- Time of past OR future Camino
- May 2023: Via Francigena, Lucca to Rome
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I don't think the Camino will be the Camino without one or two smelly shirts, but I appreciate your tip of pre-soaking clothes in vinegar to remove the odor.Four days in the Andes with porters isn't the same as 35 days in Spain, but there were still a few tricks that I picked up on the Inca Trail that will by applying to the Camino - some have been discussed before, and some haven't (I don't think), so here goes:
- Good socks are as important as having good boots! I used merino wool socks paired with silk sock liners. This combo really helped reduce friction on my feet, and I never had any issue with blisters or sore spots. The silk liners are super lightweight, so it was easy to carry more of them & rotate them daily, or even at lunch, while the merinos would stay drier and less stinky, and last longer.
- Merino underwear is pretty nice also, though it doesn't last as long as the socks.
- Speaking of stink, once those modern hi-tech shirts pick up a stench they keep them. I've read that bacteria get trapped in the microfibers, so that they smell nice and clean when they're dry, but start to ripen as soon as they're warm. The only way I've found to rescue them is to soak them in vinegar for a couple hours before washing them. I'll be avoiding them on the Camino!
- Every group of hikers we met were lovely and polite until the last day, when the main trail merged with an single-day trail. And then the peacefulness was destroyed. People lined up in the dark to be the first on the trail, they would jostle past you if you paused for a photo, and it seemed to turn into the Amazing Race. Everyone got pushy in the fight to get to the best and most iconic sunrise spots first. The 'race' seemed to drain all the spirituality out of the walk. I had to quit it, and let everyone pass, before I found my peace again. And I read about the occasional race for beds and the race for the pilgrims' mass, and I think: you can get your bed and lose your peace.
(Not making the Camino a race gets discussed a lot on here! This one is probably not a revelation to anyone at all.)
- We would have a big lunch, take a siesta, and then walk again until dusk. It was a nice pace. And while I have absolutely no idea what my own camino pace will be, I want to at least try a few days like this (rather than trying to check into an albergue by noon) to see if it feels right.
Four days in the Andes with porters isn't the same as 35 days in Spain, but there were still a few tricks that I picked up on the Inca Trail that will by applying to the Camino - some have been discussed before, and some haven't (I don't think), so here goes:...snipped.
The Inca trail is simply 4 days of walking without a pack.
Curious here. Why without a pack? Are porters required? Sorry if my question is taking us too far off the Camino subject.
Actually, there have been many in depth threads on socks and liners.
I did not do a search..but they are there and are worth researching.
I fully agree that blister prevention starts with socks and liners.
Having done both...I would submit that really is no similarity between the
two. The Inca trail is simply 4 days of walking without a pack.
The Camino experience doesn't really start until the 2nd week.
Hi Cherr, the Inca trails are mostly (if not all) guided. It is not possible to walk them independently. But: the guide is a wealth of knowledge and we wouldn't have wanted todo it any other way! I ahven't done a cmino yet, but I imagine the Ince trails to have many more steps too than most of the Caminos.Thank you Laurie. If/when I decide to do this trek, I'll be talking to you again.....but I'll PM
Yes, there are lots of sock threads, and as is usually the case when it comes to gear, we can all give each other a lot of suggestions about what works best for us, but in the end what works for you will have nothing to do with our recommendations but just what works for your own feet, which are unique in so many ways. That doesn't take away from the value of these posts, because they give you a range of options to try out.
MichaelC recommends silk liners, I hate them. They just didn't do anything for me in any way. So I just go in socks -- after years in Smart Wool, I've discovered Icebreakers and I think they are superior in terms of durability. Whereas my Smart Wool wear through in 6 weeks, I wore my Icebreakers from Valencia to Santiago and then again last year on the Olvidado. Still looking good!
I think the one thing that is impossible to predict is how much your feet will swell. Any pre-camino training is unlikely to get your feet to their maximum Camino swollen size, unless you walk for consecutive days with a pack on your back for hours a day. Shoes that I wear comfortably with a mid weight hiking sock when I hike here at home become too tight for me unless I reduce the thickness of my sock on a camino.
No doubt socks are an essential part of the gear -- the wrong socks for you can lead to lots of blisters, and what I usually see is that the socks are too thick and the feet have swollen, thus producing blisters. Lots of things to experiment with but it took me about 10 years on the camino to get my perfect combination! Buen camino, Laurie
I had a similar experience. It was a wonderful trip. My first Camino this year and can’t wait. Not expecting to compare but the Inca trail made me brave!Porters are required, they carry the food, all the cooking equipment, tents, but I carried my own pack. The numbers entering the trail are limited, I think, to 500 a day, but well over half of those are porters! I had a group of four walkers, and there was the guide, and then six or seven porters!!! They did the cooking, too. And the truly amazing thing was how we would get up and start walking after breakfast, leaving the camp site with the tents up, nothing packed up, etc. Inevitably, the porters would catch up with us, get ahead of us, and have everything set up before we got there. And they walked, every one of them, in flip flops. You have to do a lot of soul searching when you see 50 year old men carrying at least 100 pounds up and down these trails for your convenience, but that's another story.
I loved the Inca trail, but even better in many ways was the hike to Choquequirao, accessible only by foot, with some killer 5,000 ft elevation gain days but OMG amazing to be there in the ruins, just you and your guide and the porters. Sorry also to have gone off topic, but in the past I have had PMs with several people about these walks in Peru, so I assume that the moderators will tolerate a little of this. Buen camino, Laurie
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?