germany. They are sleeping on porches and in fields and vineyards and unfinished houses, rising when they like and walking as far as is comfortable. They hadn´t showered since Burgos, and had not used a machine to wash their laundry since St. Jean Pied de Port! (I am glad I stayed upwind. They must have smelled downright medieval!)
They both were perfectly healthy, smiling, and fit. Sleeping outside on the ground apparently has done them no harm at all.
Like Christian said, "It´s a pilgrimage, after all. And it´s not raining, is it? I´d rather sleep under the stars than inside a little concrete room full of people snoring."
Every day´s an education.

(I was warned on my camino of the dangers of getting a good wash and having your laundry done, all at the same stop. "Now you´re going to smell everybody else!" I was told!)
 
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We met a pilgrim from Prague who had slept in bus shelters, a cardboard packing box, in doorways etc. We met him in the albergue at Mansilla where he was cooking some food. He said that he used the albergues to shower and make the odd meal but could not sleep in them as he did not have enough money for the two way journey - he was planning on walking back home along the Camino Norte. He didn't smell bad but his hair looked awful!!
 
Rebekah Scott said:
"It´s a pilgrimage, after all. And it´s not raining, is it? I´d rather sleep under the stars than inside a little concrete room full of people snoring." `
I slept outside last night and it was great to be away from the packed refugios and the snoring. At about three a.m. I crashed out in my sleeping bag under a tree, after doing an overnight walk to avoid the heat on the rather boring section between León and Astorga. The only trouble was, in the dark I managed to settle under a chestnut tree and the old prickly husks on the ground punctured my lightweight inflatable mat! (One thing less to carry, I suppose...)

Gareth
 
sillydoll said:
I was following your progress on your blog but you say on your blog that you have given up posting on your blog until someone makes a donation. Isn't that counter productive? If people give up reading your blog because there are no new posts you might not get any more sponsorship for the Whizz-kids. .

There are several thousand hits on the blog and an occasional donation. I am simply blogging in response to donations, thanking people for them. The blog was always intended as a method of Whizz-Kidz sponsorship.

sillydoll said:
I think you mis-read Confuscius' post - he didn't ask it was OK to bus from place to place to place on the camino - only if it was possible to take a bus from Pamlpona to Leon and start his camino 'proper' from there.

Yes, I think I understood that. I was just extending the point about buses to comment on the present situation. The hospitaleros in Burgos were commenting on the number of people bussing into Burgos the last few kilometres. They took a pretty dim view of it and that doesn´t surprise me.

Gareth
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
NaKwendaSafari said:
For Gareth:
*you have given up posting on your blog until someone makes a donation. Isn't that counter productive?
Is this not a form of commercialisation?

The first time you made that comment some time ago, I just ignored it as I thought it was in very bad taste. Since you repeat that comment now, let me say this:

If you think that raising a few hundred pounds for disabled children who cannot walk is ´commercialism´then you will find yourself in a very small - and very small-minded - minority. I don´t know why you would object to my attempt to help other people less fortunate than myself, as a by-product of my walking, but your comments are quite out of place.

As it happens, I´d rather simply walk to Santiago and not have the additional work of running the blog and trying to raise a few pounds for kids who can´t walk. It would be easier. Do I have to justify it as well, in the face of bizarre accusations of ´commercialism´from the likes of you?

If you can´t be bothered with charity efforts, that´s a matter for you. Do your own individual thing as you please. But don´t take pot shots at those who are simply trying to do something to help others. That is shabby.

There, you´ve got a reaction from me. Well done.

Gareth
 
I do not think that very many on this forum think that supporting a charity is commercialism. Since my Caminos have been fairly self-centered, I was quite impressed with your outward extension. I wish you great success.
 
Kelly, we were amongst the last pilgrims to stay in the albergue "in the park". The new municipal albergue was opening up in town within a few days of our stay (just behind the Cathedral), and they told us they were closing the one in the park down.
Margaret
Thanks Margaret. Hmm, wonder if they'll let a first-nighter stay there? If I'm early enough (or late enough) in the season, perhaps they will. :)

Kelly
 
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The hospitaleros in Burgos were commenting on the number of people bussing into Burgos the last few kilometres.

Some guide books recommend that one takes a bus into Burgos rather than slog the last ±8km slog into the city from the outskirts. I wonder if they realise that they are doing pilgrims a disservice?

When we walked in last year we had to skirt main highways and byways as well as road construction to reach the outskirts of the city and only then did we trudge along seemingly endless pavements into the city centre. Very tiring.
 
falcon269 said:
I do not think that very many on this forum think that supporting a charity is commercialism. Since my Caminos have been fairly self-centered, I was quite impressed with your outward extension. I wish you great success.

Thank you. I had no doubt that those comments opposing fundraising for disabled kids were the expression of a rather odd fringe view, so such nonsense doesn´t trouble me. I am very grateful for the great support I have received from this Forum during a long and sometimes difficult pilgrimage.

Nevertheless, I decided that a rebuttal was necessary, if only for the sake of the dignity of the non-mobile kids I am trying to raise money for. I´d be interested to see if Mr Safari could face someone in a wheelchair, who will never walk, and make such comments about commercialism. One would hope not. Therefore, best not to make such comments at all.

He was perhaps just playing around with the word ´commercialism´ simply because I commented on the way the Camino is becoming more commercialised. Quite a number of people are commenting on that, certainly not just me. Our recent Forum discussion about the hotel chain and the growth of private albergues for profit, etc., is echoed by the discussion taking place among pilgrims on the Camino. Frequently you see adverts along the Camino now, with private albergues competing with each other to try and divert pilgrims to their albergue rather than another. I am happily joining in the efforts of the Camino amigos in the local associations who are daily removing such advertising and responsibly binning it. Most of it is flimsy poster-work - attached to trees and walls - that will end up adding to the rubbish along the Camino anyway, so the quicker it goes in a bin the better.

Yes, that´s commercialism, and it´s the way of the world. We can expect it. We shouldn´t be surprised. But are we not allowed to express our disappointment? To turn that discussion around and make cheap comments at the expense of disabled kids is not only in bad taste, but completely misses the point. Maybe a minority view (and I really hope so) but it needs challenging when it is repeated.

Again, thanks for your support. Just a few kilometres to go now. I'm in Rabanal.

Gareth
 
Hi Kelly,
I had this reply from Burgos re- staying in the albergue if starting your pilgrimage from there:

"Dear pilgrims of Sudafrica, we have our hostel at the disposal of all pilgrims when it comes to Burgos. We want to warn that possibly in September we will move to the new hostel located on the street Fernan Gonzalez, 28. You will not have difficulty in finding it is located on the Camino de Santiago path in the city.
Yours sincerely"
 
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sillydoll said:
We want to warn that possibly in September we will move to the new hostel located on the street Fernan Gonzalez, 28. You will not have difficulty in finding it is located on the Camino de Santiago path in the city.
"

LOL.... we were told in mid-June that they were ready to move into the new hostel the following week, and that we were amongst the last pilgrims in the old one. Obviously the move to the new place did not take place as soon as they thought.....
Margaret
 
Gareth Thomas said:
Just a few kilometres to go now. I'm in Rabanal. Gareth
Your tired legs will grow wings on them now I am sure. The welcome at Rabanal gave me fresh vitality...and once I was on the top of O'Cebreiro, I could almost sniff Santiago in the air. The walk through Galicia became for me a very pleasant time thinking about the what the whole experience had meant for me (though I freaked out a little at the crowds on the first day out of Sarria...)
I hope that you are able to enjoy the last kilometres, and that the summer crowds do not make that too hard.
Margaret
Kiwinomad
 
Sil,

I actually see this path in to Burgos as a part of the camino. Even though it is not the most fun nor the most beautiful part.

However, I see the camino as a life. You go though different stages of your life when walking... the past comes up, the present and the future... and what do you do in "your daily life when things are getting a little boring or though... do you jump on a bus and wait for it to pass or do you go with it and learn from it. It is only 7 kilometres... and they are done before you know it.

I must say, I find it sad that so many pilgrims jump on the bus or in a taxi these 7-8 kms... and run to alberque before those on foot can get there. Not fair. luckily for me, I have never fancied Burgos... I prefered to continue.

...
I am also a believer in that if one starts in Rancevalles, Logroño, Pamplona etc... one should be allowed to sleep at the alberque at the starting point. If not, we start making lines outside all albergues looking into who have walked the longest stretch, who is most tired, most in need... BUT I am not in favor of... skipping the walk into Burgos by bus or the meseta by bus "because one have been told it is not so funny" (I LOVE the meseta by the way... best stretch... and may be it is because so many take the bus on this stretch... not so many pilgrims... :D

However... I guess all pilgrims do their camino their way.
 
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I quite agree with you Annette. I always tell wanna be peregrinos that the camino is a microcosm of life. They will have good days and bad days, sunshine and rain, easy paths and difficult paths, good food and mediocre food, meet nice people and some not so nice, have happy, joyful days and days where they are grumpy and irritable. At workshops, just for fun, we suggest that they sign an agreement with themselves before they go on their camino:

I undertake to be a good and supportive companion; a grateful visitor, a thankful pilgrim passing through foreign lands. I will be friendly and kind to all I meet and will be a good ambassador for my country. I cannot control the places, events, people or experiences I encounter but I can control the way I react and interact in these circumstances. I will not criticize or complain if things are not up to my expectations. I will endeavour to walk this ancient pilgrimage trail with appreciation and joy, always mindful of the millions who have walked before me and of the multitudes that are still to follow. I will walk this way with integrity and will keep an open mind to all the lessons it can teach me. Signed:…………………….

It would be nice to have a different approach to the city though. The first time I walked it in 2002 we ended up next to the river and had a very long but scenic walk to the park to find the albergue.
Last year we seemed to land up on the main highways with lots of construction, and then endless small industries, tall apartment buildings, and through the whole city before arriving in the square in front of the cathedral.
 
Sil/Annette this is interesting. It raises the question of the extent to which we should walk in the footsteps of prevous prilgrims by following the yellow arrows or find easier, more convenient, shorter or more scenic routes to the destination. Also we have to consider that the route and arrows have had to change and be adapted as roadworks etc change walkability of the old route.

John
 
KiwiNomad06 said:
You will be coming to the mountains again now Gareth, and I hope your spirit is rejuvenated there as mine was!

Absolutely! I climbed O Cebreiro in the moonlight last night. The only pilgrim on the mountain.
It was a really good experience. Knees a bit shaken up now, but I´m ready for the downhill. I'm still at Cebreiro and the morning crowd have come up, had coffee, gone again. It´s all quiet again, even though it´s Saturday. Err... is it Saturday? I´m not sure now.

Gareth


http://whizz-kidz-pilgrim.blogspot.com/2008/07/150-km-o-cebreiro.html
 
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Hi Gareth
My heart tells me that the albergues should give preference to those that walk, over those that begin walking and then for reasons of convenience [ and not because of physical afflictions], use the buses. I have a particular aversion to those quite physically able travellers who send their packs on by taxi early in the day, thereby relieving themselves of the weight, and also guaranteeing themselves of a bed for the night at a non-municipal albergue.
We did have an experince in Butgos when we hopeful of booking into a small albergue in the centre of town. My stamp for that establishment is not clear enough to decipher, but it was over a church and slept only 18 pilgrims. We arrived just in time to see a large group heading in the door, and we gave up hope of staying there. As we milled around outside the door trying to agree on what to do next, the group reappeared at the door, complete with backpacks, and walked off. It transpired that when the Hospitalero had examined the credentiels, it became apparent that they could not have walked to Burgos that day. They admitted that they had taken a bus and with that he told them to leave forthwith. So we got to stay there after all!
Blessings
Alan
 
Alan,
I know the albergue you are speaking of... I just missed out on getting a bed there. But there was a lot of fuss going on from some German women at the time I arrived, as they had sent their packs on, but they could not be delivered to this albergue, so they were trying desperately to track them down... (Poetic justice?!) Eventually, I was given what seemed to be the disappointing news that there was no room, and that I needed to move on to the edge of town.

However, in hindsight it was all for the best that I missed out on a bed there, as it turned out that many of my buddies from previous days were at the municipal albergue in the park. If I had stayed in the centre of town, I would have missed out on many precious contacts with people I had become friends with!

Before I left on the Camino, I found it inconceivable that I would actually "want" to stay in some of these albergues with large crowded dormitories.... but once I was walking and had made friends... that is exactly what I wanted to do!!!
Margaret
 
Municipal and church albergues will enforce the rules on who may use refuges, but they need to know about pilgrims that use baggage services. Keep the hospitaleros/as informed. There are plenty of suitable hostals and hotels for the casual walker. Help them to use them by denying them albergue space, and help your fellow pilgrim by preserving beds for them. Private albergues are another matter ...
 
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I don't think one can reserve beds in municipal albergues - it really is a first come, first served system.
 
Preserve, not reserve, for the next first-come-first-serve pilgrim with a pack!
 
falcon269 said:
Municipal and church albergues will enforce the rules on who may use refuges, but they need to know about pilgrims that use baggage services. Keep the hospitaleros/as informed. There are plenty of suitable hostals and hotels for the casual walker. Help them to use them by denying them albergue space, and help your fellow pilgrim by preserving beds for them. Private albergues are another matter ...

Falcon,
I find your apparent anger about people who don't carry their packs a little mystifying. Maybe you travelled in high summer when beds were more at a premium, but most nights in June there were ample beds for all where I stayed. In Spain the people I knew who chose not to carry their packs the odd day usually did so for very good reasons- ie they were usually carrying a leg injury or shoulder injury or similar. By getting their packs carried - or even themselves carried the odd day- they were actually making decisions that they felt were necessary ones to eventually finish the Camino. They were not 'casual' walkers.... but they were struggling ones.

Margaret
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
I don't mean to be too Teutonic, but the municipal and church albergue rules prohibit baggage service pilgrims. I like that rule.
 
Each to their own.

Anyway, if I can just share my opinion on the bussing pilgrims for one moment...

I don`t really have a problem with it... well, not much anyway! If it`s for a valid reason such as someone who has picked up an injury and want to stick with their friend, that to me seems ok. When peopletake the bus or a taxi and take up places in albergues before people who have walked then I think that isnt ok.

Personally, I`d feel as if I had cheated myself/taken the easier way out if I didn`t walk when I could.
 
Comments on this topic, my own included, keep sounding judgmental, and I don't think that is anyone's intent, certainly not mine. On the recommendation of Brierley, I took a taxi from the outskirts of Burgos to the cathedral, then walked on to Tardajos, to get one of the last three mats on the floor in the albergue. That was cheating in the eyes of some.

Had I faced the choice of using a baggage service for a few days to accommodate an injury, or quitting the Camino, I probably would have chosen the baggage service. Disabled and elderly pilgrims may need a baggage service for the entire pilgrimage. Other pilgrims may need an unplanned rest day and choose to do it on a bus to keep moving to meet a schedule and a plane at the end of the trek.

At some point in the range of choices and circumstances, though, a pilgrim becomes ineligible to use the municipal and church albergues and should head for an hostal or private refuge. Most of us have a sufficient sense of guilt (aren't we after all, or at least some of us, taking a Catholic pilgrimage specifically motivated by guilt??!!) to know when we are cheating a fellow pilgrim out of a bed he has earned by right of effort. I try to do the right thing. I am sure that fellow pilgrims try to do the right thing (except perhaps those trying for a vacation on the cheap, spending 10-15 Euro a day on a baggage service to save 20 Euro on accommodations).

Yes, to each his own. God will sort us out later!
 
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In 2005 I had a debilitating leg muscle injury and couldn't walk more than a few steps at a time. It happened on the way into Najera which has that one huge open albergue. That (snorers) plus fact I had to wait in outside in rain for 3 hours for hospilatero to show up, and the fact he wouldn't let me stay a 2nd night, I bussed to the next stop on my 'intinerary'. I had tremendous guilt applying to stay at an albergue that night as I didn't 'walk' there but didn't have the funds for a proper hotel. A couple of hours later a women with her two pre-teenage sons showed up and at that time there wasn't enough beds for them. Another pilgrim quite aggressively demanded that since I bussed there that I give up my bed and go find another somewhere else. I tried to reason that if I coud, I would, but I could NOT walk let alone wander around a city looking for alternate accommodation. Thankfully, the hospitalero showed up and opened up another room that had 20 more beds and the situation resolved itself. So, at what point do those who 'walk' have more rights than others? Are walkers more privledged than bussers? Are families more entiitled than injured? Are families more entitled than others tho everyone walked the same route? Long-distance > than those who only do 10-15kms? Older > younger?? My pack weighed more than yours??? And who decides?

Maybe people should just walk their own camino and not worry about what others do....
 
Judgemental?

Not really, just that if someone has walked for hours on end, I think they deserve the bed space more than someone who hasn't walked. I'm not being judgemental, merely expressing an opinion.
 
[/quote] I find your apparent anger about people who don't carry their packs a little mystifying. Maybe you travelled in high summer when beds were more at a premium, but most nights in June there were ample beds for all where I stayed. In Spain the people I knew who chose not to carry their packs the odd day usually did so for very good reasons- ie they were usually carrying a leg injury or shoulder injury or similar. By getting their packs carried - or even themselves carried the odd day- they were actually making decisions that they felt were necessary ones to eventually finish the Camino. They were not 'casual' walkers.... but they were struggling ones.

Margaret[/quote]

Good distinction between 'casual' and 'struggling' pilgrims. In the central albergue in Burgos, near the cathedral, I helped a struggling woman from Mexico with her pack up the steep and winding staircase into the albergue. She would take a step in that confining passage, helped by two metal crutches, and then push her pack on up ahead of her. Then she would take another laborious step and repeat the same process. It was the noise of the two metal crutches repeatedly hitting the stairs that I heard when I went to investigate and found her struggling to get to the top. After talking with her later she said she was walking as much as she physically could with her frail body and then, when her strength finally gave out, would take a taxi on to the next place. It was October and she did find a bed. But, had one not been available, and even though I had just walked from France to get there and she had not, I would have gladly given her mine as I truly believe she would have deserved it more. The distinction between a 'casual' and a 'struggling' pilgrim is often blurred.
 
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sillydoll said:
If I only had three weeks and had set my heart on starting from St Jean I would walk 7 days to Logrono (about 165kms). From there I would get a bus to Leon - but not to start walking from there - I would have a look around, visit the cathedral and then get another bus to - perhaps Astorga (259kms to go) and walk from there to Santiago.

I have been trying to find bus schedules (with alsa.es) from Logrono to Leon and the only bus time I was able to find was a departure at 4h30am or 2h50pm which gets me to Astorga at 7h30pm. Do you know if there is anything else ?

Ginette - Canada :)
 
This is the page of schedules from Leon to Astorga:

DEPARTURE SCHEDULES : LEON - ASTORGA
station of origin station of destination departure arrival itinerary from to retail price departure retail price round trip days service transfer seats
LEON ASTORGA 06:00 06:50 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 07:30 08:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJVS normal no
LEON ASTORGA 08:30 09:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 09:00 10:15 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJVS normal no
LEON ASTORGA 09:30 10:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJVS normal no
LEON ASTORGA 10:30 11:20 show
3,15 6,00 D normal no
LEON ASTORGA 10:30 11:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJVS normal no
LEON ASTORGA 12:00 12:50 show
3,15 6,00 S normal no
LEON ASTORGA 12:30 13:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 13:30 14:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJVSD normal no
LEON ASTORGA 14:30 15:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 15:00 15:50 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 15:30 16:20 show
3,15 6,00 D normal no
LEON ASTORGA 15:30 16:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 16:30 17:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJVS normal no
LEON ASTORGA 17:00 17:50 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 17:30 18:20 show
3,15 6,00 D normal no
LEON ASTORGA 17:30 18:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 18:30 19:45 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 18:30 19:20 show
3,15 6,00 D normal no
LEON ASTORGA 18:30 19:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 19:30 20:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 20:30 21:45 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 20:30 21:20 show
3,15 6,00 SD normal no
LEON ASTORGA 20:30 21:20 show
3,15 6,00 LMXJV normal no
LEON ASTORGA 21:30 22:20 show
3,15
 
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Hi,

thank you for the info but the problem is for the portion Logrono-Leon and not Leon-Astorga. There seems to be nothing between 04:35 and 14:50. Is Alsa the only bus company in that area ?

Thank you in advance for all the info you can give me :D
Ginette
 
Hi Ginnet,
Sorry - I didn't read your post properly - it seems like those are the only options, besides a train in the early hours of the morning.

Here is a list of all of the bus companies and routes serving Logroño that you may be interested in:
ALSA Bus: GIJÓN - OVIEDO - LEÓN - LOGROÑO
Automóviles Soto y Alonso, S.L. : BURGOS - BRIVIESCA - LOGROÑO
Continental Auto: VITORIA - LOGROÑO
Herederos de Juan Gurrea: AZAGRA - LODOSA - MENDAVIA - LOGROÑO
La Estellesa: SAN SEBASTIÁN - LOGROÑO
La Unión Alavesa: BILBAO - LOGROÑO
Viacar (Grupo ALSA): SANTANDER - LOGROÑO
Vibasa: VIGO - PONTEVEDRA - ORENSE - LOGROÑO
http://www.vibasa.es/
Zamorana de translportes, S.A. (Grupo Enatcar): VALLADOLID - LOGROÑO
 
This is from the alsa.es website:
Departure schedules (18/06/2009): LOGROÑO - LEON
station of origin station of destination departure arrival itinerary from to retail price departure retail price Return days service observations seats
LOGROÑO LEON 04:35 08:45 show 16,51 30,54 LMXJVSD normal
LOGROÑO LEON 14:50 18:30 show 18,16 33,60 LMXJVSD normal normal with bus change
LOGROÑO LEON 15:15 19:25 show 18,16 33,60 LMXJVSD normal
LOGROÑO LEON 23:55 04:20
next day show 31/03/2009 18,16 33,60 V normal
 
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