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Last year I was envious of the German pilgrims with their Wanderfuhrer guides, which contained information such as approximate hostal prices and availability of ATMs etc. I know JB's guide is orientated differently, but some of us are genuinely concerned if we're going to have no food, drink, cash at the end of the day. :cry: But don't get me started on poor JB again! He's made a great contribution. Buen Camino!PingHansen said:On the other hand, the red German guide has recommended avoiding Larrasoana because of mold for at least two years.
tyrrek said:PingHansen said:I know JB's guide is orientated differently, but some of us are genuinely concerned if we're going to have no food, drink, cash at the end of the day. :cry: But don't get me started on poor JB again! He's made a great contribution. Buen Camino!
camino-david said:Hi Johnny,
I very much doubt that John Brierley is making $100,000 a year for himself. The money paid for the guides goes to the Findhorn Press, which is part of The Findhorn Foundation. This Foundation is based at a spiritual and learning residential centre in the north of Scotland, which is a community where everyone shares their talents for mutual benefit. This of course accounts for the spiritual leanings of his books.
tyrrek said:Last year I was envious of the German pilgrims with their Wanderfuhrer guides, which contained information such as approximate hostal prices and availability of ATMs etc. I know JB's guide is orientated differently, but some of us are genuinely concerned if we're going to have no food, drink, cash at the end of the day. :cry: But don't get me started on poor JB again! He's made a great contribution. Buen Camino!PingHansen said:On the other hand, the red German guide has recommended avoiding Larrasoana because of mold for at least two years.
jennysa said:I have just come back from the Camino, and I found that just about every English-speaking pilgrim clutched a copy of Brierly and most were slavishly following his steps so there was always a huge concentration of pilgrims at the places that he recommended at the end of each day. A few of us found out that in order to avoid the crowds and the congestion, the best option was either to stop at the place just before or just after his recommended step.
nreyn12 said:[
PLUS, please note that some of the albergues that are not on the JB stages are starting to suffer from lack of business, as the number of English-reading JB followers is increasing. Let's work together to keep all of these fantastic places open, thriving, and serving pilgrims as they so sincerely want to do.
Some examples of great albergues / stops not on the JB plan: Eunate, Cirauqui, Lorca, Villatuerta, Ventosa, Azofra, Viloria de la Rioja, Tosantos, St Nicholas (just after Castrojeriz), Bercianos, Hospital de Orbigo, Pieros, La Faba, Fonfria, and Samos.
Any others? Please add...
Yes, and most people realise pretty quickly that JB's guide isn't gospel. Unfortunately you sometimes have to learn the hard way. :shock: Buen Camino!nellpilgrim said:...though in fairness JB does list and describe the accommodation available in each village/town the Camino passes through not only the ones in his itinerary stage stops. So it's easy to hop off the 'Brierley train' if you want to and his info is, for the most part, both accurate and comprehensive.
I only wish I had an English language guide (not to mind a good one) for my current journeying!
julie said:Am I the only pilgrim who doesn't have a Brierley? I prefer to carry as little as possible and simply want to know how far it is to each village and whether there is an albergue, bar/restaurant and shop.
I like to carry the profile diagrams which fit on one A4 sheet of paper and haven't found it necessary to carry a map for the Camino Frances. There is a great sense of liberation in walking until you've had enough and then stopping. You tend to meet up with the same people for a few days and then one day you arrive and you don't know anyone. Are the usuals ahead or behind? It doesn't really matter as you often cross paths again even if it's not until Santiago.
Although I missed some people terribly by walking like this, I usually found that there was a reason I had to walk alone and when it was time, I bonded with yet more wonderful people.
Hi Terri!Terrri said:I have bought travel guides in the past but never bring them with me on trips and I had no intentions of even buying one for the camino. Is it really necessary? I am planning on gleaning what info I think I need off of various sites and blogs and beyond that just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. When I travel I collect info in order to leave my options open and not to have an itinerary. I have already realized that people seem to travel in unintentional groups and I am hoping to avoid the early morning rush and afternoon albergue line ups. Am I realistic?
julie said:Am I the only pilgrim who doesn't have a Brierley? I prefer to carry as little as possible and simply want to know how far it is to each village and whether there is an albergue, bar/restaurant and shop.
Yep, if ever there was a guide book that is not 'to the point' that's JB's in my view. However 'the point' is different for different people, and while we're used to 'practical' guides on our trips to Greece and Turkey etc, JB is trying to move us somewhere else. To be fair, he's fairly honest about it as well; it just doesn't help much if you're left skint, hungry and drying out too rapidly. Buen Camino!siseale94 said:Nevertheless, the Geman, Dutch and Danish guides were more to the point.
tyrrek said:Yep, if ever there was a guide book that is not 'to the point' that's JB's in my view.siseale94 said:Nevertheless, the Geman, Dutch and Danish guides were more to the point.
Hi Nell. Yes, on reflection I didn't make my point well. What I meant was that JB's guide is a spiritual and mystical one, more than just the practicalities.nellpilgrim said:tyrrek said:Yep, if ever there was a guide book that is not 'to the point' that's JB's in my view.siseale94 said:Nevertheless, the Geman, Dutch and Danish guides were more to the point.
Hi Tyrrek I think it's time a proper Yorkshire 'How to' guide to the Camino was produced.... perhaps titled 'Start, Walk, Stop' ? :lol: (my Grandmother was from Halifax and her succinct words of wisdom are part of our family history)
Brierley himself is quite clear that his motivation was to assist people undertake a spiritual journey as well as the practical one. In his introduction to the 2009 Camino Frances guide, he puts it this way:tyrrek said:Yep, if ever there was a guide book that is not 'to the point' that's JB's in my view. However 'the point' is different for different people, and while we're used to 'practical' guides on our trips to Greece and Turkey etc, JB is trying to move us somewhere else.
I found Brierley a good balance, but never felt that I had to follow the stage plans in detail. I think there were 10 nights where I stayed before or past the stage points in Brierley. I would probably feel more confident choosing my own stage pattern on my next Camino.But what inspired me to write another guidebook was the almost universal absence of any reference, yet alone waymarks, to the inner path.
No not really. He's just like one of those friends that you find a bit frustrating, but you like anyway!Stephen Nicholls said:Poor old John Brierly sure is taking a knocking!
Ha ha. Allan, I miss Wolvo from my college days. Shouldn't you have a 'Roit!' on the end of your translation?Al the optimist said:Like the Yorkshire and Scottish Guides, so I'm adding one in the Black Country dialect!
Gerup,ate,omble darn tut rard,ate a bit moor un gu te kip
allan
pablo.m said:not a fan.
i stayed in a small private albergue not listed in that guys book - they told an interesting tale: some guy representing that publication in some capacity had knocked on their door a season or two before, had asked for money payment in exchange for a mention, & got told to jump in a lake. result - left out, in fact mention was that there was nothing worth stopping for there. one of the pererginos staying that night had the latest edition so we checked to validate. true enough.
that sux.
sure sells a lotta books tho. wont be gettin my dollars, thats for damn sure.
Be fair. The absence of a listing does not validate the claim that the place was not mentioned because it did not make a payment. There is no logical link, and plenty of alternative explanations.pablo.m said:i stayed in a small private albergue not listed in that guys book - they told an interesting tale: some guy representing that publication in some capacity had knocked on their door a season or two before, had asked for money payment in exchange for a mention, & got told to jump in a lake. result - left out, in fact mention was that there was nothing worth stopping for there. one of the pererginos staying that night had the latest edition so we checked to validate. true enough.
that sux.
sure sells a lotta books tho. wont be gettin my dollars, thats for damn sure.
If it's good, let John Brierley know. He seeks feedbackpablo.m said:repeating the tale as i heard it, plain & simple
after five years in operation, seems strange a place could stay unrecognised & off the radar that long
would be nice to think a mistake had been made, it was a nice place
. The updates page is at http://www.caminoguides.com'from pilgrims who have recently walked the route to enable it to stay fresh and relevant'
tyrrek said:Yes, and most people realise pretty quickly that JB's guide isn't gospel. Unfortunately you sometimes have to learn the hard way. :shock: Buen Camino!
pablo.m said:not a fan.
i stayed in a small private albergue not listed in that guys book - they told an interesting tale: some guy representing that publication in some capacity had knocked on their door a season or two before, had asked for money payment in exchange for a mention, & got told to jump in a lake. result - left out, in fact mention was that there was nothing worth stopping for there. one of the pererginos staying that night had the latest edition so we checked to validate. true enough.
that sux.
sure sells a lotta books tho. wont be gettin my dollars, thats for damn sure.
Our blog on blogspot had a .com address now when we go online it has a co.uk ending. I think that it simply adds your own country as a suffix now which is confusing IMO.dougfitz said:Max,
Silvia Nilsen, aka Sil, aka Sillydoll, is a South African who has chosen to host her blog on a site with an Australian web address.
Don't let that deter you from buying her book. I have one of her guides, and its full of good advice.
Regards
Thanks for this. I may not need a guide. Since everyone is going on about weight, one less thing to take.Tia Valeria said:Also 'gronze.com' is a good online site for the northern Caminos and does have a Francés section. Spanish but worth checking out even if you cannot read it all.
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