Departing April 2008

[Berberman]

Hi
I am intending to depart from Jean-Pied-de-Port mid April 2008 walking solo with my black Lab Fez. I will be arriving from the French Alps after ski-ing the season. There are several questions I need an anser to.

1. Is there any problems taking a dog on the walk. I intend to stay at hostels.
2. Does any body know were I can leave my car and caravan in storage for a month near to J.P.de.Port or near the coast. Has to be cheap.
3. Do trains/buses run from Santiago back to France.

Berberman

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Berberman,
Welcome to the forum. Sorry I can't help you re parking/storage but possibly with the other two items.
You should have no problem getting back to France; train or buses will get you there.
Regarding taking your dog with you I think there are some things to be considered. I have seen pilgrims with dogs before, one couple had picked up a puppy along the route, ( so that could be carried), another was a Spanish pilgrim who walked for several days with the dog and then his parents took the dog home. I'm not certain, but I think the problem was that some parts of the Camino are on the road quite a bit and this became too much for the dog's pads.
You say you intend to stay in 'hostEls' - if by this you mean 'refugios' I think there may be a problem in some places. (I don't know what the situation is in Spanish 'hostAls'). I think many of the refugios would not accept dogs; in places like the 'English' refugio at Rabanal, for example, you may bring a dog but it is not allowed inside the building and must be tied up/be under close control all the time, there is a garden/field; other refugios have no such facilities.
The other problem you may encounter with a large dog is sheep. It's not the sheep as such but the dogs that go with them. The Spanish shepherds stay with their flocks all day and they have their dogs with them. In the UK the sheep are left to their own devices and dogs are used occasionally to round them up. The Spanish sheepdogs are there for protection, (there are usually several of them), and are likely to see another dog as a threat and take what they think is appropriate action, ie attack. The Camino isn't crawling with flocks but you are likely to come across them.
In the villages there are often loose dogs lying around, they open one eye to look at pilgrims and go back to sleep - I honestly don't know how they would react to a 'foreign' dog.
Hopefully there may be other people on the forum who may be able to help. Hope your preparations go well.
Buen Camino

Brendan

 

[Berberman]

Many thanks Brendan for your info.

I would have thought the pilgrimage route would have been geared up for pilgrims taking their four legged friends. There must be a market out there for kennels to be attached to refugios.

So to plan "B"

What about wild camping, Is this permissable. I am use to carrying a large rucksack and covering 20-25 ks a day . Fez is a good walker. There must be someone out there who has taken a dog with them. Love to here from if they read this post.

Berberman

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Berberman,
Sorry you thought Camino would be geared to animals; bear in mind it's a 'pilgrimage' (don't mean to talk down to you), and the the explosion in numbers is relatively recent. The refugios run by local authorities, churches, religious organisations or other voluntary groups are not commercial ventures, their charges are very low, or just donations, and therfore are geared to welcoming humans. In my experience the numbers of pilgrims with animals is very low, eg when working as an hospitalero this year there was one couple with a dog, out of 475 pilgrims passing through our refugio and there were other refugios in the village. Perhaps as time goes on some commercial refugios will gear themselves up to animals.
The CSJ guide does mention camp sites where they exist. My guess regarding wild camping would be that outside the larger cities and towns (which probably have camp sites anyway) a local bar/cafe would be able to direct you to a place that would allow camping.
A further thought about animals, and maybe it's more relevant than any other points, is that I don't think the same attitudes towards animal comfort exists in Spain as in other some other parts of Europe .
I hope others get onto the forum to help you out.

Buen Camino,

Brendan

 

[vinotinto]

Hi Brendan:

Here's my 2 euros:

1. You may have a problem trying to get your dog into some of the albergues. I did the Camino in July-August of 2007, and saw a number of "no animals" signs in Spanish on albergue doors. I noticed one young woman walking the Camino with her dog, and someone remarked to me that she had to either find dog-friendly albergues or sleep outside. Also, there are a number of local dogs that may become overly interested in your dog and cause problems. I saw that happen with another person walking w/his dog about 2 days out of Santiago. By the way, the young woman did reach Santiago - saw her in line getting her compostela, dog and all.

2. I have no idea - sorry

3. I flew in and out of Paris, so I took a large tourist-type bus from Santiago to Paris. It had various stops along the way, both in Spain and France (a couple half-hour breaks, and one longer one at a huge bus terminal with lots of souveneirs and OK but overpriced food). It cost me approx 108 Euros, left Mon/Wed/Fri at 12:30PM from the Santiago bus station (if I remember correctly), and took about 25 hours to reach Paris. I'm not sure I'd ever want to make that run again - not the most comfortable ride I've ever had. But, it got me where I needed to be without a lot of fuss.

As for trains, a German pilgrim I knew caught a train from Santiago back to Paris (en route to Germany). I think he had to change trains at least once, if not twice. Anyway, if you go to the travel kiosk in the Pilgrim office (where you get the compostela) or the Santiago tourist office, they can give you the latest info.

Hope this helps - Buen Camino

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Vinotinto,
Thanks for the two Euro worth but I think you meant to address it to Berberana not Brendan! But we're all in the same game of supporting each other so what's in a few letters in a different order and Berberana will get the info anyway. There's been many a time reading through the posts on a topic where I got to the point where I didn't know who had said what and to whom.
Ivar has done a great job with this forum but I think for amateurs like me I'll ask him if it's possible to keep previous posts in view as we add our two Euro worth.
Hope to hear from you more.

Cheers,
Brendan
ps I have some vinotinto in a glass at the moment!

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Sillydoll previously answered the parking question:


by sillydoll on Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:20 pm

Go to:

http://www.espritduchemin.org/engels_ro ... r.htm#auto

This is what your options are:

If you want to park your car for a longer period, to walk (a part of) the Camino from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, there are three possibilities:

* A place at a camping site. This will probably cost about € 1,50 a day. You yourself will have to make the necessary arrangements.
* The Renault garage, Route de Bayonne, Uhart Cize (next to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port), tel. (0033) (0)5 59 37 00 57. This will probably cost about € 40 a week. The garage will be closed on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday.

Good luck

 

[rafferty]

Hello,I walked the Camino in April/May of this year.I met one couple who had their dog with them.I was especially interested in their experience as I usually walk with my dog,They told me that it was a very big mistake to have brought their dog.Firstly refugios,hostals and hotels as a rule will not allow dogs.Secondly there is a problem with local dogs, whether they be sheep dogs or guard dogs.Most Spaniards do not have the typical British relationship with dogs.For them dogs are working/guard animals.This means that many Spanish dogs are territorial and although they are used to people they will see a strange dog as an intruder.
Thirdly The dog doesn't necessarily enjoy walking for day after day ,often across hard surfaces, in very warm weather, without being able to get a real rest at the end of the day.
The couple I referred to had walked from Pamplona and were intending to abandon the walk in Burgos due to the problems with the dog.They had come to feel extremely guilty and stressed at having to tie the dog up outside refugios even though at this time of the year many of the refugios were far from full.
I will never take my dog on a walking holiday in Spain.I live in France and here dogs are made welcome virtuall everywhere.
Hope this is of help to you.
Harry

 

[rafferty]

Hello again,I should have mentioned that I checked out trains and buses from Santiago back to France(I live near Poitiers).I opted for an overnight bus leaving from Santiagoat 11.30pm.This goes direct to Bilboa arriving at about 8.30am,with one toilet stop midway.Change bus at Bilboa to Irun.Catch the Blue train to Hendaye,cheap and frequent-every few minutes.(just 5-10minutes-better than walking).Then onto the TGV.I slept well on the bus and it saved me having to pay for more accomodation in Santiago and also saved time.When you go to the pilgrim office to claim your compostella just go downstairs and you will find a travel desk where you can get details and make your arrangements.
Harry