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Dear FEET, bedbug bites, and diarrhea,

Shanblistered

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Jun-July (2015)
HI all peregrina/os,
Just wanted to share a few words of wisdom gained through my journey on the Camino Frances (June-July 2015). This is a personal experience and lessons learned; and everyone's perspective WILL and is different.

Here is my story: Coming from Seattle (Washington), one would think I would have trained with all the beautiful trails around here, for the pilgrimage, but I went on a 10 mile (16 km) hike once and a 18 miles (28 km) 2 weeks before going to St. Jean. I was not in shape and borderline obese. The first hike was a warm up, which put me in bed for two days because of aches. The second one took me 12 hours to complete and put me to bed for 5 days with aches and a knee problem. (Just to give you a sense of how fit I am NOT). A little training may help...

I took the earliest train from Paris to Bayonne and a bus (no more train service) Bayonne to St Jean. Took me 8 hours or maybe more!!! But arrived in decent time to settle in and have dinner. My suggestion here is catch the first train out of Paris (if that is your choice of journeying). You don't have to, but it is worth the afternoon arrival and relaxing. You DO NOT have to buy tickets in advance (especially if coming from America). I found the tickets to be cheaper is you do not buy in advance, but buy them when you need them. same goes for the bus.

From St. Jean to Roncevalles: this part is AAAAALLLLL about personal decisions. Initially, my original plan was to walk to Orrisson and stay a night, then go to Roncevalles. however the Camino had different plans. After all the info gathering and Internet researching, a part of me knew that the weather on this part of the journey was fickle and could change any moment. I asked the office in St. Jean about the forecast, they said no rain. There were dark clouds in the mountains.... I ended up walking to Roncevalles with sitting only twice the whole way. It was nothing but fog and moisture. Not many places to sit in such climate. My main concern was the rain. (Lo' and behold folks who started the after got rain...) The arrival to Roncevalles is the start of my blistered feet journey. A few things on this:

1) It doesn't matter what kind of shoes you get, BUT BREAK INTO THEM with many mileage/kilometers of love. I've seen people wear sandals, tennis shoes to hiking boots. It's all about comfort to the feet. AND when you get your shoes get one or two sizes up... Your feet will swell up--99.9% guaranteed! I cannot speak for the rain. I was blessed to have nothing but sunshine and warmth with the exception of the day before Santiago. I wore hiking boots. Also take breaks to dry and air out feet and socks. It helps.

2) bring your supplies for first aide... I spent more on my feet than accommodations and food together. Yes, they have farmacia/pharmacies, but the euro will start racking up for 35 days! How bad were my blisters? Google "stage 2 decubitus ulcers" images.

3/4ths of my left foot were blistered throughout the journey and about half or similar to my right. They went through healing and reforming blisters cycles. In Santa Domingo, I had to buy new shoes, socks, and sandals. The Merrills that I had were sucking up the heat causing too much warm and maybe burns to my feet. I donated them to a convent. Got myself salmons(?!), keens and decent socks. I originally brought flip flops, but the blisters between my toes were not having it...I did everything and suggestions of ALL the empathetic pilgrims had for my ailing feet.

Here they are:
A) compeed The blisters. I did. But when wet they part way fall off and some stay on.... They RIP your blisters! The worst Pain ever!!! They are for HOT spots on your feet. Stop. Drop everything. Put that baby on and you are good to go. If not, then you will have a blister. They are not cheap in the farmacia considering how many blisters I went through!

B) Vaseline the feet. This works like a charm if you don't have blisters or for areas that are not blistered, BUT you have to be religious about rubbing your feet with them. You don't need blobs of them. A film is plenty, given that you will stop and do feet check and rests. A few pilgrims were kind to give me their creams and supplies for my feet. Late in the journey, I forgot that packed AQUAPHOR! This is the best thing on earth. I will bring a tube of this for my next journey (yes, I will do the camino again) the bestest thing about AQUAPHOR is that it is like Vaseline, but can be used for chapped skin/used like lotion/used on small wounds to help retain moisture for healing/and can sub as chapstick!! I used it the rest of the way. It worked like a miracle. My blisters healed 3 days before Santiago....miracles! I would suggest aquaphor.

c) needle, thread, and iodine/betadine: thread the needle, pop your blister, thread the blister to juice it out. Leave the thread in, rub with iodine/betadine. This hurts like no words can describe (the betadine part). But the iodine/betadine dries the blisters out. I found this useful for blisters no bigger than your thumb nail. If it is any bigger, it helped drain the blister, but my blisters had blisters underneath and another under that.

D) double socking: it works to a degree, given that you have enough room in the shoes, but your feet sweat like it rained...or the least mine did... But it did help cushion all my blisters, yet sometimes it was too painful, I gave up on it. With all the blisters juicing out and sweaty feet, it was no bueno.

e) gauze, tape...simple. After struggling with my deep blister wounds down to the raw skin, I learned that keeping them dry, drained, and covered were the main concepts. I had a lot of callous to my feet, and that's where the blisters were. What I did was cut my dead blister skin open, clean the feet, put a film or a goop of aquaphor on the raw skin, cover with a 4x4 gauze and tape it Real good (almost wrap the feet with it). This did the trick! I would change dressings every 5-10km, and let the socks dry, and feet air out. Had my blisters been smaller I would have probably pop, drain and covered it, but I had some serious wounds.

F) rest days. As stubborn and adamant as I was about walking the whole thing, I had 4 rest days total. It did help. Resting is important no matter how fit you are... If not blisters and fatigue, people had knee problems along the way...too. I did walk the whole thing.

Find what works in blister care for you and keep at it. I won't leave out wine/beer, ibuprofen/naproxen out of the pain management part. I have never felt so much pain, but those have helped me truck along.

3) bedbugs. I was without any problems until a group of us hit up Ledigos. One of the albergues was infested with them. My backpack leaned at the foot of the bed and had some clothing on the bed. . . We migrated to the municipal and got no refund for changing albergues. If you are going to stay in Ledigos, the Municipal in Ledigos is nice and really clean. The hospitelero extremely kind. The other albergue, I think the hospitelero was stressed.... Well lo' and behold, in Leon (3 days later) I had track bites down my arms, legs, back and chest (on top of the blisters).... The convent albergue volunteers disinfected all my stuff and helped me out. Very humbling and kind people. I continued to wash, dry in machines when I could and got some black bags to lay my stuff in the bags in the scorching Spanish sun....Did not have new bites, since. But threw away almost everything when I got back home (sleeping bag, clothes, and backpack). Bought a insect creme for it. I think hydrocortisone would have suffice.

4) old knee issue. This started acting up in Astorga. The farmacia have ibuprofen cream (can't get that in US)!! Miracles happen with that.

5) after the journey all the way to Finisterra and back, I don't know if it was the relief of being done with the pilgrimage, but my body when through some challenges. I had hourly diarrhoea, felt weak, aching muscles, almost like the flu, but not... Rested for a bit. It almost felt like my body was doing a final detox....

Final journey was to home.

The journey is YOUR own! do it your way. People will come and go. Get their info, if you like them. Some will stick around. In the beginning of st. Jean, people will walk like its a marathon. It's not a competition, if anything, you are competing with you. St Jean to the next big city is peaceful, as you arrive from big cities to big cities, you will notice more and more people....Sarria and on, things get very commercialized in a hurry... It may be a way of slowly acclimating to the reality of being back (almost) to the real world... There is beauty in it too. Don't let it dishearten you...
If any regrets, it's not being fluent in Spanish, not knowing French, German or Dutch... I was rusty with Spanish, but wished I was able to speak it. It may have broaden my experience.

Otherwise, The Spirit of Camino really stays with you. happy walking! Thanks for reading. Carpe diem. Buen Camino!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
get your shoes get one or two sizes up... Your feet will swell up--99.9% guaranteed!
Once again I will recommend buying shoes that fit. Do not find out for the first time on the Camino that your feet swell! It is far too late to experiment. Know before you leave how your feet will react. Not everyone's feet swell; it has to do with weight and metabolism. If you buy big without knowing your feet, you are begging for blisters. Your foot will slide around when it is not swollen, and you have blisters. You can always start the day in thick socks, and switch to thinner ones when your feet begin to swell. :)
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
@Shanblistered, thank you for your account, I'm with @falcon269 your shoes/boots are the most important piece of kit, not only on the camino, but on any hike.
Reading about your blisters make me cringe, but even with them you managed to complete the journey, that is some accomplishment.
I start my camino in a few days and pray that I don't suffer as you have.
 
Last edited:
Shan, a not very good experience. I admire your willpower and courage!
About the "Aquaphor" Do you mean Aquaphor-Eucerin?
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
HI all peregrina/os,
Just wanted to share a few words of wisdom gained through my journey on the Camino Frances (June-July 2015). This is a personal experience and lessons learned; and everyone's perspective WILL and is different.

Here is my story: Coming from Seattle (Washington), one would think I would have trained with all the beautiful trails around here, for the pilgrimage, but I went on a 10 mile (16 km) hike once and a 18 miles (28 km) 2 weeks before going to St. Jean. I was not in shape and borderline obese. The first hike was a warm up, which put me in bed for two days because of aches. The second one took me 12 hours to complete and put me to bed for 5 days with aches and a knee problem. (Just to give you a sense of how fit I am NOT). A little training may help...

I took the earliest train from Paris to Bayonne and a bus (no more train service) Bayonne to St Jean. Took me 8 hours or maybe more!!! But arrived in decent time to settle in and have dinner. My suggestion here is catch the first train out of Paris (if that is your choice of journeying). You don't have to, but it is worth the afternoon arrival and relaxing. You DO NOT have to buy tickets in advance (especially if coming from America). I found the tickets to be cheaper is you do not buy in advance, but buy them when you need them. same goes for the bus.

From St. Jean to Roncevalles: this part is AAAAALLLLL about personal decisions. Initially, my original plan was to walk to Orrisson and stay a night, then go to Roncevalles. however the Camino had different plans. After all the info gathering and Internet researching, a part of me knew that the weather on this part of the journey was fickle and could change any moment. I asked the office in St. Jean about the forecast, they said no rain. There were dark clouds in the mountains.... I ended up walking to Roncevalles with sitting only twice the whole way. It was nothing but fog and moisture. Not many places to sit in such climate. My main concern was the rain. (Lo' and behold folks who started the after got rain...) The arrival to Roncevalles is the start of my blistered feet journey. A few things on this:

1) It doesn't matter what kind of shoes you get, BUT BREAK INTO THEM with many mileage/kilometers of love. I've seen people wear sandals, tennis shoes to hiking boots. It's all about comfort to the feet. AND when you get your shoes get one or two sizes up... Your feet will swell up--99.9% guaranteed! I cannot speak for the rain. I was blessed to have nothing but sunshine and warmth with the exception of the day before Santiago. I wore hiking boots. Also take breaks to dry and air out feet and socks. It helps.

2) bring your supplies for first aide... I spent more on my feet than accommodations and food together. Yes, they have farmacia/pharmacies, but the euro will start racking up for 35 days! How bad were my blisters? Google "stage 2 decubitus ulcers" images.

3/4ths of my left foot were blistered throughout the journey and about half or similar to my right. They went through healing and reforming blisters cycles. In Santa Domingo, I had to buy new shoes, socks, and sandals. The Merrills that I had were sucking up the heat causing too much warm and maybe burns to my feet. I donated them to a convent. Got myself salmons(?!), keens and decent socks. I originally brought flip flops, but the blisters between my toes were not having it...I did everything and suggestions of ALL the empathetic pilgrims had for my ailing feet.

Here they are:
A) compeed The blisters. I did. But when wet they part way fall off and some stay on.... They RIP your blisters! The worst Pain ever!!! They are for HOT spots on your feet. Stop. Drop everything. Put that baby on and you are good to go. If not, then you will have a blister. They are not cheap in the farmacia considering how many blisters I went through!

B) Vaseline the feet. This works like a charm if you don't have blisters or for areas that are not blistered, BUT you have to be religious about rubbing your feet with them. You don't need blobs of them. A film is plenty, given that you will stop and do feet check and rests. A few pilgrims were kind to give me their creams and supplies for my feet. Late in the journey, I forgot that packed AQUAPHOR! This is the best thing on earth. I will bring a tube of this for my next journey (yes, I will do the camino again) the bestest thing about AQUAPHOR is that it is like Vaseline, but can be used for chapped skin/used like lotion/used on small wounds to help retain moisture for healing/and can sub as chapstick!! I used it the rest of the way. It worked like a miracle. My blisters healed 3 days before Santiago....miracles! I would suggest aquaphor.

c) needle, thread, and iodine/betadine: thread the needle, pop your blister, thread the blister to juice it out. Leave the thread in, rub with iodine/betadine. This hurts like no words can describe (the betadine part). But the iodine/betadine dries the blisters out. I found this useful for blisters no bigger than your thumb nail. If it is any bigger, it helped drain the blister, but my blisters had blisters underneath and another under that.

D) double socking: it works to a degree, given that you have enough room in the shoes, but your feet sweat like it rained...or the least mine did... But it did help cushion all my blisters, yet sometimes it was too painful, I gave up on it. With all the blisters juicing out and sweaty feet, it was no bueno.

e) gauze, tape...simple. After struggling with my deep blister wounds down to the raw skin, I learned that keeping them dry, drained, and covered were the main concepts. I had a lot of callous to my feet, and that's where the blisters were. What I did was cut my dead blister skin open, clean the feet, put a film or a goop of aquaphor on the raw skin, cover with a 4x4 gauze and tape it Real good (almost wrap the feet with it). This did the trick! I would change dressings every 5-10km, and let the socks dry, and feet air out. Had my blisters been smaller I would have probably pop, drain and covered it, but I had some serious wounds.

F) rest days. As stubborn and adamant as I was about walking the whole thing, I had 4 rest days total. It did help. Resting is important no matter how fit you are... If not blisters and fatigue, people had knee problems along the way...too. I did walk the whole thing.

Find what works in blister care for you and keep at it. I won't leave out wine/beer, ibuprofen/naproxen out of the pain management part. I have never felt so much pain, but those have helped me truck along.

3) bedbugs. I was without any problems until a group of us hit up Ledigos. One of the albergues was infested with them. My backpack leaned at the foot of the bed and had some clothing on the bed. . . We migrated to the municipal and got no refund for changing albergues. If you are going to stay in Ledigos, the Municipal in Ledigos is nice and really clean. The hospitelero extremely kind. The other albergue, I think the hospitelero was stressed.... Well lo' and behold, in Leon (3 days later) I had track bites down my arms, legs, back and chest (on top of the blisters).... The convent albergue volunteers disinfected all my stuff and helped me out. Very humbling and kind people. I continued to wash, dry in machines when I could and got some black bags to lay my stuff in the bags in the scorching Spanish sun....Did not have new bites, since. But threw away almost everything when I got back home (sleeping bag, clothes, and backpack). Bought a insect creme for it. I think hydrocortisone would have suffice.

4) old knee issue. This started acting up in Astorga. The farmacia have ibuprofen cream (can't get that in US)!! Miracles happen with that.

5) after the journey all the way to Finisterra and back, I don't know if it was the relief of being done with the pilgrimage, but my body when through some challenges. I had hourly diarrhoea, felt weak, aching muscles, almost like the flu, but not... Rested for a bit. It almost felt like my body was doing a final detox....

Final journey was to home.

The journey is YOUR own! do it your way. People will come and go. Get their info, if you like them. Some will stick around. In the beginning of st. Jean, people will walk like its a marathon. It's not a competition, if anything, you are competing with you. St Jean to the next big city is peaceful, as you arrive from big cities to big cities, you will notice more and more people....Sarria and on, things get very commercialized in a hurry... It may be a way of slowly acclimating to the reality of being back (almost) to the real world... There is beauty in it too. Don't let it dishearten you...
If any regrets, it's not being fluent in Spanish, not knowing French, German or Dutch... I was rusty with Spanish, but wished I was able to speak it. It may have broaden my experience.

Otherwise, The Spirit of Camino really stays with you. happy walking! Thanks for reading. Carpe diem. Buen Camino!
Thank you for sharing your story, Shanblistered!
 
old knee issue. This started acting up in Astorga. The farmacia have ibuprofen cream (can't get that in US)!! Miracles happen with that.

Actually, you can get ketoprofen cream (and other variations) in the United States with a prescription. It is similar to ibuprofen. You have to get it from a compounding pharmacy. I use it on my arthritic hands, and sometimes on my feet or knee. I highly recommend it. Works fast and takes care of just the spot that's hurting.
 
Once again I will recommend buying shoes that fit. Do not find out for the first time on the Camino that your feet swell! It is far too late to experiment. Know before you leave how your feet will react. Not everyone's feet swell; it has to do with weight and metabolism. If you buy big without knowing your feet, you are begging for blisters. Your foot will slide around when it is not swollen, and you have blisters. You can always start the day in thick socks, and switch to thinner ones when your feet begin to swell. :)

I could agree and disagree. Everyone is different. This was a personal experience. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
Actually, you can get ketoprofen cream (and other variations) in the United States with a prescription. It is similar to ibuprofen. You have to get it from a compounding pharmacy. I use it on my arthritic hands, and sometimes on my feet or knee. I highly recommend it. Works fast and takes care of just the spot that's hurting.

When one does not have a prescription, just letting folks know... There are options out there without prescriptions.
 
Shanblistered, thank you for your clear & helpful explanation.
Wish you well.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
Thank you for your helpful post! Going to buy some Aquaphor today...
 
I was very religious in using Aquaphor (once or twice a day, depending on heat and length of hike) and have never gotten a blister in three Caminos. Highly recommended. Also, double socks, a liner and wool sock. And finally, I think the weight of your pack can influence the likelihood of getting blisters.
 
Shanblistered, thanks so much for the aquaphor recommendation. I just happened to see it in our local grocery store after reading your post, and you're right, it's just amazing on hot spots. In Paris the day before we started I wound up walking for about five hours in new Crocs with no socks, so I had a bunch do hot spots by the time I got back to the hotel. I used the aquaphor on them and they were all cleared in a day or so, without developing into blisters at all.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Actually, you can get ketoprofen cream (and other variations) in the United States with a prescription. It is similar to ibuprofen. You have to get it from a compounding pharmacy. I use it on my arthritic hands, and sometimes on my feet or knee. I highly recommend it. Works fast and takes care of just the spot that's hurting.

Yes, Voltaren cream (or Declofenac cream or any equivalent) is available in the US with a prescription, but I just told my pharmacist to put it back on the shelf when he told me the price was $62 for the standard tube that sells in Spain for about 6 euros! Glad I still have enough left from my camino to tide me over till next year.
 
Yes, Voltaren cream (or Declofenac cream or any equivalent) is available in the US with a prescription, but I just told my pharmacist to put it back on the shelf when he told me the price was $62 for the standard tube that sells in Spain for about 6 euros! Glad I still have enough left from my camino to tide me over till next year.
62$!!!! My farmacist made me a jar with 2% active ingrédient for 10$ or so. Perhaps you can find a pharmacien that known about compounding amd can make some for you.
 
@Shanblistered I was interested in your experience with bed bugs at Ledigos. I was at Albergue El Palomar on 1st May. Was this the Albergue with the bed bugs? I did not get bitten but when I was packing my stuff up in the morning I noticed a beetle type thing crawling on the board between my top bunk and the next one. I wondered if it was a bed bug or not at the time. I did remove it from the bed in case it was so the next person would not suffer. I had an anti bed bug sheet on my bunk and did not get any bites so I could not be sure either way having not seen a live bed bug before.
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
@Shanblistered I was interested in your experience with bed bugs at Ledigos. I was at Albergue El Palomar on 1st May. Was this the Albergue with the bed bugs? I did not get bitten but when I was packing my stuff up in the morning I noticed a beetle type thing crawling on the board between my top bunk and the next one. I wondered if it was a bed bug or not at the time. I did remove it from the bed in case it was so the next person would not suffer. I had an anti bed bug sheet on my bunk and did not get any bites so I could not be sure either way having not seen a live bed bug before.

Yes, Albergue El Palomar was the place. The "beetle" like bug was the bed bug. They didn't do much to care for the bedbugs. . .
 
Yes, Albergue El Palomar was the place. The "beetle" like bug was the bed bug. They didn't do much to care for the bedbugs. . .
Thanks @Shanblistered, we have just walked the Chemin du Puy and did not see any bed bugs but one person did get them quite early on in the walk. We think it was at the Gite "Les Gentians" but cannot be sure of that. She moved from a bed she was allocated to and went to one in another room that had no-one else in it because the shutters were so noisy she could not sleep. Next morning there were bites, and then on the following days after that also. 3 days later a host from one of the gites informed her she had bed bugs and took all her things and washed them.
 

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