Camino Frances in reverse

[Walkingboy]

Hi I walked the Camino Frances east to west this year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thinking of doing the reverse. If you get your passport stamped but in reverse can you still get your certificate? Cheers Dave

 

[Bradypus]

If by 'certificate' you mean the Compostela then no. It is only given to those who arrive in Santiago after walking at least the last 100km on a recognised route. You cannot receive one for starting in Santiago and then walking to somewhere else.

 

[Walkingboy]

Well no worries I’ll be walking it for the experience anyway. Thanks for the reply. Cheers. Dave

 

[mspath]

How lucky you are to be walking for the experience of going in reverse and the happy chance of meeting other "out of step" walkers.

Late October 2015 near Arcos
slowly from the distant western horizon appeared a figure walking towards me; tall, tanned, wearing a beret and bearing packs on both his chest and back he strode smoothly along. When I said "Hola" he graciously greeted me in several languages and explained that early in summer he had walked from his home in Germany down to Saint Jean Pied de Port and on to Santiago. Now he was walking back towards southern France, Italy and eventually Rome. What an itinerary! What determination!

After a short pause sitting on a rock while sharing a few cookies as well as several camino confidences we shook hands and sincerely wished each other Ultreia and Adieu. Each of us moved towards our different horizons but strangers no more.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Allow extra time to explain to west bound pilgrims that you are not returning from Santiago . . .

After my stint as Hospitalero at Rabanal I decided to walk back to Astorga to catch my bus home and everybody I met asked if I was on the return trip!

One of the other Hospitaleros did the same but made a joke of it and said yes, he was walking all the way back to England.

Don't forget that the signs only point one way, expect to spend some time scratching your head looking for a reverse yellow arrow!

 

[wayfarer]

My most unusual experience was meeting a pilgrim walking to Santiago but in reverse..it seems he would bus a stage ahead each morning and walk back. We met him about five days and then no more. Each to their own.

 

[alhartman]

Be prepared with dozens of 'buen camino', 'guten weg', 'ultriea' and 'bon chemin'

 

[jsalt]

Thinking of doing the reverse.

You will get many different reactions from the people coming the other way. It helps to smile and say “Buen Camino!” first, just before you get level with them.

If other pilgrims tell you that you are going the “wrong way”, just reply that it depends on where you are going.

And expect a LOT of locals to try and turn you around, as they think you really have lost your way; so learn something in Spanish to put their minds at rest. I usually said I was going to xx (the next town), and was it that way?

Try not to scare the woman walking alone in the more isolated areas (difficult!). Many solo women did a double-take when they saw me coming towards them, and I knew what they were thinking.

I was happy when I saw them first square their shoulders, and then relax when they realised I was another woman. Take the time to stop and chat with them, if that is what they want to do, or just move on surely and steadily away from them if they look wary.

It’s a whole different camino walking “backwards”.
Have fun!

 

[Bradypus]

I have posted this passage from Nicholas Crane's "reverse" walk in Clear Waters Rising before but I think it will bear repeating

 

[Tincatinker]

You will find a Ukulele and the chords for Spike Milligan's magnificent

I'M WALKING BACKWARDS FOR CHRISTMAS
(Spike Milligan)
The Goons - 1956


I'm walking backwards for Christmas,
Across the Irish Sea,
I'm walking backwards for Christmas,
It's the only thing for me.

I've tried walking sideways,
And walking to the front,
But people just look at me,
And say it's a publicity stunt.

I'm walking backwards for Christmas,
To prove that I love you.

An immigrant lad, loved an Irish colleen
From Dublin Galway Bay.
He longed for her arms,
But she spurned his charms,
And sailed o'er the foam away

She left the lad by himself, on his own
All alone, a-sorrowing
And sadly he dreamed, or at least that's the
way it seemed, buddy,
That an angel quieted him....
An angel quieted the same.

I'm walking backwards for Christmas,
Across the Irish Sea.
I'm walking backwards for Christmas,
It's the finest thing for me.

And so I've tried walking sideways,
And walking to the front.
But people just laughed, and said,
"It's a publicity stunt".

So I'm walking backwards for Christmas
To prove that I love you.

useful. A simple substitution and a brass neck should get you a free beer in every eugreblA you stay in

 

[A Kerryman]

If by 'certificate' you mean the Compostela then no. It is only given to those who arrive in Santiago after walking at least the last 100km on a recognised route. You cannot receive one for starting in Santiago and then walking to somewhere else.

What is the situation with Municipal Albergues when you walk in reverse , are you allowed to stay there ?

 

[Tincatinker]

Yes. The Albergues offer accommodation to pilgrims to the shrine of Santiago. A pilgrim has to get home somehow. Most private Albergues won't even look at your direction of travel.

If you carry a Credencial to evidence your pilgrimage then you will be welcome in any Albergue. Though past experience at El Cubo in Burgos suggests you may have to explain yourself sometimes. I was told very emphatically by one Hospi that beds were for Pilgrims walking to Santiago. His companion straightened that one out. I guess clutching a freshly minted Compostella may help .

 

[A Kerryman]

Yes. The Albergues offer accommodation to pilgrims to the shrine of Santiago. A pilgrim has to get home somehow. Most private Albergues won't even look at your direction of travel.

If you carry a Credencial to evidence your pilgrimage then you will be welcome in any Albergue. Though past experience at El Cubo in Burgos suggests you may have to explain yourself sometimes. I was told very emphatically by one Hospi that beds were for Pilgrims walking to Santiago. His companion straightened that one out. I guess clutching a freshly minted Compostella may help .

Thank you , so if you just started freshly from Santiago without a Compostela it might get tricky. It must be very different to walk back , I am thinking of places like the hill at Castrojeriz and walking into sunrise instead of turning back to view it. Very tempting idea

 

[Davey Boyd]

I have walked the Frances back from Santiago three times now. Loved it every time! Heres some things I have noticed.

Everyone will tell you you are going the wrong way. Many times a day. Locals will shout and even stop their cars to tell you. I always ask them politely 'is this the way to France'?

Other returnees you meet are very interesting. Most are lovely with incredible stories. Some are nice but completely mad! Great friendships are made between those few returning who actually meet.

The walk from Molinesca to Foncebadon is a killer in this direction!

The walk up to Alto de Perdon is also a killer in this direction!

You will get lost. The Camino in Spain is marked only to Santiago. Get used to it, and enjoy! (Though a GPS track helps)! Sometimes you see a blue spiral with an arrow which points towards France, but not often.

You will get a lot of Hospitalero's giving you a lot of kudos for walking back. But some of the pilgrims you will meet in albergues will think you are a lunatic. One accused me of cheating!

It is VERY lonely. You will meet every pilgrim once only! You will say Buen Camino hundreds of times a day (towards Sarria hundreds of times an hour)! You will meet wonderful people in albergues you would love to walk with, but alas, it is not to be.

The albergues will get to know you. They remember returnees. Last time arriving in the municipal in St Jean for check in the Hospi stopped, looked at me and said 'You are back. Again'. Next time you walk to Santiago they will remember you then too.

You will confuse people. You will walk around a corner to see pilgrims approaching you. They suddenly stop and consult their guidebook thinking they are lost.

For best results walk back in winter!

Enjoy
Davey

 

[jsalt]

What is the situation with Municipal Albergues when you walk in reverse , are you allowed to stay there ?

Yes.

If you walk in season, when it is busy, they won’t even notice.

If you walk in winter (like I did) they will want to talk, and they will ask you why you are walking in reverse.

I have heard (so far) of only one place that refused a pilgrim because he was walking away from Santiago, and that was at Alpriate, the first albergue after Lisbon on the Portuguese Camino.

 

[Sam - AU]

I contemplated turning around and doing this at the end of my last Camino and am certain at some point in the future when the time is right I will.

Definitely a way to guarantee a more solitary camino and intriguing to see who the camino will put in your path given you shall only meet people once.

But oh to walk INTO those sunrises every morning ... very jealous!

 

[pelerine]

Connecting the VdlP with the Salvador I walked counterflow from Astorga to León. The hospitalera in Hospital del Órbigo(?) asked me in a kind way where I had come from that day. “Astorga?” Then looking with pity at this little old lady “No! Tomorrow you are going to Astorga!”

 

[armymustang]

My most unusual experience was meeting a pilgrim walking to Santiago but in reverse..it seems he would bus a stage ahead each morning and walk back. We met him about five days and then no more. Each to their own.

There is an older German fellow doing that right now. He has an RV and a car so he drives ahead, parks one vehicle, walks in reverse, and then leap frogs ahead each night, sleeping in his RV. We stopped him after we saw him 5 days in a row. We're in Astorga now so he's around here somewhere.

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Last October/Novmber we walked the Madrid and then back to Pamplona. It is truely a different Camino when walking in reverse. We do not worry about getting a Compostela anymore.

You would enjoy it.