Camino de Santiago
May 10th 2011, 3:09 pm
#16
Banned
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 329
Re: Camino de Santiago
Well you can really start from anywhere but if it suits you Biarritz is as good a place as any.
You would then get a bus and train to the start place I mentioned in the link and then overnight before an earlyish start.
Planning is the key to his sort of malarkey and there's mounds of material available because the walk is done by tens of thousands of people every year.
The route is an easyish walk most days( I just happened to be unlucky with bad weather on the first day with a hangover ) and you'll see plenty of old people doing bits of it.
The key is not to get too fixated by the rigmarole - the keen ones get each stage signed off so they can prove they've done it and never take transport otherwise it's considered cheating. It's just a bloody walk after all.
Some people spend years doing a bit at a time each holiday.
What you don't want is to be stuck in a dorm with a load of rambling types - you know what I mean - after a long, hot day.Invest in calling a cab to a decent hotel.
And get the feet hardened up.Some people spend weeks soaking them in meths.I was given a tip to take gaffer tape and strap up any part of your foot that rubs against the boot which was a good idea until some over-zealous jobsworth confiscated it at my local airport security and by the time we'd gone on the sherbert in Biarritz I forgot all about it !
You would then get a bus and train to the start place I mentioned in the link and then overnight before an earlyish start.
Planning is the key to his sort of malarkey and there's mounds of material available because the walk is done by tens of thousands of people every year.
The route is an easyish walk most days( I just happened to be unlucky with bad weather on the first day with a hangover ) and you'll see plenty of old people doing bits of it.
The key is not to get too fixated by the rigmarole - the keen ones get each stage signed off so they can prove they've done it and never take transport otherwise it's considered cheating. It's just a bloody walk after all.
Some people spend years doing a bit at a time each holiday.
What you don't want is to be stuck in a dorm with a load of rambling types - you know what I mean - after a long, hot day.Invest in calling a cab to a decent hotel.
And get the feet hardened up.Some people spend weeks soaking them in meths.I was given a tip to take gaffer tape and strap up any part of your foot that rubs against the boot which was a good idea until some over-zealous jobsworth confiscated it at my local airport security and by the time we'd gone on the sherbert in Biarritz I forgot all about it !
May 10th 2011, 3:36 pm
#17
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 212
Re: Camino de Santiago
Luckily for us, we wild camped, avoiding both types.
May 10th 2011, 4:17 pm
#18
Banned
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 329
Re: Camino de Santiago
Don't get me wrong - I'm all in favour of a good ramble provided it culminates at a pub.
But some of those foreign ramblers were seriously dull and rather sniffy about two English geezers bumbling along insisting loudly there must be a really great bar just round the next hillock.
May 10th 2011, 5:07 pm
#19
On the road again.
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: On Top of the World
Posts: 17,507
Re: Camino de Santiago
Ah, now you'd be classed as a serious outdoors type and be treated with a bit more respect than the rambler type.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all in favour of a good ramble provided it culminates at a pub.
But some of those foreign ramblers were seriously dull and rather sniffy about two English geezers bumbling along insisting loudly there must be a really great bar just round the next hillock.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all in favour of a good ramble provided it culminates at a pub.
But some of those foreign ramblers were seriously dull and rather sniffy about two English geezers bumbling along insisting loudly there must be a really great bar just round the next hillock.
I'm doing a little walk in the morning says she, why not tag along.
Er, not a good idea says I,.. all I have with me is my t-shirt,shorts and floppy sandals that I stand up in.
Ah not to worry you'll be alright says she, so off we goes next morning in a mini bus that picked up one or two others before headng to the South of the island, me presuming thats where the walk must be.
But no, thats where we met up with the real serious guys,...a bus load of Germans like kitted out for WW3, with those walking stick gadgets,compasses,binoculars all the latest hiking gear and huge backpacks,etc,etc.
So off we heads in the bus to some remote spot in the mountains in the centre of the island and they all start getting out.
Says I,.I'm not so sure about this, I've got no kit and my knees are very dodgy, which they were at the time, I think I'll just wait on the bus if thats ok.
No can't do that, says the driver,...I'm off to the other side of the island now to pick up another load.
So off we sets down this mountain side into a barranco first,..thirty Germans kitted out to climb mount everest, leading the way,the dutch lass and me bringing up the rear, trailing along behind in a pair of crappy old floppy sandals and a supermarket carrier bag for a kitbag which had virtually nowt in it anyway.
To cut a long story short, somehow or other my dodgy knees and sandals survived a fairly tough days walk or climb in places, plus a few taunts and funny looks from the krauts, (how did them buggers ever win the war I presume), and it all ended up as quite an enjoyable experience in the end, though I was aching all over and as stiff as a board the next day.
Learned my lesson anyway and next time I went over it was boy scouts motto for me.
May 10th 2011, 5:49 pm
#21
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 18,840
Re: Camino de Santiago
Well you can really start from anywhere but if it suits you Biarritz is as good a place as any.
You would then get a bus and train to the start place I mentioned in the link and then overnight before an earlyish start.
Planning is the key to his sort of malarkey and there's mounds of material available because the walk is done by tens of thousands of people every year.
The route is an easyish walk most days( I just happened to be unlucky with bad weather on the first day with a hangover ) and you'll see plenty of old people doing bits of it.
The key is not to get too fixated by the rigmarole - the keen ones get each stage signed off so they can prove they've done it and never take transport otherwise it's considered cheating. It's just a bloody walk after all.
Some people spend years doing a bit at a time each holiday.
What you don't want is to be stuck in a dorm with a load of rambling types - you know what I mean - after a long, hot day.Invest in calling a cab to a decent hotel.
And get the feet hardened up.Some people spend weeks soaking them in meths.I was given a tip to take gaffer tape and strap up any part of your foot that rubs against the boot which was a good idea until some over-zealous jobsworth confiscated it at my local airport security and by the time we'd gone on the sherbert in Biarritz I forgot all about it !
You would then get a bus and train to the start place I mentioned in the link and then overnight before an earlyish start.
Planning is the key to his sort of malarkey and there's mounds of material available because the walk is done by tens of thousands of people every year.
The route is an easyish walk most days( I just happened to be unlucky with bad weather on the first day with a hangover ) and you'll see plenty of old people doing bits of it.
The key is not to get too fixated by the rigmarole - the keen ones get each stage signed off so they can prove they've done it and never take transport otherwise it's considered cheating. It's just a bloody walk after all.
Some people spend years doing a bit at a time each holiday.
What you don't want is to be stuck in a dorm with a load of rambling types - you know what I mean - after a long, hot day.Invest in calling a cab to a decent hotel.
And get the feet hardened up.Some people spend weeks soaking them in meths.I was given a tip to take gaffer tape and strap up any part of your foot that rubs against the boot which was a good idea until some over-zealous jobsworth confiscated it at my local airport security and by the time we'd gone on the sherbert in Biarritz I forgot all about it !
May 10th 2011, 5:52 pm
#22
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 18,840
Re: Camino de Santiago
First time I went on the ferry to La Gomera just for a swift look around on a day trip I met this Dutch bird and ended up stopping the night.
I'm doing a little walk in the morning says she, why not tag along.
Er, not a good idea says I,.. all I have with me is my t-shirt,shorts and floppy sandals that I stand up in.
Ah not to worry you'll be alright says she, so off we goes next morning in a mini bus that picked up one or two others before headng to the South of the island, me presuming thats where the walk must be.
But no, thats where we met up with the real serious guys,...a bus load of Germans like kitted out for WW3, with those walking stick gadgets,compasses,binoculars all the latest hiking gear and huge backpacks,etc,etc.
So off we heads in the bus to some remote spot in the mountains in the centre of the island and they all start getting out.
Says I,.I'm not so sure about this, I've got no kit and my knees are very dodgy, which they were at the time, I think I'll just wait on the bus if thats ok.
No can't do that, says the driver,...I'm off to the other side of the island now to pick up another load.
So off we sets down this mountain side into a barranco first,..thirty Germans kitted out to climb mount everest, leading the way,the dutch lass and me bringing up the rear, trailing along behind in a pair of crappy old floppy sandals and a supermarket carrier bag for a kitbag which had virtually nowt in it anyway.
To cut a long story short, somehow or other my dodgy knees and sandals survived a fairly tough days walk or climb in places, plus a few taunts and funny looks from the krauts, (how did them buggers ever win the war I presume), and it all ended up as quite an enjoyable experience in the end, though I was aching all over and as stiff as a board the next day.
Learned my lesson anyway and next time I went over it was boy scouts motto for me.
I'm doing a little walk in the morning says she, why not tag along.
Er, not a good idea says I,.. all I have with me is my t-shirt,shorts and floppy sandals that I stand up in.
Ah not to worry you'll be alright says she, so off we goes next morning in a mini bus that picked up one or two others before headng to the South of the island, me presuming thats where the walk must be.
But no, thats where we met up with the real serious guys,...a bus load of Germans like kitted out for WW3, with those walking stick gadgets,compasses,binoculars all the latest hiking gear and huge backpacks,etc,etc.
So off we heads in the bus to some remote spot in the mountains in the centre of the island and they all start getting out.
Says I,.I'm not so sure about this, I've got no kit and my knees are very dodgy, which they were at the time, I think I'll just wait on the bus if thats ok.
No can't do that, says the driver,...I'm off to the other side of the island now to pick up another load.
So off we sets down this mountain side into a barranco first,..thirty Germans kitted out to climb mount everest, leading the way,the dutch lass and me bringing up the rear, trailing along behind in a pair of crappy old floppy sandals and a supermarket carrier bag for a kitbag which had virtually nowt in it anyway.
To cut a long story short, somehow or other my dodgy knees and sandals survived a fairly tough days walk or climb in places, plus a few taunts and funny looks from the krauts, (how did them buggers ever win the war I presume), and it all ended up as quite an enjoyable experience in the end, though I was aching all over and as stiff as a board the next day.
Learned my lesson anyway and next time I went over it was boy scouts motto for me.
May 10th 2011, 6:35 pm
#23
Banned
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 329
Re: Camino de Santiago
Not much chance of a shag on the Camino.
As I say most of the people on there I met were religious nutters - the women looked they hadn't had a shave in years.
I have to say by their deathly pallor and scrawny looks there were probably a fair few veggies in there too.
However, the walk is good fun for a while and the R+R afterwards hobbling around Bilbao was top stuff.
As I say most of the people on there I met were religious nutters - the women looked they hadn't had a shave in years.
I have to say by their deathly pallor and scrawny looks there were probably a fair few veggies in there too.
However, the walk is good fun for a while and the R+R afterwards hobbling around Bilbao was top stuff.
