- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances Roncesvalles to Sahagun Oct 2016
Sahagun to SDC April 2017 Burgos to SDC April 2018
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Sarria is there to ease us back into life off the Camino. For weeks we walk and talk with each other ignoring the blood, sweat, and tears of others and our own as common place. We forget in our simplicity of walk-eat-wash-sleep-repeat that there are such things as perfume and MacDonalds and the convenience of daily transportation. Sarria is the beginning of the end of quiet contemplation, the Camino is easing us into a life of fast people with me first mentalities, while still allowing the Pilgrims who have surrounded you for so long to be available for backup and support and comfort. We find each other by smell. ew. but true.Greetings fellow forum citizens. I have just returned from Santiago and as I did in the Fall, I gave myself a little time before commenting. I walked from Roncesvalles to Sahagun in October and returned in April to finish the rest of the Camino. I arrived into Sanitago on April 25th.
I found that I quickly slipped back into the daily routines and enjoyed, once again, the experience of the people, the countryside and the beauty of Spain. As the land changed around me, as I headed towards the Atlantic, I felt rewarded by the gift of sharing with the people of the towns I walked through, the kinship of shared: pilgrim meals, sunscreen and experiences. The beauty of moving meditation and solitude.
I did understand from this forum, that there would be an influx of pilgrims walking from Sarria to Santiago.
And then I reached Sarria.
I stopped the night before just short of Sarria as I tried to avoid suggested stopping areas by various guides. So I walked past Sarria at about 9:30am and was astounded. There were people coming down sidewalks, out of alley ways and possibly even through cracks in the earth. I was immediately walking in a bubble of two hundred people. At any given turn or twist or hill top, I could see 20 or 25 people in front of and behind me. If there had of been parallel paths, there might have been 20 to 25 on either side of me. Mind you, I arrived in the area on Easter weekend. Likely not the wisest of choicesBut there you are.
The numbers I expected. Other things I did not. The litter that all of a sudden there seemed to be so much more of. The mileage cairns, which appear to fairly new, defaced. There appeared to be no mileage plaques left on the cairns. Pieces of the cairns were missing...how do you do that with pilgrim gear. The cairns were almost universally covered from top to bottom with graffiti. Mostly: "Harry loves Sally" and "Rock on Dude" and other noteworthy messages in languages I didn't understand. Actually my rock on dude days are behind me as well.
I saw taxis constantly patrolling the roads adjacent to the trail and several pilgrims flagging them down and going "somewhere." I saw two women get out of a taxi, collect a stamp, get back into the taxi and go "somewhere." The ultimate for me was a tour bus pulling up and exchanging people I had been walking beside with brand new fresh people. Some got on and some got off. One lady who looked as if she had just walked out of a sporting goods store walked up to me. Now you must know that at this point I was sore, bleeding from a knee where I had pitched forward at some point. As well I was sweaty and wafting about me was that peculiar odour of having washed your clothes in a sink for weeks.
She took exception of my wishing her a Buen dias. She insisted that all pilgrims were required to say Buen camino She poked me in the chest several times with a long bony finger and demanded that I say it after her. She must have been a grade school teacher somewhere. Then she got back on the bus and went "somewhere."
Please realize that I understand what I accomplished over my 780 k's and that is in no way diminished by what other people did. I just felt a little disheartened by the general feeling it generated in me over the last 100 k's as opposed to the grace,. contentment and peace I experienced previously. I finished the last 50 k's or so with my chin tucked in, my head down and heading for home. What I felt in reaching and seeing Santiago was a totally different experience and fodder for another time.
Case in point.Is it possible that you ruined your camino, and not them?
Sarria wan't like this 10 years. Not even 5 years ago, so no, "it is not there" in the state it is now for anything. It's not part of a big methaphysical plan, just the result of consumerism. Well worth avoiding. There are other Caminos to be walked.Sarria is there to ease us back into life off the Camino.
in.
It's not about those who started further back not wanting you there, or them being rude. It is a simple description of what that stretch of the Frances has unfortunately become with the chase for a Compostela. And it is not judging those who are walking a section, but realsing that the number of people on that stretch make for a loud andbusy walk, something very different from what makes people love the Caminos....I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there.
but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them?
.
Is it possible that you ruined your camino, and not them?
How about "The Camino" by Shirley MacLaine. Not for everyone, but a different take on the Camino. Did anyone else like this book?
Sarria is there to ease us back into life off the Camino. For weeks we walk and talk with each other ignoring the blood, sweat, and tears of others and our own as common place. We forget in our simplicity of walk-eat-wash-sleep-repeat that there are such things as perfume and MacDonalds and the convenience of daily transportation. Sarria is the beginning of the end of quiet contemplation, the Camino is easing us into a life of fast people with me first mentalities, while still allowing the Pilgrims who have surrounded you for so long to be available for backup and support and comfort. We find each other by smell. ew. but true.
Be gentle with these late comers. They have not seen what you have, and are dipping their toes in to test the water. Perhaps they are not brave enough, or feel they don't need the entire Camino Experience. Maybe this is as close as they will get to the fantastic opportunities we have had of finding ourselves and our spirituality.
Take it as the blessing it is, a gentle reminder that we get out of everything exactly what we put in.
This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
It's not about those who started further back not wanting you there, or them being rude. It is a simple description of what that stretch of the Frances has unfortunately become with the chase for a Compostela. And it is not judging those who are walking a section, but realsing that the number of people on that stretch make for a loud andbusy walk, something very different from what makes people love the Caminos.
May I ask why you chose that route? There are many other ways to walk 100km into Santiago that are not the circus Saria is. Or why not walk any other section of the Frances, starting anywhere else, ending where and when you want or can?
This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
Kati. My post was intended as a personal point of view of the changes around me and my reaction to them. People will not resent you as an individual and I wish you the best of luck with your walk. I wear two hearing aids and hear very little without them. Sometimes that is a bonus in noisy situations
Thank you! I'm sure that I will love the Camino.
Oftentimes I prefer to be without my hearing aids. They are so annoying in noisy situations. Luckily I read lips quite well so often I just turn them off.
Kati...I normally walk without my hearing aids in as I am a prodigious producer of perspiration and the aids do not like that at all. I find if I get into a situation where people want to speak to me; a simple "please wait until I get wired" is well received.
Kati, I would encourage you to look at other options than Sarria. There are many stretches where shortish distances between albergues are possible, and if one is too long, you could cab the first km in the morning to make it a distance that is ok for your condition. I think it would be a much better experience.I chose it on the advice of quite a few people and also several guidebooks and just from a lot of reading that I did myself but I have second-guessed myself a lot on it. I first walked the Way in Pamplona ( was there in March with a tour group and we walked a km or so of it, probably), and I felt very strongly connected to it and decided then that I wanted to do the pilgrimage. Originally I thought to start in Pamplona and just go as far as I could, with the intention of going back to complete the other parts later. Perhaps that is what I should do since I feel so connected to starting in Pamplona.
Yeah, ditto on not listening to one dimensional voices on this forum. Just go walk the Camino. I have never seem anyone be rude and judgmental to a Sarria to SDC pilgrim.This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
Yeah, ditto on not listening to one dimensional voices on this forum. Just go walk the Camino. I have never seem anyone be rude and judgmental to a Sarria to SDC pilgrim.
I agree with in other Camino's to be walked and hope others will attempy this.Sarria wan't like this 10 years. Not even 5 years ago, so no, "it is not there" in the state it is now for anything. It's not part of a big methaphysical plan, just the result of consumerism. Well worth avoiding. There are other Caminos to be walked.
I have walked the Camino Frances 3 times - in 1990, 2002 and in September/October 2016. My memories of Sarria from earlier walks were very positive: a useful and unpretentious town where I had found sympathetic people to help me through a medical problem on my second walk. I was quite literally nauseated by the Camino-branded theme park atmosphere which I encountered there last year. I gave up my plans to stop for lunch and walked straight through without stopping. For several hours afterwards I considered abandoning my journey altogether. Fortunately my mood lifted somewhat as I left Sarria behind me. Many aspects of that final 100km were unwelcome but I am glad that I completed my pilgrimage. It was an interesting experience and very different from any I have had before on the Caminos. It is not one I am likely to repeat any time soon.
I walked last September from Sarria to Santiago. In previous years I had walked from St Palais in French Basque country to Sarria. This last section wasn't a problem.
Santiago on the other hand was full of noisy people, regular tourists etc. Overcast weather and I didn't like it much. Walking on to Finisterra next day with my friend was the very welcome, great escape for us. Bliss!
Returning to Santiago by bus was a good experience, Sun shone, we'd completed our journey and were very happy to enjoy our overnight stay there.
This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
It is quite normal to be irritated by things, but I think staying irritated is not worthwhile. The last 100 km has a different aura. About 30% of pilgrims start at about Sarria. As much as many may deny it, many of those who have walked further resent the newcomers because they "get in the way" in so many different ways - beds, cafes, restaurants, and the path itself. However, that is a "personal problem" of the oldtimers, not the problem of the newcomers. Additionally, if newcomers are so self-doubting that they worry about what the oldtimers think, they really need to walk the Camino and spend some reflection time.
There have been hundreds of posts about the Sarria to Santiago stretch. Virtually all of them speak to the conflict between oldtimers and newcomers. Every thread and comment is useful both for "getting it off my chest" and informing others to prepare for a change of atmosphere. To be brutally frank, anyone who does not think that he/she can accommodate that change of atmosphere needs the Camino more than they know!! Staying home out of resentment of that change is dangerous to your mental health.
Staying home out of resentment of that change is dangerous to your mental health.
Sarria is there to ease us back into life off the Camino. For weeks we walk and talk with each other ignoring the blood, sweat, and tears of others and our own as common place. We forget in our simplicity of walk-eat-wash-sleep-repeat that there are such things as perfume and MacDonalds and the convenience of daily transportation. Sarria is the beginning of the end of quiet contemplation, the Camino is easing us into a life of fast people with me first mentalities, while still allowing the Pilgrims who have surrounded you for so long to be available for backup and support and comfort. We find each other by smell. ew. but true.
Be gentle with these late comers. They have not seen what you have, and are dipping their toes in to test the water. Perhaps they are not brave enough, or feel they don't need the entire Camino Experience. Maybe this is as close as they will get to the fantastic opportunities we have had of finding ourselves and our spirituality.
Take it as the blessing it is, a gentle reminder that we get out of everything exactly what we put in.
This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
I felt such a strong each to positively comment on this post, then I realized that Colleen Clark, you said it all and so eloquently. We too had that Aha moment in realizing that Sarria to Santiago is the Camino Gods' way of preparing us for the return to the real world. It also forces us to remember that as in our 'real' lives, it is our Camino to embrace with our glass on tinto half full or half empty. It is also the day walkers' Camino, theirs to embrace as they will and not our business to judge. Unless we get some sort of kick out of judging others, in which case Sarria to Santiago is fertile ground. If we choose to make judgement of others a part of our CaminoSarria is there to ease us back into life off the Camino. For weeks we walk and talk with each other ignoring the blood, sweat, and tears of others and our own as common place. We forget in our simplicity of walk-eat-wash-sleep-repeat that there are such things as perfume and MacDonalds and the convenience of daily transportation. Sarria is the beginning of the end of quiet contemplation, the Camino is easing us into a life of fast people with me first mentalities, while still allowing the Pilgrims who have surrounded you for so long to be available for backup and support and comfort. We find each other by smell. ew. but true.
Be gentle with these late comers. They have not seen what you have, and are dipping their toes in to test the water. Perhaps they are not brave enough, or feel they don't need the entire Camino Experience. Maybe this is as close as they will get to the fantastic opportunities we have had of finding ourselves and our spirituality.
Take it as the blessing it is, a gentle reminder that we get out of everything exactly what we put in.
I do not see anything in the original post that would support your concern and assumption that people would typically be rude or judgmental because of the distance you walk. No matter what distance you walk, or travel by other means, just don't:This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago... but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them?
Similar experience. Santiago was a bit of a let down, which is quite common I think. Of course the Pilgrim Mass is great and spending time in the Cathedral. I couldn't walk any more but took a bus out to Muxia.
Now that was the right place for me to finally relax and feel like my Camino was finished.
Some things are outwith one's controlIs it possible that you ruined your camino, and not them?
One's reactions to others are completely within one's control!!Some things are outwith one's control
The short answer is no, this is not a common attitude. I felt the Sarria to Santiago portion was a wonderful opportunity to practice the many lessons we had learned along the way as well as several opportunities to help newcomers - I literally had to call one man a taxi because he was so exhausted and disoriented that he did not know his name (now thanks to this forum I know that I should have called 112). We had some of our most interesting conversations with people, regardless of where they started, during the last portion because we had so much to share with each other.This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
Actually, they don't. Tour operator representatives go to the pilgrim's bureau and collect all the compostelas of their customers. I suppose they receive it comfortably, delivered to their hotel rooms. No long queues under the sun or the rain, evidently.Well let that sit on 'their' conscience as they collect their Compostella.......if indeed they did.
This is your Camino, it really does not matter what others say . You will find peace, contentment, joy, a delight in the presence of the unknown, and a richness of life that no amount of discouraging remarks, could touch, Go do your wonderful 114 KMS, go do your Camino, may you see past any rudeness with smiles and joy. Buen Camino.This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
Hi Kati Bosch,This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
Monforte perhaps?There is an alternative from Ponferrada and walk the Camino de Invierno. Or shuttle to Monferrada and walk from there to Santiago if there is a time limit.
Also the Camino Sanabres from Ourense to Santiago is an interesting alternative. Both places are quick and easy to reach by bus or train from the Camino Frances and offer pilgrim facilities along well signposted caminos.
Hi Tom. Sorry your experience didn't match the walk we did in October. I pretty much ran into some of the same stuff. I guess I focused instead on the pilgrims I had met through the previous five weeks. The negative sights and sounds I just let go. Remember why you came back and pick a different route next time. Or, lets walk across Scotland! You were sporting the kilt, right?!
That is so easy to say. The OP was giving an opinion about the effects of over-crowding after Sarria. He's entitled not to like it; he's entitled not to like litter.One's reactions to others are completely within one's control!!
Sorry about that Jim. I knew the name looked wrong when I posted it. I guess I was recalling our friend Tom from Ireland. I will return to Spain next year, but I'll walk a different Camino. I think 'they' push the concept of the 'Camino Light' too much to draw more people in and Sarria has been set up to provide this. I don't know of another route, out of many, that advertises the short version to a Compostela. (maybe Portuguese, but it's still a long walk from Porto). I'll think hard on which route to travel on my return, but it will definitely be the road less traveled. That being said, I wouldn't change my experience for anything. I learned so much about me, it was a bit alarming! It has changed the way I look at travel experiences. It'll always be the Journey and the fellowship of Pilgrims that matters. That's how I met you!Hey Frank..Jim here or Bumpa which I have used as a trail name since my grandkids first tried to say Grandpa. Nice to hear from you again. Yes the kilt provided all sorts of reaction this time as well. Much of my experience equaled or exceeded the Oct trip. I loved the geography and small towns of Galicia with the myriad of stone buildings. The smell of fementing cattle feed, the peculiar aroma of milky cattle droppings which coloured the pavement, transported me to an earlier time on the family's dairy farm.
I appear to have opened a can of worms with this post but it was intended as one person's perception of the world around him.
May be time to try the Portuguese Route or another less crowded one. Be a few years til it gets to this point and hopefully never.Greetings fellow forum citizens. I have just returned from Santiago and as I did in the Fall, I gave myself a little time before commenting. I walked from Roncesvalles to Sahagun in October and returned in April to finish the rest of the Camino. I arrived into Sanitago on April 25th.
I found that I quickly slipped back into the daily routines and enjoyed, once again, the experience of the people, the countryside and the beauty of Spain. As the land changed around me, as I headed towards the Atlantic, I felt rewarded by the gift of sharing with the people of the towns I walked through, the kinship of shared: pilgrim meals, sunscreen and experiences. The beauty of moving meditation and solitude.
I did understand from this forum, that there would be an influx of pilgrims walking from Sarria to Santiago.
And then I reached Sarria.
I stopped the night before just short of Sarria as I tried to avoid suggested stopping areas by various guides. So I walked past Sarria at about 9:30am and was astounded. There were people coming down sidewalks, out of alley ways and possibly even through cracks in the earth. I was immediately walking in a bubble of two hundred people. At any given turn or twist or hill top, I could see 20 or 25 people in front of and behind me. If there had of been parallel paths, there might have been 20 to 25 on either side of me. Mind you, I arrived in the area on Easter weekend. Likely not the wisest of choicesBut there you are.
The numbers I expected. Other things I did not. The litter that all of a sudden there seemed to be so much more of. The mileage cairns, which appear to fairly new, defaced. There appeared to be no mileage plaques left on the cairns. Pieces of the cairns were missing...how do you do that with pilgrim gear. The cairns were almost universally covered from top to bottom with graffiti. Mostly: "Harry loves Sally" and "Rock on Dude" and other noteworthy messages in languages I didn't understand. Actually my rock on dude days are behind me as well.
I saw taxis constantly patrolling the roads adjacent to the trail and several pilgrims flagging them down and going "somewhere." I saw two women get out of a taxi, collect a stamp, get back into the taxi and go "somewhere." The ultimate for me was a tour bus pulling up and exchanging people I had been walking beside with brand new fresh people. Some got on and some got off. One lady who looked as if she had just walked out of a sporting goods store walked up to me. Now you must know that at this point I was sore, bleeding from a knee where I had pitched forward at some point. As well I was sweaty and wafting about me was that peculiar odour of having washed your clothes in a sink for weeks.
She took exception of my wishing her a Buen dias. She insisted that all pilgrims were required to say Buen camino She poked me in the chest several times with a long bony finger and demanded that I say it after her. She must have been a grade school teacher somewhere. Then she got back on the bus and went "somewhere."
Please realize that I understand what I accomplished over my 780 k's and that is in no way diminished by what other people did. I just felt a little disheartened by the general feeling it generated in me over the last 100 k's as opposed to the grace,. contentment and peace I experienced previously. I finished the last 50 k's or so with my chin tucked in, my head down and heading for home. What I felt in reaching and seeing Santiago was a totally different experience and fodder for another time.
This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
Well said! Thank you Coleen.Sarria is there to ease us back into life off the Camino. For weeks we walk and talk with each other ignoring the blood, sweat, and tears of others and our own as common place. We forget in our simplicity of walk-eat-wash-sleep-repeat that there are such things as perfume and MacDonalds and the convenience of daily transportation. Sarria is the beginning of the end of quiet contemplation, the Camino is easing us into a life of fast people with me first mentalities, while still allowing the Pilgrims who have surrounded you for so long to be available for backup and support and comfort. We find each other by smell. ew. but true.
Be gentle with these late comers. They have not seen what you have, and are dipping their toes in to test the water. Perhaps they are not brave enough, or feel they don't need the entire Camino Experience. Maybe this is as close as they will get to the fantastic opportunities we have had of finding ourselves and our spirituality.
Take it as the blessing it is, a gentle reminder that we get out of everything exactly what we put in.
I also enjoyed the crowd from groups of school children, teenagers, and adults. My wife, Janet, said I was Phil the friendly pilgrim as I greeted all that I met (Buenos Dias or Buen Camino if they were passing me or looked like a pilgrim). I was fascinated by the school children as they were so happy and singing. Yes they were noisy but returned my calls of Buen Camino when they passed me. I spent a few hours walking and talking with a father from Spain. It was delightful even though one of his daughters had to interpret for us. I learned from one of the daughters that this was the first time her family had done anything athletic. She was excited to be walking the Camino with her family. In Melide, I became ill and my Camino ended at that time. The gentle caring and compassion I received in Melide and Azura are remembered.OK, here are my 2 cents worth. Anyone planing to only walk from Sarria, do not be disheartened
The Back Story.
I started planning my first Camino in 2014, and finally walked from St Jean in late Apr 2015.
I loved it. It was everything I had hoped for and 10 times more.
But even in the planing stages I was already starting to 'dread' the final 115 kms from Sarria. The crowds, the tourists, the noise, the litter.
Many here will remember my constant stream of 'Newbie' questions and doubts. All answered with kindness and thoughtfulness. From 'should I take a Rice Cooker?'...........to "Oh no, How can I avoid the bit from Sarria'?
I was really dreading it............
The advice here was great. Basically along the lines of 'It's not bad.......just different'. Embrace it for what it is. And don't think too much.
What Happened?
A long story, but I ended up walking with an injury, right from the start. I walked quite slow.........and just got slower....and slower.
By the time I hit the 'final 100' I was really hurting. And I was down to about 12 kms a day, on a good day.
I was glum.
Not only was I reaching the stage of the 'Circus' but it was going to take me 8 or 9 days to get 'through it'.....
It was like HE wanted to punish me or something......
So I gave myself a good 'talking to'. Not the first time I had to on that Camino!
I had 2 choices. I could either wallow in glumness and be grumpy and miserable for the next 8-9 days, or I could change my attitude! I chose the latter.
I determined each day, to learn from this 'new' Camino experience. Because I had a sneaking suspicion that a 'higher power' had decided I needed to learn some more lessons still...... And I did....as I discovered.
So each morning I reminded myself that today would be different...........but good......in a different way.
Most of the people I had met along the way were way ahead of me now. So there were no familiar faces. I think I saw the last of them at Portomarin.
Now it was all news faces. Day packs. Groups of school kids. Support buses. You name it!
And I probably learnt more in those last 100 kms than all the previous stages from St Jean. About not judging people, accepting others as they are, and just letting others 'be' as they wish to.
I could relate a dozen stories. Because each day I made sure that I talked to some of these new 'short walkers'.
One day sticks right out for me. The day I started chatting to 2 ladies carrying tiny day packs who had started in Sarria. Their 'husbands' (who were brothers) were waiting with the car at the next stop. One of the husbands had almost died the year before and dreamed of walking the Camino. Now he was quite debilitated and almost blind. He would walk a few kilometers each day, and his brother would pick him up in the car, so they could both wait down the path for the ladies to finish their walk that day.
His wife had led him over part of the Pyrenees section on Day 1...... I sat with them all over coffee at the next village with my eyes watering up as I heard their story.
And there were other stories........
And sure there were lots of day trippers and tourists. So what? And there were groups with their support bus and picnics waiting along the trail. So what? And Heaven forbid! There were probably people who didn't walk every bit of that final 100 kms. Well let that sit on 'their' conscience as they collect their Compostella.......if indeed they did. Because I wasn't going to worry about what others do or don't do.
For me that first Camino was and still is life changing. And some of my fondest memories are from the 'final 100'. Because I chose to enjoy that final stretch.......
In fact in 2016. I ONLY walked that stretch. As a 'try out' for my wife Pat. We both loved it. Because we chose to. And by taking care in where we stayed and what time we started each day, we did not see crowds much at all. (May 2016). In fact our final day we hardly saw many people at all......
Sorry to ramble on a bitBut I think it can be too easy to have the wrong 'mindset' on the Camino. The final 100 from Sarria, is different. Accept it.........and enjoy it
You can see how I was struggling with it all and finally accepted it here:
http://robscamino.com/31st-of-may-the-start-of-the-final-hundred/
Of course no one forces us to walk the section from Sarria. There are alternatives
Just my 2 cents worth....Climbs off Soap Box.........
This response really resonated with me. Thank you @trecile. It's good to remember that those who start in Sarria are pilgrims too, many without the advantages like time, health and funds that allow us to walk from more distant starting points.I LOVE your attitude! I had no problem with anyone who was just walking from Sarria. It was fun to see their excitement after I had been walking for weeks. And I didn't mind being considered an "old pro" by that point by the newcomers.
Last did the Sarria stretch in the later part of April 2016. Yes a few more people, maybe a little more litter and graffiti , but I still thoroughly enjoyed this stretch. Since it was my second time walking this part of the Camino we did different end points each day to keep it fresh.
By the time we reached this point my wife and I were so relaxed, nothing really fazed us.
Other pilgrims or motorized pilgrims can do what they want. I decide to be amused versus upset.
If you have walked the whole Camino Frances and let the last 100 kilometers affect you negatively then the problem is with you and not those around you.
It is possible you have missed what walking a Camino is about.
When your going try September when I traveled through Sarria there were not a lot of travelers it was cooler and I enjoyed my self .This is discouraging to me, because I'm only going from Sarria to Santiago (I have fibromyalgia and walking is legit difficult and painful for me (use a cane in daily life) and I'm also deaf so I decided to do this shorter portion first to see if I can do it and then if possible do the rest later), and when I read posts like this I feel like people who have traveled the whole camino wouldn't want me there. Is this really a common attitude that people have? I'm looking forward to staying in albergues but are people typically going to be rude/judgmental of me because of the short distance I've traveled compared to them? I am going to carry my own pack, I'm going to walk the whole thing unless I'm actually injured or something and can't.
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