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19 November, 2009polmaja said:Hi everyone!
My husband and I are planning to do the Sevilla - Santiago route starting in December 2009 or January 2010. We have done the Camino Frances a few years ago, in March, and had great fun.
We would like to know a few things from someone who has done de la Plata before:
- are majority of refugios open during the winter months?
- how cold does it get - on the camino and in refugios?
- should we carry a tent? (we would like to avoid that if not necessary)
- any other "winter advice" will come handy!
We have enough time (more than 2 months) and we do speak decent basic Spanish, so that should help.
Thanks in advance!
Maja & Dean
lovingkindness said:Hi from Zamora, two days after Salamanca (24 November, I think). I am now surviving a freezing, wet all-day fog and wearing all my winter layers. However, I am having a rest day so my need for insulation may be greater than when I get going again with my pack on. Cheers, Lovingkindness.
lovingkindness said:My days have altered drastically since leaving Salamanca. Whereas before I struggled with the blistering heat and distances too long, now I am faced with high humidity and freezing temperatures, icy drizzle, and frigid winds. The refugios and albergues are so cold that I´m crying in my sleep and frequently, I find, they are so dirty, so full of dust and condensation that instead of resting up after a hard day outdoors I´m spending hours scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms to stave off an asthma attack and allergies. From Zamora to Puebla de Sanabria the daily challenge has been to regulate body heat, to avoid perspiring first thing in the morning as I set out, as wet undergarments and chill winds equal certain ´death´, or sickness and the end of my Camino. To conserve energy and rest up a little I have decided to slow down, doing half the distance each day that I originally thought that I would do. This is giving me more time to enjoy the scenery, to take photos, to disappear into that elusive creative space where nothing, not even the cold, can deter me from attaining that beautiful moment when one is so captivated, so engaged that nothing else exists. Coping in this kind of weather is a new challenge for me so I have decided to be cautious. All the other peregrinos whom I briefly met between Salamanca to Zamora have long gone and I am alone, pining and longing for their presence. They will probably be in Santiago de Compostella days before me and I´ll never see them again. Regards, Lovingkindness.
lovingkindness said:It is already snowing in Galicia and the mountain range which has been in view since Olleros has a dusting of snow, enough to send shards of dread down the spines of every silly peregrino/peregrina still out here on the Way....Coping in this kind of weather is a new challenge for me
skilsaw said:Heroic suffering is stupid. I learned during elementary school that British explorers were masters of it. We were taught that it was glorious and somehow patriotic. "Close your eyes and think of England." What BS! Franklin ate his crewmates, and Scott died one day before finishing his journey back from the south pole. How sad!
falcon269 said:
lovingkindness said:I am having a magnificent time. ...the kind people... ...I am soaring.
I wish I had a more expansive vocabulary. I find words so limiting when faced with such beauty.
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