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Just a note of warning to those who have not experienced the curious phenomenon of people who think that walking in the dark is sensible. Below are several incidents from my Le Puy to SDC walk in june/august. In Conques several people were noisily waking up at 5.45am. This town is one of the most beautiful in France and located high up. The abbey offered breakfast from 7am and a service from 8 am. Most of those in my dormitory were attending the service-including those who woke up at 5.45am who proceeded to make plenty of noise with their plastic bags, go to the shower,slam the door, come back, slam the door, walk around, talk, look at their watch, walk outside slam the door....What planet are these people on? Just in case breakfast is early they went downstairs at 6.30am. I got up at 7.30am went to breakfast and saw these strange people fretting and looking at their watches waiting for the service at 8am. Before anyone says it's because they like to start before it gets too hot. Conques is high up, the weather was cold misty and dark until 8am. At another town, still in France 2 men got up at 6am to get an early start and natuarally turned on the light, conversed loudly and of course had numerous plastic bags. I caught up with them later that morning and found they were staying, at 11 am, in an alberegue virtually on the main road. When I asked why they got up so early to walk 15 kms and stop in atown with no attractions they looked confused-and yes, it was still cool and overcast.In Leon I stayed in a pension to avoid these 5am idiots and saw several pilgrims later who said they stayed in the albergue and got no sleep because of those arriving back from a night on the town and the crazies leaving at 6am. Leon at this time had a maximum temperature for the preceding and following day of 21 degrees-hardly the sahara.Many times hopitalleros complained about these idiots who they regarded as just mindlessly competing for beds. Other times I saw a long row of packs outside an albergue yet to open by 11am-why? I walked for another 4 hours or so and found a bed.Herd mentality seems to take over.A German girl I met could not understand the stupidity of some pilgrims-alarms going off at 5am.Several albergues, to try and curb these idiots, would not open the front door until 6am yet many times people were up 1 hour before that-one memorable occasion was a woman who was up at 4am (!). When I pointed out that she would have to wait 2 hours she looked blank-and was still there 4 hours later. This mania for getting up at a ridiculous hour has prompted the Castille and Leon province to issue a poster telling pilgrims, amongst other things, not to walk in the dark.At Cebreiro the town was shrouded in mist, cold and the albergue full with pilgrims pleading to sleep on the floor-I walked a few kilometres on and found a comfortable bed below the cloud and enjoyed a beer in the sun with an Irish pilgrim who was also incredulous at the stupidity of those who wanted to stay in the bleak alberque at Cebreiro.Many times I marvelled at the dangerous path which was hazardous enough in full daylight let alone in the dark-a case in point being out of cebreiro which had been re done and was strewn with tree limbs, rocks and corrugated mud.
My point is don't feel like you have to emulate these idiots-it's inconsiderate, dangerous and pointless
My point is don't feel like you have to emulate these idiots-it's inconsiderate, dangerous and pointless