Camping and equipment concerns!!

[twigsandribbons]

Hello, my name is Lindsay and I will be arriving SJPdP in on June 14th, 2010.

I'll be walking El Camino Frances with my friend Nelle, and we are going to be bringing sleeping bags and splitting the weight of a 2 person, lightweight tent between us to ensure that we will have a place to sleep every night-- we know that it will be crowded and we want to avoid the "rush for the beds" that we've read about. Also, we don't mind roughing it a little. :wink:

But it's just occurred to me that we almost certainly won't be able to take the tent with us on the plane, and as we got reeeeeally discounted tickets with lots of layovers, it's not practical for us to check baggage. I'm kind of panicking now because I don't know what we're going to do!

Furthermore, I've read that a lot of pilgrims bring Swiss Army knives, sporks and whatnot and I'm starting to worry that there may be yet more equipment which we will not be permitted to carry on with us.

Does anyone have any knowledge/advice to share? Is there anywhere in SJPdP that we could ship our things ahead of time? Or an early stop on El Camino Frances?

Thanks in advance for any help, it is so appreciated. As much as I envy the simplicity of the pilgrimage fifty years ago, I feel very lucky to have a resource like the forum handy!!

<3 Lindsay

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Lindsay - here is the information I think you are looking for, it is from http://www.americanpilgrims.com

Can I mail a package ahead to myself? Yes, and this is fairly common. Many do it after starting out to lighten their load; others may do it with aforethought, sending a package of 'city clothes' ahead to Santiago. The service in Spain, called lista de correos, is the same as poste restante or, in the U.S., general delivery. You can buy a box at the correos (post office). Packages are addressed:

Your name with your surname first and your surname in capital letters and underlined or boxed
LISTA DE CORREOS
Destination city with postal code and province (see below for some)

The Correos will normally hold a package for 15 days after which they will return it to the city of origin. That would be very bad news! It has been rumored that the Correos will hold a package longer than the usual 15 days for peregrinos. Information received by a returning peregrino on June 16, 2008 is that packages are in fact NOT being held longer than 15 days for peregrinos. Be advised! You might write "PEREGRINO" boldly on the box and you might also add "Retener en lista de correos hasta el <day> de <month>" ("Hold until date" with the month spelled out in Spanish) but apparently neither of those markings will gain you a guarantee of any special treatment.

The lista de correos addresses of a few major cities along the Camino are:
Paseo Sarasate 9/31080 Pamplona (Navarra)
Paseo de Inmaculada 5/31200 Estella (Navarra)
Perez Caldo 44/26080 Logroño (La Rioja)
Plaza Conde de Castro 1/09080 Burgos (Burgos)
Jardines de San Francisco s/n/24080 León (León)
Calle General Vives 1/24400 Ponferrada (León)
Calle Calvo Sotelo 183/27600 Sarria (Lugo)
Orfas 17/15703 Santiago de Compostela (A Coruña)

You will need your passport for identification when retrieving your package.

Have a further question about mail service in Spain? Link to the Correos de España web site (click on "English" lower right corner).

By the way, the information for poste restante service in France can be found at the site for Discover France (English). Look for "General Delivery Service." We have seen advisements against sending packages from France (St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port for example) to lista de correos in Spain. Apparently the two systems don't recognize each other.

 

[twigsandribbons]

Thank you SO much, Johnnie!

I tried to do some research myself on the American Pilgrims site you linked but it appears you need to pay for a membership. :/ I did a little research myself, though, and while it appears I have found the appropriate place in SJPdP: http://www.aucoeurduchemin.org/spip/-Sa ... ml?lang=en, I'm concerned about the rules.

I wish I could find an email address for the Pilgrim's Office in SJPdP-- I'd like to ask them directly about their policy where poste restante is concerned, and if the charge per item is per *package* or per item within a package (stupid questions, I know, but as a first time pilgrim I'm paranoid about all the little details! :roll: )

Thanks again for your help, knowing this is a popular concern has made me feel a little better.

 

[Mountainman]

Hi Lindsay,

another option might be to send it to an albergue. One albergue in St Jean is simply wonderful, and you can make reservations there as well (which is quite rare on the Camino). If you mail them for reservations, you can ask if it is possible and OK if you send a package to yourself on their address beforehand.

No idea if it is possible, but given my experience with these wonderful people, I give you a good chance. The albergue is called l'Esprit du Chemin, and details can be found at http://www.espritduchemin.org/. If you end up staying there, make sure you take the lunch-package they offer, which might very well be the best sandwich/baguette you'll have on the Camino!
(and no, I dont work there or have stocks :mrgreen: , I simply enjoyed the stay there very much)

Buen Camino,
Martin

 

[twigsandribbons]

Thank you, Martin, both for your really helpful reply on this post and also for my 'perks of El Camino' post I made a few weeks ago!

I have emailed them inquiring and I will see!

One of my concerns is whether or not I will be permitted to camp on hostel property. Of course I am willing to pay the donativo, and I hope I that I will be able to get stamps for my credential by camping on the property.

Thank you!!

 

[Mountainman]

Hi Lindsay,

De nada! ;-) You might not get a reply on short term though, as the albergue is not open until April.

Stamps are provided at every albergue, most churches and cafe's, and also at schools/universities, and so on... So no worries there. Camping on hostel property I have no experience with, as I have never walked the Camino with a tent...

I wish you both a brilliant Camino, strong backs for the tent and lots of joy on the road...

Hasta luego,
Martin

 

[sillydoll]

The Pilgrim's Office
Les Amis du Chemin de Saint-Jacques des Pyrenees-Atlantiques
39 rue de la citadelle
64220 Saint Jean Pied de PortFrance
caminopa@hotmail.com

Post Restante:

64220 St Jean Pied-de-Port