A very different Camino Frances 2010!

[Covey]

Well, I am back in London some 3 weeks before I had planned to be, as I had to curtail my annual wander down the Camino Frances to fly to Germany to help a friend overcome some personal problems.

St Jean was much the same as ever, except in early September they appeared to have a lot of bed bug problems which I have never come across there before. Between St Jean and Pamplona I met 4 pilgrims who had been seriously bitten at various establishments in St Jean, all of who needed an anti-histamine injection by the time they arrived in Zubiri.

I walked the “winter” road to Roncesvalles via Valcarlos which was quite interesting, plenty of places to stop and have coffee and plenty of shops to buy food. I even stopped to watch a wedding whilst having my coffee! HOWEVER, the last 8kms are a bit of a climb to get over the hill to Roncesvalles.

Roncesvalles was much the same as usual except they are about to open the new Albergue which will be the same number of beds as the barn, but more showers (thank God!) and loos. The new albergue is in the main buildings of the Monastery.

Zubiri has a new private Albergue which actually opened in March which is alongside the Church between the albergue by the bridge and the main official albergue. It has 9 person rooms each of which has 6 bunk beds (€11 per night) and 3 single beds (€16 per night) + showers and loo. Evening meal is €11 (very poor) and breakfast €5. Nice design and build but very expensive for a private albergue.

Pamplona was nice as always, but very few pilgrims around eating and drinking! I had picked up comments from people in St Jean and from my friend who is one of the Dutch Hospitaliero’s at Roncesvalles that the numbers starting from St Jean were the same as last year or even less than last year and that the pilgrims were not spending much. In fact the statistics from the Pilgrim Office prove that point that the numbers on the St Jean to Sarria sections are no more than last year, yet everyone is manic about being able to get a bed because they have assumed that the numbers are double last years!

Judging by the grumpy, and at some places darn right rude attitude of the bars and some albergue’s they were all expecting a bumper earnings season, and that has not happened. At the main albergue at Estella, I took a Swedish lady who was looking for a particular albergue in to see the hospitaliero to ask directions. There was nobody waiting at the desk and she asked politely if he knew where the albergue was at which point he threw the paper with the address back at her and said he was too busy and told her to go away. Such treatment of pilgrims is unusual, especially from a hospitiliero, but another pilgrim who was staying there said he had been very rude to most people that day.

The albergue in Logrono was not full which confirmed that maybe the numbers were not as bad as expected, but again a number of pilgrims picked up large numbers of bed bug bites. One Korean guy had 37 large welts up his arms and legs by midday the following day.

I had noticed that the age groups had radically changed from my two previous September starts. The over 60 group seemed to account for some 70% of pilgrims on the track with very few youngsters and those youngsters seemed somewhat surprised to find themselves travelling with so many older pilgrims. The older pilgrims seemed to spend most of the afternoons and evenings asleep and were out of the albergues between 5.30 and 6am each morning in search of the next nights bed.

I got thrown out of the bar attached to the 3* hotel at the end of the High Street in Viana next to the main albergue. It would seem that the barman took great offence when I asked why they were charging pilgrims €2.50 for tapas and €1.50 to the locals. The computerised bar till had two charging rates so if a pilgrim ordered they pressed the P button and then the items which gave the pilgrim price, and the normal sale button which priced for the local customers. As a computer consultant I am well aware of how these POS terminals work and how to program them for multi pricing!

At Hontonas I was the last to leave at 6.15am!!! This manic urge to get going before first light seemed to be down to the misconception that there would be no beds available and that the old folk would have to sleep in the hedges.

THERE IS NO BED PROBLEM BETWEEN ST JEAN and SARRIA.

Boadilla was as good as always although Edwardo was unhappy that there were no pretty girls in September!! Normally Boadilla is full mid-afternoon, but last week there was plenty of space available at 7pm.

All in all, it was interesting, if only for the completely different atmosphere from previous September starts. People were not shaking out into “families” and the majority seemed to be content to walking solo and very early to get a bed. Having rushed out of the albergue before 7am to race to get a bed, everyone seemed exhausted and slept all afternoon instead of socialising. Most of the popular bars with pilgrims were almost empty and nobody seemed to be spending any money, which might account for the comments in more than one bar that they were all having a worse financial year than last year.

[Leslie]

Covey great to have you back and sorry you had to cut it short. You were missed.

from what you say it appears the financial problems hit everywhere and spain has been having it tough already anyway.

Re the numbers on the Camino - I can see from the stats here that the visitor numbers are up on 2009 - but only slightly. In 2004, the last holy year I think, the stats on the net doubled for searhes re camino. however almost all of that was from Spain.

[Covey]

A lot of places had spent money expanding their facilities and the number of beds and had the encouragement of the various Provincial Governments to improve facilities because of the greater numbers expected for the Holy Year, but it would appear that the Holy Year Effect only kicked in from Sarria to Santiago. I should have spotted the anomaly in the stats I put up from the Pilgrim Office, but "could not see the wood for the trees"!!

They have made a lot of "improvements" to the track in places. On the Roncesvalles to Zubiri section, the early bad bits have now been "crazy paved" with concrete and gravel. I hope they do not do to much in the way of "improvements" because at least the original path was authentic. The pilgrims of old did not walk on concrete pathways!! It is said the pathways are being improved to make it easier for the cyclists, but the track is really the walkers track and the cyclists have their own route, albeit mostly down the roads. Concrete makes the cyclists go even faster and they still expect the walkers to head for the ditch when they come up behind us.

I was planning to miss out Sarria to Santiago anyway (no more space on the loo wall for Compostellas!!) and take the bus from Samos to Santiago and then walk Santiago to Finesterre, but friendship is a very strong bond with me.

[HuskyNerd]

Welcome back, Covey, and I also want to say thanks for sharing your reflections on the Camino. I share your annoyance at early-rising pilgrims whose hope is to beat people out of a bed at the next stop, and I'm disappointed to hear it's mostly oldsters this fall. Sad, too, that there's a general feeling of disappointment with the economics of it all. Plus, the bedbugs! Maybe saddest, though, that the bar/conversation scene is not what it has been. Let's hope we're not seeing the Camino Frances tipping toward a bleak future. Again, welcome back.

[Sil]

I received this email from a friend yesterday:

must tell you about the tone and atmosphere of the camino and the
pilgrims. It is not like it was in 2006 when Marita and I walked. The
pilgrims seem either anxious and hurried - doing 30 to 40 km a day
because they have so little time and have to go back to work, or
reserved and glum. The current world wide economic slump has had its
toll on all the Europeans, and whilst the Spanish are quite upbeat
about winning the football, they are also less cheerful and confident
than I remember them. I spoke to an Irish pilgrim along the way
yesterday who had done his last camino in 2005. He agreed and said he
had noticed it too and it had troubled him, but that I was the first
one to mention it. have met one or two friendly pilgrims, but the majority just put their heads down,
barely say ola! or buen camino!, overtake and rush on to complete
their 35-40 km for the day.

[Maya2]

Geez, this is distressing. Maybe I should wait until next year to walk. This will be my first time and I'd like for it to be a good experience.

[Sil]

Obviously there are a few disappointed pilgrims out there looking for happy, enthusiastic, likeminded pilgrims. Maya, you could be the one to make a difference! Go on your pilgrimage, be the happy, welcoming pilgrim and we'll start getting different feedback from the pilgrims on the road.

[Covey]

The strange thing this year was the fact that it was the older pilgrims who were the early leavers between 5am and 6am!! In previous September starts there have always been the younger "40k Brigade" who were up and out by 5.30am whilst the 60+ age group took life at a far more leisurely pace and would leave at around 7.30 (ish) to enjoy the dawn and the sunrise.

I am sure that it is down to the worries about being able to get a bed and the general misconception that there are far more pilgrims on the trail than beds available. I spoke to a couple from Canada who had walked through Pamplona from Zubiri and stayed at Cesar Menor for the night because they thought they stood a better chance of getting a bed in Cesar than in Pamplona itself. I had stayed the night at the main albergue in Pamplona and it was not full that night, and in fact very few of the albergues were "completo". Logrono was still taking pilgrims in at 8pm which is very unusual.

When I left Hontonas at 6.15am I had the road to Castrojenz virtually to myself and when I arrived at my usual coffee stop at the café by the church on the way in to CJ a Spanish pilgrim asked me if there were many more pilgrims behind me as the bar owner wanted to know if he should put out more food. He was not too happy to be told that Covey was not leading the charge from Hontonas, but was bringing up the rear and that the majority of the Hontonas pilgrims had passed through before he had opened! I climbed the escarpment the other side of CJ alone and only when I started to descend the other side began to see the Hontonas pilgrims in the distance. By the bridge over the river I was beginning to overtake the main group and was ahead by the time I got to Boadilla at 12.30.

About 50% of the track from Itero to Boadilla has now been resurfaced and is now a 4m wide prepared smooth gravel track but the last part is still the stony track which tests even the best soles and souls.

[Gazza]

We did our Camino in June - July & were haering the same talk, that the crowds were no where near what the Albergues were expecting.

We had no trouble in finding beds along the way & it was not bust until O'cebreiro (top of the hill) & that was when we started to get crowded in by the Bus people & organised tours + the Spanish who wanted to walk just a little more then their 100km's.

But even through all this the Camino Family was the thing that both fascinated & made the trip just so dam enjoyable. Our familes were in the 40-60 bracket......... Covey maybe the over 60's are just getting cranky with age (joke).

To those thinking of doing the Camino - Go for it & make it what you want it to be.... others around you can only distract you if you allow them too.

[Fsam33]

Glad to hear it is not too hussy on the C Frances. Hopefully next year will be more relaxed.
My sister was wondering about doing one of the other Caminos to avoid the crowds, but I prefer to do hte Frances.
Your report should lay to rest her concerns.
I was already starting to budget for hotels thinking our ( my) slower pace would not get us beds in the refugiuos but was regretful of then missing the camaraderie of the Camino.
Than you for your post. F

[Covey]

Gazza, you could well be right! I am probably getting more cranky with age but in relation to the Camino, I get frustrated when I see Pilgrims being treated poorly and in some cases being ripped off.

In many parts of the Camino Frances, the Pilgrims are a significant addition to the local economy and all I ask is that we are treated fairly and that mainly means not being overcharged for food and drinks. There are a large number of places where we are welcomed, fed and watered, and sent on our way with a smile and a Buen Camino, but there are also many places where we are seen just as a source of income to be exploited. The locals know that our Spanish is generally not good enough to complain about anything, and they will probably never see us again, so who cares.

I also expect that Pilgrims respect local customs and traditions and behave in a manner which does not give offense to our hosts. One thing I found irritating this year was the volume of noise generated by pilgrims leaving the albergues early in the morning. Standing in the street outside the albergue shouting to their friends at 5.30am is not likely to endear Pilgrims to the local population!! We might be up and about on the hunt for the next nights bed, but the local residents are not!.

[Gazza]

Covey

Couldn't agree more, my comments were in jest.

I had two incidents on the Camino. In one small village the Albergue was run by the son of the lady who ran the only food place (hotel). We as a group went to the Hotel to have a drink before Dinner & the service was atrocious she couldn't pull herself away from the TV, but when the locals came in her demeanour changed significantly. The Albergue only held abt 20 so apparently she got food in on the basis that we would all naturally eat there. The service was so bad that as a group we decided to go to the next village abt 2kms away & have dinner. The son absolutely abused us when we got back, so I told him what i thought of the service & he rang the police claiming I should be kicked out...... Police at least had some sense. But in a Foreign country it can be scary.

The second was an Albergue/hotel where my wife had to use the toilet urgently & they wanted a Euro for the privelige. It was the only toilet break we had used without buying anything. A big hairy man tracked us down, stole her walking stafts & held them as hostage until we paid the Euro.

Obviously frustration is showing its ugly head & the Pilgims are wearing the brunt.

For those reading this, do not think this is the norm as it wasn't & I will be back

[Covey]

Gazza, you were lucky!

I was threatened with the police being called twice in two days! The first was when I ordered spaghetti with tomato sauce as a starter for the Pilgrim Menu and it arrived stone cold and the spaghetti was a solid lump because it had been cooked some hours before. I sent it back and that enraged the waiter. My companion actually spoke fluent Spanish and told the waiter that it was inedible which really started things going. We abandoned the dinner because they appeared not to have a cook and were just serving up pre cooked food. Anyway the waiter wanted us to pay for the meal (which we had not actually eaten at that stage) and said he was calling the Guardia Civil. We left, with him shouting abuse at us all the way across the square.

The second was when I asked the barman in Viana why Pilgrims were being charged more for tapas than the locals were paying. If the establishment was happy to sell tapas to the local Spanish for €1.50 then I can see no valid reason why they should expect Pilgrims to pay €2.50 for the same item. For that heinous crime I was banned from entering the establishment for dinner or breakfast, even though the lady from the USA I was with was actually staying in the hotel. Commercial logic would seem to dictate that if you have more Pilgrims eating and drinking in your establishment than locals, then you welcome the Pilgrims with open arms and a big smile!!

The Spanish hospitality industry along the Camino Frances generally does not take kindly to complaints about anything. They seem to think that Pilgrims should look cheerful, accept what they are given, and pay up whatever is asked irrespective of the quality of the service or food. Unfortunately, they are beginning to find that as the costs of walking the Camino are rising steeply, a lot of the Pilgrims are less inclined to put up with poor food and conditions. In the days when you could walk the Camino for €15 a day, then you did not expect much, but when a night in a private albergue with an evening meal and breakfast can now cost €30, then Pilgrims are more inclined to question what they are given.

As a general point for Pilgrims, handling fruit and veg in shops is generally a bit of a no no!! Most shops DO NOT like customers handling produce. The natural urge of Pilgrims is to select ripe fruit because we want to eat it immediately, but most owners will select fruit from boxes behind the counter and not what is on display in the shop.

There is a lady shopkeeper (next door to the Pharmacy) in Los Arcos who is famous for screaming at Pilgrims who have the temerity to select their own fruit. To be fair, she has signs in the shop saying "don't touch" but they are in Spanish! She also has a habit of seriously overcharging pilgrims!

[Maya2]

Sil, thanks for your kind remarks. I'm reconsidering. And Covey, I hope I have a friend like you among mine.

[geraldkelly]

Hi everybody and welcome back Covey, it's good to have you back!

I agree with everything you say about the Camino this year. When I walked it in June it was a real let down compared to other years. True, there was no problem with overcrowding but most of the pilgrims were 1. Old. 2. In groups. 3. Unfriendly. 4. In a hurry.

I actually wrote a message for this forum when I got back but I didn't post it because when I read it back it sounded too negative. It was a big disappointment for me and I felt that there was very little "Camino spirit" this year (openness, friendliness, helping each other, having a great time).

Hopefully things will be back to "normal" next year. I certainly intend to be there!

Some of your rip-off stories are hair-raising. In its defence let me say that I had the Pilgrim Menu in that hotel at the end of the main street in Viana and it was excellent. I mention places I thing are worth avoiding in my guide - based on my own experience and what people tell me - and unfortunately the list keeps growing. But, nevertheless there are still lots of great places.

Ger

[Covey]

Ger, I will also be back next year, and hope for a return of the "Camino Spirit" which we have all come to know and love.

As I have said, I am sure that this years atmosphere was really down to the "got to get a bed" syndrome which was driving pilgrims to leave at an unearthly hour of the morning and to keep going until they had done the distance, at which point everyone seemed to collapse in to their bed and sleep for the rest of the day.

Viana was a classic case. Every year when I have rolled in to Viana around lunchtime, all the tables outside the bars in the main street leading down to the main albergue would be full of pilgrims having a drink and something to eat before either booking in to the albergue or pushing on to Logrono. This year at 1pm, there was hardly a pilgrim to be seen at the tables.

In Logrono it was the same. In the main square there was hardly a pilgrim to be seen, either at lunchtime or in the evening. There were a few pilgrims wandering around, but almost nobody having a drink and indulging in my favorite pastime of just watching the world go by!

I went back to the albergue at 7pm to check on my laundry and pack it away, and found the room lights off, curtains pulled and 60% of the beds had sleeping pilgrims! I am not suggesting that the Camino should resemble a month long bar crawl, but a lot of the fun of the Camino is the time we spend chatting to pilgrims from all over the world. The English speaking "families" are the most multi-national and are usually great fun, but this year everyone seemed to be either walking or sleeping!!

I had assumed that the "heads down, keep going" attitude was because the "olds" had arrived on the trail in September, once the universities and schools had gone back and it was a little cooler, but if you had much the same experience in June, it is food for thought. Next year I am starting in early July.

I enjoyed my walk from St Jean to Roncesvalles on the "winter road" via Valcarlos. Have you walked that section?

[muppet]

Thanks all for the information everyone, I'm flying from Sydney to Paris (then starting from Le Puy) in just over two weeks, and it's great to get some feedback on how the walk has been so far this year. My main reason for walking is to have a few months of quiet reflection, so it doesn't bother me a great deal that the numbers are down and not too social. Having said that, I'm a fan of the friendlies, so will be sure to shoot off a big smile to anyone who looks my way, including any waiters who may serve me cold spaghetti!

[Covey]

Don't worry about the spaghetti, just make sure you have bug treated your sleeping bag!

[Tanya Yaksich]

Hi Covey,
I should read the posts before sending private messages. I like to get up early and enjoy the peace and quite of the trail. Even if you want to sleep in, so many people are getting up and russling plastic bags they wake you up.
Cheers Tanya

[geraldkelly]

Ger, I will also be back next year, and hope for a return of the "Camino Spirit" which we have all come to know and love.

As I have said, I am sure that this years atmosphere was really down to the "got to get a bed" syndrome which was driving pilgrims to leave at an unearthly hour of the morning and to keep going until they had done the distance, at which point everyone seemed to collapse in to their bed and sleep for the rest of the day.

Viana was a classic case. Every year when I have rolled in to Viana around lunchtime, all the tables outside the bars in the main street leading down to the main albergue would be full of pilgrims having a drink and something to eat before either booking in to the albergue or pushing on to Logrono. This year at 1pm, there was hardly a pilgrim to be seen at the tables.

In Logrono it was the same. In the main square there was hardly a pilgrim to be seen, either at lunchtime or in the evening. There were a few pilgrims wandering around, but almost nobody having a drink and indulging in my favorite pastime of just watching the world go by!

I went back to the albergue at 7pm to check on my laundry and pack it away, and found the room lights off, curtains pulled and 60% of the beds had sleeping pilgrims! I am not suggesting that the Camino should resemble a month long bar crawl, but a lot of the fun of the Camino is the time we spend chatting to pilgrims from all over the world. The English speaking "families" are the most multi-national and are usually great fun, but this year everyone seemed to be either walking or sleeping!!

I had assumed that the "heads down, keep going" attitude was because the "olds" had arrived on the trail in September, once the universities and schools had gone back and it was a little cooler, but if you had much the same experience in June, it is food for thought. Next year I am starting in early July.

I enjoyed my walk from St Jean to Roncesvalles on the "winter road" via Valcarlos. Have you walked that section?

Hi Covey

Sorry, the first time I read this I didn't notice you'd asked me about the Valcarlos route!

Yes, I walked it in June this year and in late December a few years ago. I reckon it's underrated. There are some nice little villages and the walk is mostly quiet roads or through the forest. The final few kms is a killer because all the climbing is concentrated there.

I also think the other route is overrated. People rave about the amazing views but if you want amazing views you have to go further east in the Pyrenees (for example the Somport route, or even Monte Perdido). What you cross at Roncesvalles is basically just foothills.

Anyway, here's to Camino 2011! May we all make it that far!

Ger

[Covey]

I have to say that I really enjoyed walking the Valcarlos route in September. There was lots to see and places to stop and have coffee or lunch. You are right about the last part!! I am sure it is more than the 8kms it said on the pole going up through the forest! The wander through the villages tended to lull one into a false sense of security, but the last 8/10kms caused one to breathe a little more heavily!!

Last year I walked the "over the top" route in the first week of July, and from about 3kms outside St Jean to Roncesvalles, the visibility was never more than 10m. One was beginning to wonder where the high tide ended and the low cloud began. The first year I walked over the top it was in early September and it was clear blue skies and you could see forever, but the next 3 years the weather was poor to awful and one could see nothing from the peak.

[Pauline]

I read with interest the comments on the over-60s starting off early from Albergues for fear of missing out on beds. My husband and myself (both in mid-60s) completed the Camino Frances in April/May of this year and we never managed to reach our destination albergue before 4pm. In some places (Logrono was one) the albergues were full but this wasn't what bothered us. With the younger pilgrims having first choice of bunks we inevitably ended up having to climb up to the top bunk, often without benefit of a ladder. Added to this the more frequent trips to the bathroom during the night, a common experience in the more senior pilgrims, and overnight stays became something of a gymnastic feat.

We walked at a fairly leisurely pace, averaging 14 miles a day, but experienced no unfriendliness. In fact the camaraderie of the Camino was the highlight of our walk. It's possible that numbers were down later in the year as people feared huge crowds and walked either earlier or later.

[Covey]

Many albergues take pity on us over 60's and will keep some lower bunks free so that we avoid the midnight gymnastics! One becomes a bit of an expert on bunk living after a couple of trips down the Camino and make a mental note of those albergues which have decent height bunks where you can sit on the bottom bunk without having to bend double, and how to avoid the triple bunks in the albergue in Viana!

When faced with being on the top bunk, you can always speculate in a loud voice how the bedbugs drop down on those in the bottom bunk, at which point one is often offered the bottom bunk by those wishing to avoid nocturnal visitors!!!!!

[Pauline]

We rarely came across bunks where it was possible to sit upright on the bottom bunk - at one place where there were such bunks my husband's face registered such shock at the height of the top bunk that we were directed to another room which was opened especially for us:-)

[Covey]

Thats the problem with bunks. If you can sit reasonably upright then the top bunk is a long way from the floor, and some albergues either seem to have lost the ladders, or there is no space to use them because the bunks are too close together. On some bunks, the springs are so worn and stretched that you wonder if the person on the top bunk is actually going to end up in your lap at some point during the night. The triple bunks in Viana are a major feat of mountaineering at the best of times, let alone in the dark at midnight! I always tie my neck scarf around the bed post so I can find my way back in the dark to my own bunk.