Antonius Vaessen
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2015-2016 VdlPlata - Sanabres
2016.Primitivo
2017 Salvador
2018 Norte (to Sobrado)
2019 Norte again
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) |
---|
The tagline that seems to stick is the "El Camino de los sentidos" (Camino of the senses). I prefer that to a macho concept like "conquering" the route. And the gender split on the Mozarabe is more balanced than you might expect:The Association could market it as the "Real Pilgrims" route and men would flock to conquer it. As a woman, no way would I walk a Camino for the first time not being proficient in Spanish with no other Camino under my belt. I will be a solo walker so I'm going to walk where there will be plenty of people and languages I can speak (fluent in french and challenged in Spanish despite a year of it in college). If you look at the gender differences, the French Way used to be walked entirely by men. Now women are the larger group.
So go claim it for the boys! When the men embrace it, the women will start walking it looking for mates.
That's an interesting perspective. I guess they were talking about the unattended municipal albergues between Almeria and Granada. Until recently, pilgrims would pick up the keys from the town hall, police station, or nearby bar. Today, you contact the association to get the code number for a key safe by the door. If you don't speak Spanish, they'll communicate with you through WhatsApp and Google Translate. It's a simple transactional interaction that doesn't require much language ability.they were often obliged to ring someone upon arrival at their nightly destination, in order to obtain a key to the albergue/other accomodation. It made it clear to me that some reasonable facility in Spanish would be at least highly desirable.
This is really intriguing and You’ve inspired me to consider the Mozarabe as a future Camino after my upcoming pilgrimage in 2021.I am considering to walk the camino mozarabe as my next camino. It sounds very interesting to walk through Andalucia, visit some cities on the way. When I read peoples reports I read a lot that they met few of none other pilgrims. Does anybody know the reasons for this. I suspect that it has to do with the heat and the difficulty of the terrain (long steep climbs and descents) and the combination of these two factors. Are there other factors to consider?
Can anybody tell me how hard the mozarabe is, compared to other caminos like the Norte, Salvador or Primitivo.
I suppose the best time to do the Camino would be early spring?
Poor doggy!That's an interesting perspective. I guess they were talking about the unattended municipal albergues between Almeria and Granada. Until recently, pilgrims would pick up the keys from the town hall, police station, or nearby bar. Today, you contact the association to get the code number for a key safe by the door. If you don't speak Spanish, they'll communicate with you through WhatsApp and Google Translate. It's a simple transactional interaction that doesn't require much language ability.
I think Spanish language ability is needed more to book ahead at private accommodations. You may find yourself plunged into a conversation that you're not prepared for. The owner of one private albergue told me: "I have to visit a relative in hospital tomorrow. If you arrive before 3pm, wait at the bar on the left when you enter the town. It's across the road from the town hall. My sister-in-law will be working there. You needn't order anything if you don't want to. Just tell her that you're waiting for me and she'll seat you in the shade with a glass of water." (WIth my basic Spanish, I picked up "I'm doing something tomorrow. 3pm. Wait at the bar.")
For sure, you'll have a richer experience if you speak Spanish well. The same is true on the VDLP or the Sanabres. As for walking 1300km with a footsore dog ... I'd better not comment.
Hi, do you know of the youtube channel of Sara Dhooma?I am considering to walk the camino mozarabe as my next camino. It sounds very interesting to walk through Andalucia, visit some cities on the way. When I read peoples reports I read a lot that they met few of none other pilgrims. Does anybody know the reasons for this. I suspect that it has to do with the heat and the difficulty of the terrain (long steep climbs and descents) and the combination of these two factors. Are there other factors to consider?
Can anybody tell me how hard the mozarabe is, compared to other caminos like the Norte, Salvador or Primitivo.
I suppose the best time to do the Camino would be early spring?
Note to self: take Spanish lessons!
Thanks! It was very helpful for my next planning.There may be a combination of real and imagined barriers to greater numbers of pilgrims:
Real barriers include the fact that the Camino is long. The climate is hot in summer (e.g. 45º in Cordoba) and cold in winter (e.g. snow in Granada). The terrain offers a few "typical" Camino challenges (e.g. some roadside walking, some stretches with little shade) and some "special" challenges (e.g. some stages with no water or villages, a scramble up a rocky hill, and dry riverbeds that tire you out)..
Imagined barriers include the reputation that only very experienced or tough pilgrims can handle it. Some guidebooks say that the Mozarabe is "Unsuitable for first time pilgrims," or "Lacks facilities," or "Demands Spanish language ability." I think that this puts people off a Camino that has actually gotten considerably easier in the last few years.
Over time, I think the reptation of the Mozarabe will grow and more people will get interested, despite the challenges. The associations have built up a good network of albergues. They have marked the route very well with yellow arrows. And they are exceptionally supportive and welcoming - especially the association in Almeria.
Comparison is difficult. I don't know Norte, Primitivo, and Salvador. Compared to VDLP, the terrain of the Mozarabe is a bit more challenging with higher peaks to scale. The network of accommodation is somewhat better. The number of pilgrims is lower. The history and cultural heritage is stunning - roman ruins, moorish architecture, prehistoric archeology, and castles. The natural scenery is not better or worse, just different - desert landscapes, Sierra Nevada mountains, Wild West badlands, and wide open prairie lands.
The Almeria Association reports that it issued 1,000 credentials in the first half of this year. If you look at the recent blogs, you'll see more photographs of pilgrim encounters than you might have seen a few years ago. It will never be a crowded path, but I think it might be in the Goldilocks zone for people who want the comfort of a well-supported Camino but the tranquility of a less-discovered route.
Note to self: take Spanish lessons!
If a pilgrim snores in an albergue and there is no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?If there are no other pilgrims there is no snoring.
As someone who has studied both languages, with the usual difficulty of an adult learning another language, I find this statement to be the opposite of my experience.French is so much more sensible. They have like three irregular verbs in the whole language and every verb conjugates the same way. UNLIKE Spanish which has a billion irregulars that conjugate differently for each verb.
This may be true, for any woman who is not experienced in walking alone. However, I don't know why the gender factor was raised in this thread. I very much doubt there is more risk of women encountering harassment on the Mozarabe than on the Frances.I think many women will continue to go to the more traversed ways until they can gain confidence traveling on foot through a foreign country.
Says one woman who has actually walked the Mozarabe and the Frances, though she's too humble to say so.I very much doubt there is more risk of women encountering harassment on the Mozarabe than on the Frances.
I'm doing myfirst camimo (CF) next month - if I get the 'buzz' I plan to do Mozarabe in 2020 (at least as far as Merida) - I know that it is getting more practical down in Almeria!I am considering to walk the camino mozarabe as my next camino. It sounds very interesting to walk through Andalucia, visit some cities on the way. When I read peoples reports I read a lot that they met few of none other pilgrims. Does anybody know the reasons for this. I suspect that it has to do with the heat and the difficulty of the terrain (long steep climbs and descents) and the combination of these two factors. Are there other factors to consider?
Can anybody tell me how hard the mozarabe is, compared to other caminos like the Norte, Salvador or Primitivo.
I suppose the best time to do the Camino would be early spring?
I read a lot that they met few of none other pilgrims. Does anybody know the reasons for this.
Where to start is a matter of personal preference. I know that Omar likes to start in Granada. As a city, it is one of the most spectacular in Spain. But I've read a few blogs by people who felt a bit blue after starting in Granada. After a day or two in such a beautiful city, the walk to Pinos Puente is an anticlimax; scruffy suburbs, industrial exurbs, dereliction and neglect. There's beautiful scenery after Pinos Puente, but accommodation costs €18 to €25 per night in the next three towns (Moclin, Alcala la Real, and Alcaudete). This sequence of experiences can be disheartening - and there isn't a chorus of Granada angels to lift the pilgrim's spirits.Thanks everyone for the reactions to my questions. If I will walk this camino next year, I probably stop in Merida ( I walked the Via dela Plata some years ago) I don't know yet if I will start in Malaga, Granadaor Almeria. I don't mind, even like to walk alone but in the evenings I do like to meet up with "fellow travellers"
Brilliant!If a pilgrim snores in an albergue and there is no-one there to hear it, does it make a sound?
I think the solitariness of this Camino can be exaggerated, or sometimes based on out of date information. When I walked from Almería in late 2016, the local association told me there had been 500 walkers that year, up from 200 the year before, and that they were expecting 1000 in 2017, which I believe they got. And @Raggy says they've already had 1000 in the first half of this year. The local association is indefatigable at promoting this beautiful walk along the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and many other websites, including this one and the very useful French Facebook group Amis Camino Mozarabe Via de la Plata, are also informative and enthusiastic.Thanks everyone for the reactions to my questions. If I will walk this camino next year, I probably stop in Merida ( I walked the Via dela Plata some years ago) I don't know yet if I will start in Malaga, Granadaor Almeria. I don't mind, even like to walk alone but in the evenings I do like to meet up with "fellow travellers"
Walked the Mozarabe from Granada in 2014. 400km to Merida and did not see another pilgrim, Loved the experience. If there are no other pilgrims there is no snoring.
I think the solitariness of this Camino can be exaggerated, or sometimes based on out of date information. When I walked from Almería in late 2016, the local association told me there had been 500 walkers that year, up from 200 the year before, and that they were expecting 1000 in 2017, which I believe they got. And @Raggy says they've already had 1000 in the first half of this year. The local association is indefatigable at promoting this beautiful walk along the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and many other websites, including this one and the very useful French Facebook group Amis Camino Mozarabe Via de la Plata, are also informative and enthusiastic.
So I think you are very unlikely to be alone. Enjoy it, as I hope to again this December.
Well if you’re walking in early Feb I’ll see you there.Thanks everyone for the reactions to my questions. If I will walk this camino next year, I probably stop in Merida ( I walked the Via dela Plata some years ago) I don't know yet if I will start in Malaga, Granadaor Almeria. I don't mind, even like to walk alone but in the evenings I do like to meet up with "fellow travellers"
I think the solitariness of this Camino can be exaggerated, or sometimes based on out of date information. When I walked from Almería in late 2016, the local association told me there had been 500 walkers that year, up from 200 the year before, and that they were expecting 1000 in 2017, which I believe they got. And @Raggy says they've already had 1000 in the first half of this year. The local association is indefatigable at promoting this beautiful walk along the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and many other websites, including this one and the very useful French Facebook group Amis Camino Mozarabe Via de la Plata, are also informative and enthusiastic.
So I think you are very unlikely to be alone. Enjoy it, as I hope to again this December.
I think the solitariness of this Camino can be exaggerated, or sometimes based on out of date information. When I walked from Almería in late 2016, the local association told me there had been 500 walkers that year, up from 200 the year before, and that they were expecting 1000 in 2017, which I believe they got. And @Raggy says they've already had 1000 in the first half of this year.
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?