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There are a few times that I experienced a reality shock. The first time was after the weariness of the first few days of walking amassed and I understood the physicality of what I was doing.
The second time was at Puente la Reina when I joined the Camino Frances from the Camino Aragones. We went from seeing one or two pilgrims a day to having 100 roommates in an instant.
And the recurring one is the massive increase in the number of pilgrims at Sarria, pilgrims walking just the last 100 km in order to qualify for a compostela. Even though I expected it every time after the first camino, it always is an abrupt event.
Several threads have explored the attitude control it takes when suddenly confronted with a large number of pilgrims, many carrying only water, and all fresh as a daisy! It is useful for first time pilgrims to be aware of the last 100 km, because it will test your mental state in a way that it has not been tested since the beginning of your walk. If you suddenly find yourself frustrated and irritated, remember that the one thing that you can control is your attitude. Deal with any negative thoughts by challenging them with reality. Remind yourself of the elation you felt at the start, and remember that all the new pilgrims are feeling that same elation; remind yourself that your clothes were once clean!!
That last 100 km is different from any other 100 km, and takes some preparation. Don't let that last part diminish the first 650 km.
Plan to start in Sahagun, so anticipate a similar trek.Perhaps I'm one of the "short walkers" as my camino covered only 220 km but honestly I felt this was a VAST advantage over the 100 km'ers. The 100 ams before Sarria were distinctly more satisfying BUT thats not to say i didn't enjoy the road from Sarria into Santiago. Sarria was pretty awful I won't lie. Space in the alberques a bit more hit or miss but we hiked past the Brierley major stops and enjoyed small privately owed alberques, not fully occupied, and met some of our best compadres on this leg of the journey. You gotta do what you can. The trip is amazing and if you don't know the emptiness of the Camino Aragones you won't miss it.
"Short walkers"? They are doing a Camino entirely different than yours, Falcon, Mark. Think of walking 100km in your own backyard on a couple of work-free days; wouldn't you then quite rightly say that you've done something pretty cool?
Talking to these fresh-faced, enthusiastic clean guys lifted me up, especially as they were visibly awed of meeting a "long walker"; they didn't take anything away from me, on the contrary, they made me realise how privileged I was!
Hey, Mark, nor did I take your post as judgemental, sorry if it sounded that way. Just as you and Falcon wrote, the "short-walkers" Camino is just different agenda. I walked the last 10km to SdC along with a Swiss couple that started their Camino in Geneva, 3 month before. Boy, that made my walk from Pamplona look like a late-summer promenade; yet, in front of the cathedral we all,- the short-walkers included-, embraced and congratulated each other as fellow pelegrinos.It wasn't my intention to come across as judgemental. I didn't refer to "short walkers" to suggest hostility, merely to describe conversations I recalled from my time on the Camino in 2012. People who started in Sarria were inevitably in a very different head space compared to those who started in St Jean or elsewhere further back the track. Sometimes those different head spaces 'collide', for want of a better term. No one is superior to another, just different.
Besides, compared to people who start in Le Puy, those who start in St Jean are "short walkers". In other words, it's all relative! ;-)
Hola Margaret,Falcon is SO right here!
There are no pilgrim throngs in December, of course, but the vibe is always different. If per chance it is a weekend or a holiday all can be hectic; my last night in Arca, December 7, was VERY crowded as was the camino into SdC next morning.Hola Margaret,
I'm a bit surprised it's the same at the time of year that you usually walk.
Colin
My Camino was in the Fall September 15, 2013 by the time I reached Sarria the weather had caused fewer pilgrims to begin October 11,2013There are a few times that I experienced a reality shock. The first time was after the weariness of the first few days of walking amassed and I understood the physicality of what I was doing.
The second time was at Puente la Reina when I joined the Camino Frances from the Camino Aragones. We went from seeing one or two pilgrims a day to having 100 roommates in an instant.
And the recurring one is the massive increase in the number of pilgrims at Sarria, pilgrims walking just the last 100 km in order to qualify for a compostela. Even though I expected it every time after the first camino, it always is an abrupt event.
Several threads have explored the attitude control it takes when suddenly confronted with a large number of pilgrims, many carrying only water, and all fresh as a daisy! It is useful for first time pilgrims to be aware of the last 100 km, because it will test your mental state in a way that it has not been tested since the beginning of your walk. If you suddenly find yourself frustrated and irritated, remember that the one thing that you can control is your attitude. Deal with any negative thoughts by challenging them with reality. Remind yourself of the elation you felt at the start, and remember that all the new pilgrims are feeling that same elation; remind yourself that your clothes were once clean!!
That last 100 km is different from any other 100 km, and takes some preparation. Don't let that last part diminish the first 650 km.
The rule is strict because it's not about walking 100km, it's about making a pilgrimage to the tomb of St James.The problem for some is, I think, that no matter HOW many Kms you have walked, in tears, wet, cold, alone, bedbugs, sore feet and so on you just HAVE to do the last 100k to get the Compostela. Even though I know the C is not the be all and end all, it's a nice acknowledgment of your journey.
So should the rule be changed... So that ANY strech of 100k or more is sufficient to get the ultimate stamp? Maybe that could stretch out the bottleneck in Sarria?
Just a comment, and I don't mean to annoy anyone. But the rule is strict ( for those who want a Compostela) and many do want that piece of paper.
Buen Camino.
The rule is strict because it's not about walking 100km, it's about making a pilgrimage to the tomb of St James.
Suddenly there was a mass of pilgrims,100s..it was early August (is that the right collective noun?)
kentucky-- when are you starting from Sahagun? So am I-- late June 2014.Plan to start in Sahagun, so anticipate a similar trek.
May be a mute point by now, but consider flying into Madrid. The train/bus schedule to Sahagun is very convenient.Sorry. I arrive in SDC on April 28 and train to Sahagun the next day.
Thanks, but is a moot point as I already have an airline ticket.May be a mute point by now, but consider flying into Madrid. The train/bus schedule to Sahagun is very convenient.
Hi guys ,
Obviously im just a newbie planning her first Camino but reading some of the posts are very discouraging here.
I will be only doing the shorter Camino from Sarria to Santiago and i dont feel my Camino will be taking from anyone elses experience. I have minimal time i can take away from home as i have a son with special needs and am limited as to how long i can be away but my Camino is simply that , MY Camino and it will be just as special to me that any of yours will be. I would love to meet anyone while on the Camino either long or short walkers but i would hate to think that i was being called a plastic pilgrim just because i have not the same time freedom as others. Take every experience as yours be it good or bad everything has something to teach us.
Buen Camino to all !!
Maryindigo
Thanks Keith , very grateful of the replyHi Maryindigo,
To Maryindigo and your son you are a Very Important Person so please take no notice of any other persons point of view. It is not their Camino and they do not know you or what " rocks your boat ". Start in Sarria walk, talk and eat and drink with other pilgrims.
Enjoy your first Camino and return home with many stories and pictures for your son.
Buen Camino...............Keith.
Until the arrival of trains, buses, and planes, about the only way to get to Sarria was on foot/horse from your home! Sarria may be the least medieval pilgrimage among the choices.just as the last 100km sounds to me more like my idea of a medieval pilgrimage?
There are too many pulperias and restaurants for me to get through quickly.Couldn't get through Sarria quick enough.
Hey Maryindigo, have you considered walking a different 100 km stretch? There are quite a few pilgrims that do the Camino in a few stages. Otherwise trying one of the other Caminos like the Ingles, might be an option.Hi guys ,
Obviously im just a newbie planning her first Camino but reading some of the posts are very discouraging here.
I will be only doing the shorter Camino from Sarria to Santiago and i dont feel my Camino will be taking from anyone elses experience. I have minimal time i can take away from home as i have a son with special needs and am limited as to how long i can be away but my Camino is simply that , MY Camino and it will be just as special to me that any of yours will be. I would love to meet anyone while on the Camino either long or short walkers but i would hate to think that i was being called a plastic pilgrim just because i have not the same time freedom as others. Take every experience as yours be it good or bad everything has something to teach us.
Buen Camino to all !!
Maryindigo
What bothered me most on the last stretch, was the people who arrived in cars, parked them around the corner, and still used the refugios.
And the young people having sex in the hallway the night when I went to the loo with my 8-year-old in 2005. Fortunately, he'd heard about the phenomenon, but I wasn't ready for him to see a practical demonstration.
I remember dragging him off, muttering "if they can do THAT at 2 AM, they really haven't walked far enough yesterday!".
He's 17 now, and will be walking with us for the 6th time this Easter. I don't know if he remembers the "demonstration"...
Buen Camino DebsterMary I too am walking from Sarria to santiago in July.. It's your camino not anyone else's..!!!!
I did a slightly extended Camino Ingles this year, followed by the Camino Finisterre via Muxia. I accepted that there was a risk that a bad day would make it more difficult, but I don't think that is something that I would expect others to feel bad about.I felt bad for the 100 km pilgrims. Not because I thought they were missing out on an "authentic" pilgrimage, but because if they have a bad couple of days, that's half their walk! When you start further back, you have time to turn things around. I had 3 days that were REALLY bad, bad as in, "Screw this! I want to go home!" But I was able to keep going and put myself in a better place. I don't know if I would have been able to do that if I had started in Sarria.
Sounds magical tploomis ,Thank you. I can,t wait to see it !I had been looking forward to seeing all sorts of fresh pilgrims being dropped off by bus and taxi at the 100 km. marker, but, disappointingly, there was nobody there but us. The last four days into Santiago were a major rainstorm for us (beginning of November, 2013). I don't know if the weather was keeping people from walking, but there were not many pilgrims on the path at that time. The last 100 km. was magical for me. I felt like I was in a kind of Hobbitland, everything green and yellow and sparkling in the rain. I know I could go back and walk that section a hundred times and it would never be the same.
I think that from wherever you start on your Pilgrimage, that is a special place.
People choose different places of departure for many, many reasons and when you walk you have no idea, in the majority of cases, why someone started where they did. My husband Adriaan accompanied last May, together with Sillydolls group, several people with handicaps. They started at the 100 km mark ( just after Sarria) and took nearly 3 weeks to arrive in Santiago. There was no way that they could have walked more. We have also had the pleasure of walking with a group of lady prisoners from the Women's prison in Avila. They didn't have so much time available and so started on Sarria. They were such a happy group!
Please remember that this Forum is read by only a very small quantity of Pilgrims who walk the Camino and have obviously chosen their place of departure according to their possibilities. When I first researched the Camino, I did it in Spanish and, frankly, SJPP wasn't even mentioned! We decided to walk from Roncesvalles and have chosen this now 3 times. I have never considered starting in SJPP. This has nothing to do with distance, because I have also started in Jaca, Ourense, Oviedo ( but didn't finish this one) and we are now considering starting in Montserrat, because the place has a very special significance for us, but that is a walk of over 1.000 Kms! Yikes! SJPP seems to have become fashionable over the last few years, especially with the French ( because they are after all living in France), Germans,Koreans and English speaking Pilgrims.
In other words, your Camino is your Camino and where you choose to start is your choice, according to your possibilities and personal situation. I'm sure that hundreds of the Pilgrims starting in Sarria have no idea that the " long distance walkers" are talking or thinking negatively about them! Anne
Wait & see, especially if you'll start well before SarriaI haven't walked my Camino yet and I also don't want to break any forum rules on religion but reading this made me think about Lent and Holy Week at Church. A group of us regulars have been keeping Lent, attending extra services etc. and generally being extra pious and holy!!! In Holy Week we've had wonderful , sparsely attended but very beautiful Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. Easter Day we rose before dawn for a 5.30 service. Then came 10.30 - a Church full of people we don't see from one Sunday to the next - chocolate fuelled children running wild, teenagers who don't really want to be there etcetera - and it's wonderful - and surely more like a medieval services would have been , just as the last 100km sounds to me more like my idea of a medieval pilgrimage?
I get your point - I did my first Camino in 2009 from Sarria - I was still working then and just didn't have the time to walk further. I enjoyed the experience so much and learnt a lot which came in very handy for my second Camino earlier this year when I walked from Burgos to SDC. I met a group of German women (all mothers with children in school) who have been doing 100 km every year starting in France and in a couple of years they will have done the complete Frances Way - fantastic.Hi guys ,
Obviously im just a newbie planning her first Camino but reading some of the posts are very discouraging here.
I will be only doing the shorter Camino from Sarria to Santiago and i dont feel my Camino will be taking from anyone elses experience. I have minimal time i can take away from home as i have a son with special needs and am limited as to how long i can be away but my Camino is simply that , MY Camino and it will be just as special to me that any of yours will be. I would love to meet anyone while on the Camino either long or short walkers but i would hate to think that i was being called a plastic pilgrim just because i have not the same time freedom as others. Take every experience as yours be it good or bad everything has something to teach us.
Buen Camino to all !!
Maryindigo
That being said, it was a truly special experience for me. Yes, my Compostela might not have been as well deserved as people who had walked from SJPDP,
¡Buen Camino!
Wave prof,We have said that if we had it to do over we'd at least half wish we had stopped at Sarria. And I can say with almost all certainty that on our future caminos we will stop at Sarria.
If we do break down and walk into Santiago, we will definitely continue walking to Finesstare (sp?). The last 100km are not the way I plan to ever end my camino again.
Sorry, but that was not my "reality" at all! Not all who start further back from Sarria find the increasing numbers after Sarria a bad thing. I actually enjoyed the enthusiasm and new faces along the Camino. The fact that their clothes appeared clean or that many were carrying only water or that they were walking a fast pace did not bothered me whatsoever and I am not sure why it should. I adjusted. Very simple. Personally, I think the last 100 kms (Sarria to Santiago) are the dullest, worst food, least friendly locals. Even though I hope to go back again on the Camino Frances, I would NOT walk again Sarria to Santiago, but this has nothing to do with the other pilgrims.That last 100 km is different from any other 100 km, and takes some preparation. Don't let that last part diminish the first 650 km.
Different pilgrims like different things about the Camino. The last 100km has a lot of features, mostly about the increased number of pilgrims, that irritate some pilgrims, particularly repeat pilgrims. Spectacular views are pretty much gone. The food can become routine in pilgrim restaurants because the focus is on serving a lot of people rather than creating unique cuisine (with a surprising number of great places if you seek them out). The bed race seems to dominate the conversation. The list of the off-putting items can be quite lengthy. All that said, to me it may have the highest level of energy since the Pyrenees crossing. New pilgrims are nearly awestruck. Thirty-day pilgrims feel the end drawing them on. Conversations and friends are new. I don't think I ever saw as many predawn pilgrims as in the last days of the pilgrimage; pilgrims can't wait to get to the cathedral. Santiago itself becomes a rabbit-warren-with-traffic lights as the arrows hide themselves in obscure places. Unless you know exactly when and where to look, the cathedral remains hidden until you are suddenly at the north door with the bagpipes playing in the arch ahead. Leaving the arch, Praza do Obradoiro is suddenly spread before you, filled with hikers and bikers staring up at the cathedral and taking photos. Old friends appear from everywhere in an avalanche of hugs and smiles, and greetings in languages incomprehensible to each other.We have said that if we had it to do over we'd at least half wish we had stopped at Sarria. And I can say with almost all certainty that on our future caminos we will stop at Sarria.
If we do break down and walk into Santiago, we will definitely continue walking to Finesstare (sp?). The last 100km are not the way I plan to ever end my camino again.
Famous words to remember!This isn't a spiritual happening, but rather reality.
Many pilgrims set their sights on a Camino too far to be realistic. Arn
The object of walking is to relax the mind. You should therefore not permit yourself even to think while you walk; but divert yourself by the objects surrounding you. Walking is the best possible exercise. (Thomas Jefferson)[...]But... the more I read this forum the more I hope I'll be able to maintain a more healthy attitude once past Sarria.
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