Whereswillie
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Ingles - May 15
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The silence may be a stunned silence. Twelve novice pilgrims on a less traveled route, all with different capabilities, motives, and preferences. You have your work cut out for you!
Nothing is impossible, though. Your group will overwhelm many facilities. Everyone will walk at a different pace, and those who try to keep up will injure themselves. Some stages will be impossible for some in your group, so transportation will be needed. Quite frankly, a chase vehicle carrying your packs and slower members may be the best idea. Perhaps you could rent one at the Santiago airport. It would not carry everyone at the same time, but would always be available when you needed it. Getting twelve persons moving the same direction in the morning for a week staggers my mind. Getting everyone fed in the evening at some of the stops is equally staggering. Some will be spending hours tending their feet. Others will have legs and knees that don't want to work.
Your idea is heroic, and I wish you well in making it reality. Buen camino.
Falcon has made some very good suggestions.
I would add that the distances you post are probably not doable by a group of people just starting out.
Those distances are more like the ones we might see after a couple of weeks of walking and a level of fitness has set in.
Buen Camino
I would suggest that you contact Sillydoll, and read her thread about the Camino Inglés in 11 days, as it might help with your accomodation plans even though you are looking at less days. When are you hoping to go? (PM me if you don't want that publicised)
Buen Camino to you all
Another useful resource is the Gronze website for the Camino Inglés - it shows the profiles and also lists accomodation for each stage. Although in Spanish the information is still clear to non-Spanish speakers.Thanks - will do. We are looking at mid May next year.
Another useful resource is the Gronze website for the Camino Inglés - it shows the profiles and also lists accomodation for each stage. Although in Spanish the information is still clear to non-Spanish speakers.
I walked the Inglés as my first Camino and needed 9 days, even with training. At the time I probably fitted into your age/ability description. Having also walked the Primitivo I would say that the final stages of that from Lugo to Santiago (101kms) is easier than the Inglés with comparable distances, easier hills and with more accomodation options. Again look at Gronze for distances, profiles and places to stay.
I do not agree with you what you say about the scenery. The Ingles is a great walk in beautiful landscape. It haseverything. The coast, hills, forest, nice villages.and the city of Ferrol to start with. Nothing wrong with that.Hello Again Peregrinos!!
The research is continuing and we think we have a better balanced itinerary - over 7 days. However, accommodation issues are continuing and this has caused us to ask the unaskable question ......!! Are we going to the best place?? We get the feeling that on this walk the landscape may not be particularly scenic or serene (certainly compared with Norte and Primitivo) and we may be better to consider a different route - any views please??
Many thanks.
John
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I do not agree with you what you say about the scenery. The Ingles is a great walk in beautiful landscape. It haseverything. The coast, hills, forest, nice villages.and the city of Ferrol to start with. Nothing wrong with that.
It need some preps but in all the places you mentioned are hotels, albergues or hostals and everywhere are restaurants.
The idea of Falcon to hire a minibus as chasingvehicle is a good idea.
Thought about the caminho Portuges from Tui ?
Sorry had a different third picture in mind. Do not know how to delete the last one and replace for an other one, showing the variety of the scenery.
If you do some preps you definitively find places to sleep and to eatThank you so much Albertinho - my faith is restored!! (and I did get all 3 photos!!) Thanks again.
John
Tia Valeria. On our way to Betanzos we met a group of about 50 pilgrims from Pontevedra accompanied by 5 minibuses. The buses were transporting the day-backpacks. We met them at the part where some steep hills are andsome of them stepped into the bus and were driven uphill and from there they continued walking .If the Compostela is important be careful with having a 'minibus/chase car' which is very different to taking a taxi and then returning to the same spot to continue. However it might enable you to book 12 beds for more than one night in the larger towns and then keep returning to your previous day's stop point. Maybe Ferrol-Pontedeume-Betanzos-Ordes, where there is capacity for the number of folk. In May there will also be others looking for beds etc so there will be pressure on smaller places.
What is the maximum distance the slowest walker can achieve considering the hills?
Thank you once more Albertinho & Tia ValeriaTia Valeria. On our way to Betanzos we met a group of about 50 pilgrims from Pontevedra accompanied by 5 minibuses. The buses were transporting the day-backpacks. We met them at the part where some steep hills are andsome of them stepped into the bus and were driven uphill and from there they continued walking .
They were astonished about our 7kgs weighing 50 liter backpacks we carried and offered us to put them in one of the buses. We refused and were even walking faster with our packs than they without
I spoke to some of them. They were walking every weekend ,had a diner and went home. One of them confirmed that they apply for a Compostela
they did this more often f.a. They walked from Sarria and from Tui.
Your solution sounds good concerning the places to stay so Whereswillie can think about it.
Just find the hotels in Booking.com, google the names and most of the time you will find their own websites and can approach them directly.Thank you once more Albertinho & Tia Valeria
Most of the group met yesterday and resolved to book flights and take it step by step from there - probably splitting the places we will stay (i.e. some in albergues and some in hotels). The most remarkable part of the meeting was that one man said "I want to come but I won't be able to do the walk" - and behold we have our support driver and therefore much more flexibility in where we might stay!! Now back to "Gronze" and the phones!! Will keep you posted - but we're committed and on our way. Many thanks once more for all your help.
John
Just find the hotels in Booking.com, google the names and most of the time you will find their own websites and can approach them directly.
Ask in Spain allways after a "discuento tercera edad". Which means a discount price for pensioners unless your group exist of young "flowers and young gods " as you know what I mean
On trains, long distance buses , museums etc they often offer a special price for the elderly flowers and gods !
Hello again you very helpful members of the Pilgrim Community!!
Some-one posted that Jacotrans now transports baggage on the Camino Inglés. We found that it was possible to get taxi numbers as we went along and carried one for the next stop along the route each day 'just in case'.
Thanks as ever Tia Valeria and Pilgrim B - most helpful. To clarify, it is our support driver who is no longer coming on the pilgrimage with us (as his wife has had to withdraw for health reasons); we have the dates fixed (9th to 16th May) and we are not looking to stay at the Mino albergue as we are doing Pontedeume to Betanzos in one hit. - and Yes our next step will be to contact our accommodation for mini-bus phone numbers. Thanks again. JohnYes Jacotrans now transports baggage on the Camino Inglés. email <jacotransleon@gmail.com> and José Luis Rodríguez speaks very good English!
Hello Judy. Thank you very much for your kind offer - I'm sure it would be very useful to talk through where we are up to and things we may have omitted. I'm not very familiar with the protocols for these forums (fora?) - do we now go to a Private Conversation? Cheers JohnHi John.
I live in West Sussex and have done both the Ingles and the Tui - Santiago routes with friends of various ages. If you want, please contact me, I would be very happy to give you any lowdown I can re: accomodation (other than albergues)/transport used etc, etc.
On the forum, part Caminho Portugese here, you can read everything about walking the last 100 kms from Valença do Minho or Tui to Santiago with almost daily updates and information. There is also a Coastal caminho which you could start for example in A Guarda or Baiona to get your Compostela.Hello Judy. Thank you very much for your kind offer - I'm sure it would be very useful to talk through where we are up to and things we may have omitted. I'm not very familiar with the protocols for these forums (fora?) - do we now go to a Private Conversation? Cheers John
Yes, I suppose Private Conversation is the best but I'm not sure how it works! So if you prefer, here's the email: judydaisy@gmail.comHello Judy. Thank you very much for your kind offer - I'm sure it would be very useful to talk through where we are up to and things we may have omitted. I'm not very familiar with the protocols for these forums (fora?) - do we now go to a Private Conversation? Cheers John
A wise decision to split up and be prepared !We walked the Camino last year in 6 days with no training and to be honest day 1 almost ended our Camino (my blog is on this forum).
It is a very long stage from Ferrol to Pontedueme and we both suffered. The decision if we should carry on, on day 2 was touch and go.
We will be walking again in July and will be splitting day one stopping at Neda and again splitting the Betanzos to Bruma route at Bar Julia.
Really looking forward to it and will be better prepared and more fitter, with 'better' prepared footwear also.
Buen Camino....it will be an unforgettable journey.
Aren't you on the wrong camino ? The camino Inglès comes in from the northHi The Way Pension in Brea, usually the last stop before Sanitago, might be able to meet your groups needs in that they have alburgue rooms and also en suite rooms. Take a look at their website at http://theway.org.es/ Good luck
Wow Balian, doing the ingles again? mine is just coming up in May.
I can't wait.
Buen Camino![/Q
whoops sorry wan't thinking.Aren't you on the wrong camino ? The camino Inglès comes in from the north
A Brea as far as I can see is south east of Santiago
Hi,Balian.Like you we are splitting up the Inglese but at Naron not Neda on day one(That way we have a nice easy first day and hotel accommodation as we are past our best at 66 and 71 years old!!) Last year (Sarria to Santiago) which was our first camino,I had a couple of championship winning blisters so I too will be sorting out new footwear long before we leave. Really looking forward to September.We walked the Camino last year in 6 days with no training and to be honest day 1 almost ended our Camino (my blog is on this forum).
It is a very long stage from Ferrol to Pontedueme and we both suffered. The decision if we should carry on, on day 2 was touch and go.
We will be walking again in July and will be splitting day one stopping at Neda and again splitting the Betanzos to Bruma route at Bar Julia.
Really looking forward to it and will be better prepared and more fitter, with 'better' prepared footwear also.
Buen Camino....it will be an unforgettable journey.
Wow Balian, doing the ingles again? mine is just coming up in May.
I can't wait.
Buen Camino!
Hello Peregrinos
My first post (on any forum!) to ask for assistance please!
I am helping to organize a pilgrimage in May 2015 on the Camino Ingles for a church group of circa 12 – mainly “late middle aged” – participants from Sussex. We are looking at flying from LGW to Santiago then taking the bus back to Ferrol to start the walk. Our return flight from Santiago will be 7 days later. The participants have different aspirations for accommodation – some wanting the full “albergue” experience and some preferring a little more luxury – and, again, some wanting baggage transfer facilities. Given these different requirements and our wish to walk, talk and eat and drink together, I thought we would probably need to stop in the larger centres and therefore largely follow the route as described in the CSJ guide book i.e.
1) Ferrol to Pontedeume 25k
2) Pontedeume to Betanzos 20k
3) Betanzos to Bruma 29k
4) Bruma to Sigueiro 24k
5) Sigueiro to Santiago 18k
We would have time to put in an extra day on the walk but my impression is that accommodation is a bit sparse in the middle section. So my initial (I’m sure there will be many more) questions are please:
a) Would you think this schedule is OK? – or are there other splits that may be preferable?
b) Any comments / recommendations for accommodation based on the above?
c) Anything known about accommodation in Naron / Neda?
d) Any hints on possible breaks in section 3?
Many thanks in anticipation.
John W
Thank you all very much for all your help - particularly Tia Valeria, Falcon 269 (who motivated us from the start of the planning), Judydaisy who filled in plenty of detail and especially Albertinho - who assured us of the beautiful scenery on the route - he was right - even the built up bits were lovely!! So we made it and had a spectacular time in perfect weather - no rain at all. We kept to the schedule above which I will annotate with the accommodation used and follow up with a few overall bullet points - if of any interest.Best of luck. I will be following your progress as I am planning to do this Camino next year
Buen Camino
John
So @Whereswillie, how did you get on? You were walking the same week we were and I'm dying to know if yours was the group we crossed paths with at Pontedeume & Betanzos and lastly at Bar Julia - just before we headed off to tackle the mother of 'oh bugger' hills!
Hello Janel
Please see my far too long account above!! Yes all was good - were you the English couple who were staying at the Hotel Garelos in Betanzos? and how did you get on??!! Clearly you made it!
Cheers.
John
Yep, that was us! We did indeed make it - though after we left you at Bar Julia the going got HARD - the combination of doing the full stretch from Betanzos to Bruma in one hit (and thus getting the toughest bit of the whole camino in the afternoon and in full heat) plus then having to do another 8km after Bruma to get to our accommodation was really tough. We did consider getting a taxi at one point, but decided to just keep going, and although we were both exhausted we made it to the (very highly recommended) Casa Rural Doña Maria in time for a delicious and much needed meal at about 9pm.
I paid the price the next morning though - at points I was really struggling with physical & emotional exhaustion, and those long straight stretches were such a challenge. And we thought of you often and sent positive vibes for your climb up the hills! But somehow once we stopped for lunch (and a couple of paracetamol) my energies were renewed and we really enjoyed the rest of our camino. Maybe you had us in your lunchtime prayers!
We stayed at the Hotel San Vicente in Marantes for our last night, so we'd reaped the benefit of the extra 8km on the awful day by having a beautiful and relatively short and leisurely walk into SdC, arriving at 11am on the Thursday morning.
I kept hoping we'd see you on the Friday - and we ate at the Hospideria for dinner on the Friday evening and returned for breakfast on the Saturday morning before we headed off! - but I'm glad to know you all made it in one piece. Maybe our paths will cross again some day!
I'm looking at St Cuthbert's Way next May - see you there!!
... and a good shell & waterproof trousers!!Scotland? In May?? We'll need an extra jumper for that one!
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