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LIVE from the Camino Live from el Primitivo?

anngw

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I'm hoping to do the Primitivo in the early autumn and am on the lookout for posts from there. Am curious to know whether the facilities are adequate to handle 2010 traffic, the condition of the trails and - well - hope you are having a marvellous time! It occurs to me that perhaps the reason for no live Primitivo blogs is that the reception is too poor? Is that the case?
 
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Hi Ann,
One major reason for the lack of live postings from the Primitivo would be that not many people seem to walk it- and chances are that also means there is not much in the way of internet access.
Have you seen the sub-forum about the Primitivo? http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/camino-primitivo/ There are people talking about their experiences on that part of the site, even if not 'live'.
I don't know how much walking you have done previously, but there was one thread that suggested the Primitivo was probably not a good choice for a Camino novice, due largely to its isolation and the lack of other pilgrims walking the route: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/camino-primitivo/topic4998.html
Margaret
 
Thanks Margaret!
Yeah, there are a lot of things I've read about the Primitivo that make it sound daunting as a first "camino" - the isolation being one of them. (Also part of it's beauty). We live in British Columbia and are used to hiking in fairly isolated, mountainous areas. But I am still debating whether that's what I'd like my "camino" to be about. I'm finding the live forums really great for getting a feel for the experience and am grateful to everyone who is posting.

My husband is very keen on doing the Primitivo. I'm a bit more guarded because I think it might not be smart for sixty-ish people who are pretty fit, but still. There was one posting from a pilgrim who said it's a "camino" for young knees. (Then other people are so casual about it, sound like they're waltzing through it, it's hard to figure).

Have you done the Primitivo?

Ann
 
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Hi Ann,
No, I have walked from Le Puy en Velay to Santiago, but not any other routes. The Primitivo sounds intriguing, but I am not sure it is one I would want to tackle alone. My next plan- in a few years, is to walk from Cluny to Le Puy, (and perhaps repeat the section to just after Conques) and then down to Saint Lizier in the south of France, and along the la voie du Piémont Pyrénéen, via Lourdes then over the Somport Pass onto the Camino Aragones to Estella. That's the brief plan with a few other bits and pieces as well- but who knows what the plan will be by the time I go!!!
Margaret
 
Hi Ann, I walked the primitivo last year and found it very beautiful. parts of it are quite hilly - especially if you were take the Hospitales route. This is a route that is reccommended not to be taken alone (which I did). It is high, and isolated, but when i walked it there were so many people behind me that although I had passed them I knew that I would not be alone for very long. Yes, it is a path less travelled, but depending when you walk it there are still a lot of people on it. I found there were large numbers of Spanish people - it seemed to be their path. On this path the only non Spanish I met were 2 french couples, an English couple and a Polish woman. Most of the other "foreigners" continued along the Camino del Norte. I am saying large numbers, but in actuality it was probably only in the vicinity of about 25 - 30 people, but for me this was huge numbers as I had come from France on the Vezelay path where I met only about 4 other pilgrims in 7 weeks of walking to St Jean (or actually until I got to Saint Palais). I had no accomodation problems along the Primitivo, although the numbers that were on the path at the same time were about at the limit (Sept 2009) of beds available. Just more food for thought, Janet
 
TerryB walked the Primitivo last year in May. You can read his thread here on the Forum at
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/pilgrim-introductions/topic3628-25.html#p35630
and his blog about his Camino at
http://walktocompostela.blogspot.com/
We plan to walk part of the Primitivo again, together this time, in May this year.
Hope this helps, and we'll be posting more either here or on
http://returntothecamino.blogspot.com/ either live or via the family at home.
Enjoy your planning
Tia Valeria
 
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Hi Jl,
I plan to do the Primitivo in August and I'd very much like to do the Hospitales route. I don't think I'll have to do it alone since I expect quite a lot of peolpe will be walking in August. But I 'm just curious to know how long it took you considering it is alot of up-hill walking? (I don't mean the whole Primitivo, just how many hours did the Hospitales route take?).
And also, maybe Sil can answer this question....I know there are plans for accomodations along the French route but do the same plans exist for the Primitivo in case there are no beds left in the albergues?

Josefine
 
Hi Josefine, just a quick reply to your query, but am depending on my memory as I am at the library and therefore don't have access to my diary. I think from memory I took about 4-5 hours to go up and over - I walked at a steady pace, not slow but not too fast either. This doesn't take into account the half hour or so to get to the turn off and the couple of hours after that to get to where I stopped. I did not find it arduous at all, and very beautiful. The path is well marked, goes past the old hospitales ruins, has tremendous views and is quite solitary, with lots of cows and horses along the way. A french lady told me that if we were lucky I might see bears - however I think there was far too much traffic for that to happen! I must admit that when I went on this path I had the directions from the CSJ guide in my mind about safety etc etc, but in actual fact I felt quite guilty that I had motored on ahead of the others on the trail. It felt to me as if I should have been what we call in Scouting parlance "tail end Charlie" collecting / encouraging the injured and struggling.

Will check out my notes and try and give a more accurate reply in the next few days. Regards, Janet
 
Thank you Margaret. Your future pilgrimage plans sound inspired! Thank you Janet for the first-hand info. Tia, I saw on the Primitivo blog that you are about to go again and will watch for your posts! How are you training for this? I don't see how one can train for the actual Camino conditions by mimicking it (5 hr walks day after day before the event) - but how about swimming and normal daily walks (which for me - the walks - tend to be about an hour during the week and often longer on weekends)???

Ann
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Thank you Margaret. Your future pilgrimage plans sound inspired! Thank you Janet for the first-hand info. Tia, I saw on the Primitivo blog that you are about to go again and will watch for your posts! How are you training for this? I don't see how one can train for the actual Camino conditions by mimicking it (5 hr walks day after day before the event) - but how about swimming and normal daily walks (which for me - the walks - tend to be about an hour during the week and often longer on weekends)???

Ann
 
Thank you for your information jl, it sounds great and I am så much looking forward to this Camino.
Josefine
 
anngw said:
........ Tia, I saw on the Primitivo blog that you are about to go again and will watch for your posts! How are you training for this? I don't see how one can train for the actual Camino conditions by mimicking it (5 hr walks day after day before the event) - but how about swimming and normal daily walks (which for me - the walks - tend to be about an hour during the week and often longer on weekends)???

Ann

We have been walking every day for about 7-9km as preparation this year. We are only walking part of the Primitivo this year. Next year we will be building up to 12km+ per day as we plan to walk the Camino Inglés in approx 15km stages.
Last year when Terry walked the Norte and Primitivo (from Exeter via Santander) he actually walked nearly every day for the last 2 weeks before he went. Most days were about 12km, with one or two 20km days. He was aiming for 20km days on the Camino and it worked. We are retired so he had the time to do this. We are also fortunate that the terrain round here is similar to the Primitivo in many places.
Most people seem to walk as much as possible before going and then start slowly with short stages, building up time and distance during the first few days. I am sure you will get plenty of helpful advice here, we have.
Buen Camino
Tia Valeria
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Hi Ann, Before I went on my first Camino in 2005 I read somewhere that it probably wasn't a good idea to walk the Camino before one actually started! As I was planning to walk - on that journey- in the vicinity of 1,200kms I took that on board!. I walked around the block - which for me is a 5km circuit, complete with steep ups and downs, on a daily basis. I did this for both my Camino starting in Toulouse and for the one that started in Troyes (Vezelay), however, because of the steepness at the beginning of the Le Puy path I also included daily gym visits for 6 months prior to beginning that particular Camino journey. I begin my pilgrimage slowly and walk myself into fitness and it seems to work for me. I always have intentions of doing long walks in the month or so before departure, but pouring rain and strong winds somehow have a deterring effect (I leave in mid winter!) and so I just stick to the "round the block" method of training! (I would suggest supplemneting it though for the Le Puy route, and also for the Camino del Norte if starting in Irun)

Cheers, Janet
 
Thank you Tia! That was very helpful. I'll be really interested in hearing how crowded the trail is/isn't - given it being a special year - and whether the Primitivo accomodations are absorbing the higher demand. And how much you are actually able to communicate and post whilst on the trail.

Good luck with your preparations and training!

Ann
 
Tia, I've just been enjoying looking at Terry's posts from the Primitivo last year, and his blog.

(Thanks Terry!)

How long did it take him to walk the Primitivo portion? (I'm a bit confused because I think I read a post from him at the end saying he'd just spent 33 days on the Way - but I thought the Primitivo was closer to 2 wks)

Bye for now
Ann
 
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Hi Ann,
Terry started walking from Exeter, England. Took the ferry from Plymouth, then walked from Santander along the Norte to Oviedo. The 33 walking days cover all that. He was 16 walking days from Oviedo to Santiago.
He was on the Primitivo for a total of 19 days as he stopped over, in Grandas an extra day and Lugo for 2 days, because he was ahead of his planned time and was aiming to reach Santiago for me to meet him at Pentecost. He could have physically walked in less time than he chose to take. The daily dates on the blog are correct for the Primitivo if you want to check out distances and how many days you think you will need.
Blessings on your planning,
Tia Valeria
 

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