Maria Sjöberg
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2
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Hi,
Last year we ended our Camino early, mostly due to the fact that I had "shin splints" This I put down to the fact that we had to walk 42k on our second day because we could not find anywhere to stay. Every place we tried was pre booked!!!!!! We managed the first 250k but it was getting hard to find places that were not pre booked. It's a very different picture to the first time we did it in 2011, where pre booking was unheard of. My question is :-
How busy is it right now ?
We have the opportunity to re start next week and would welcome up to date info on the need to pre book.
To be honest I don't want the hassel, it certainly detracts any desire to walk the Camino Frances again.
Many thanks,
Ken & Mia
It has become a lesson on flexibility! Pilgrims will have to adjust to the Camino because the Camino is not going to adjust to them! It is better to accommodate change than complain about it (generally; I am not commenting on any specific post).The pre-booking thing is a bit of a circular situation - people are booking ahead which means there are few if any non-booked beds in each place, so you therefore need to book ahead (unless you are prepared either to taxi to the nearest town with beds, or to sleep outside - not recommended the last few days as it's been raining a lot!) So it really depends on your ability to keep walking possibly for many more kilometres, or to stop quite early to get beds in non-bookable municipal albergues, or book.
Everyone is welcome to try to open an albergue. Many would say "good luck." Red de Albergues has a unified set of standards, but each operation is responsible to its own policies. For decades, there have been advocates of a single system. It probably will not happen. Even the juntas have a hard time with uniformity. It is a shaky enough business that Galicia has/wants to subcontract it. Local inhabitants, many of whom do not benefit from pilgrims, resent their tax dollars being used to subsidize pilgrims. The only real solution is for pilgrims to stop complaining, or even proposing solutions that benefit themselves without actually contributing to a solution. It is easy to fill a job jar with things each of us want; it is much harder to empty the job jar by doing it by oneself!Does it make economic sense to open more albergues since no one knows for sure if the current surge in pilgrim numbers is a short-term phenomena or not? Can we somehow limit the pre-booking by tour groups?
Even that has become difficult. It might work on the minor caminos that do not end in Santiago, but the Ingles, Portugues, Sanabres, and del Norte have all become quite busy and generally lack the infrastructure found on the Camino Frances. The routes in France are less crowded, but it is necessary to book in advance in most places in France. The Via de la Plata is not busy until Ourense. The Camino Aragones is quiet and nice, but short. Good luck choosing.try another route that is less busy.
I walked to Logrono and came back a week ago. Yes, it was very busy and people did pre -book. Someone I met walked 30 k one day and couldn't find anywhere to stay when she arrived. Last time I walked was 2011 too - yes it's different in that everyone uses phones to book, and there were quite a few big groups travelling together (with a guide). But it's still the camino, and still feeds the soul!Hi,
Last year we ended our Camino early, mostly due to the fact that I had "shin splints" This I put down to the fact that we had to walk 42k on our second day because we could not find anywhere to stay. Every place we tried was pre booked!!!!!! We managed the first 250k but it was getting hard to find places that were not pre booked. It's a very different picture to the first time we did it in 2011, where pre booking was unheard of. My question is :-
How busy is it right now ?
We have the opportunity to re start next week and would welcome up to date info on the need to pre book.
To be honest I don't want the hassel, it certainly detracts any desire to walk the Camino Frances again.
Many thanks,
Ken & Mia
My son and I walked last summer in July and August (the busiest time, I believe).
One day at a time is all you need in most cases. Calling ahead is to save you walking around at the end of each day. Let your phone do your walking, not your feet. A few phone calls is not a major interruption for me. Just take it in stride like so many things you will have to take in stride while striding. Cafes may be closed. There may not be a place for food when you are hungry. You may run out of water. The path may be muddy, or the rocks slippery. In the end, everything will be fine!beyond the first night
About to leave on my first camino. I started getting nervous about the whole thing about a week ago which I have heard is common, but reading this has got me extra anxious, and to be honest, pretty disappointed. I didn't know all this pre-booking business was going on and as a result I did not do much (any actually) research to book ahead beyond the first night. I'm so disappointed. I thought that was part of the beauty of it all to not do that type of thing. It's like people getting up early to secure their favourite chair by the pool at resorts but on a more serious scale. I can't fathom walking so far and not having anywhere to sleep and having potentially to add another 10k to my walk to find somewhere else. Don't know how well I'm going dobyet the first few days to feel secure booking ahead. I fear my days will now be spent in a panic getting to places by race walk. Kind of spoils the spiritual aspect of the walk.
Hi, try not to be nervous about it. I've found that reading posts before you go often makes you worried, but once you start it's all fine. Being on the Camino is entering into your own personal journey. You may have some difficult times but it all works out perfectly in the end. Maybe pre book the first few nights, but after that you should be fine. There are lots of new albergues now. Buen Camino - enjoy it!About to leave on my first camino. I started getting nervous about the whole thing about a week ago which I have heard is common, but reading this has got me extra anxious, and to be honest, pretty disappointed. I didn't know all this pre-booking business was going on and as a result I did not do much (any actually) research to book ahead beyond the first night. I'm so disappointed. I thought that was part of the beauty of it all to not do that type of thing. It's like people getting up early to secure their favourite chair by the pool at resorts but on a more serious scale. I can't fathom walking so far and not having anywhere to sleep and having potentially to add another 10k to my walk to find somewhere else. Don't know how well I'm going dobyet the first few days to feel secure booking ahead. I fear my days will now be spent in a panic getting to places by race walk. Kind of spoils the spiritual aspect of the walk.
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