Advice needed!

[mhsc2001]

Hi,
my friend and i are planning to embark on pilgrimage to santiago de compostela. as this is our first time, we will need advice from everyone who has been there! (:

we will be going in middle june and we plan to walk the french way for around a month until middle of july. i would like to know about the weather/temperature from mid june to mid july along this route.

secondly, i would also like to find out if one month is enough to travel from st jean pied de port in france to satiago de compostela in spain by foor along the french way. is it too ambitious?

we are coming from cologne in germany. may i know what's the best way (cheapest) to get to st jean pied de port in france and back to cologne after the trip?

if one month pilgrimage from st jean pied de port to santiago de compostela is too ambitious, where would you guys suggest the both of us to start? which town/city along the french route? and how am i suppose to get there from cologne?

thanks so much for the input and advices. really appreciate. sorry, i am fresh and new to pilgrimage, really have no idea how to go about doing it. i am very interested in the idea of pilgrimage as it's a challenge and it will be nice to meet people from all walks of life along the way.

[Covey]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum.

The Pilgrim Office in St Jean Pied Du Port give pilgrims a "suggested" Camino plan which shows the stages and daily distances to complete St Jean to Santiago in 34 days. This is based on daily distances of between 20 to 30kms a day and is easily doable by 80% of averagely fit Pilgrims.

I have met pilgrims aiming to do 40kms a day every day, and others who just wander 10-15kms a day and soak up the scenery!

June to July is usually good weather with temperatures up to 30c.

If you want to do St Jean to Santiago then you will need 36-38 days allowing for rest days in Burgos Leon and Santiago. If you only have 30 days then I would suggest you aim to start at Burgos and that will give you plenty of time to walk to Santiago.

Fly from Cologne to Madrid and take the train or coach from Madrid Airport to Burgos. You can get your Pilgrim Passport at the Official Albergue behind the Cathedral in Burgos and stay the night there. and start off the next morning.

[mhsc2001]

Thanks Covey for your info.

I am wondering when will Albergue in Burgos usually be locked up at night? WE have checked our flight and coach from Madrid and we should be reaching Burgos Bus Station at night either at 8.15pm or 9.45pm. Will we have time to get my Pilgrim Passport and get beds for both of us?

Also, when Albergue is locked up at night, it means lights off to sleep? Or pilgrims can still walk around to go and shower and do laundry?

[Covey]

The Albergue closes at 10pm. Issuing a Pilgrim Passport takes about 5 minutes each.

Lights out in the Albergues is an emotive subject and I have seen more arguments about the lights going on and off than anything else!

In the big town centre albergues such as Roncesvalles and Pamplona the lights are controlled by the staff and there is no problem. However, in most albergues the lights are controlled by those in the room. Often you will have problems because some want to go to bed early which means anytime after 6pm and usually they will pull the curtains and switch off the lights! Those who went out to eat at 7pm and wander back to the albergue at say 9-9.30 find the place in darkness and there is no light to sort out their kit for the night, and you feel the need to be silent because others are sleeping.

The mornings are even more contentious!. Most pilgrims get up at dawn which is around 6.30am. There are those however who want a pre-dawn start and they start crashing around at 5am. Sometimes they even go and put the lights on instead of using a torch, which of course wakes everyone up. Often those starting at 5am are those who went to bed at 6pm and turned all the lights out the evening before. If someone puts the lights on at 5am, I have to dig deep to find my reserves of Christian Charity to my fellow man!!

I have often thought that if I ran an albergue I would have a room for the snorers, and a room for the 5am starters, and then everyone else can get a good nights sleep!!!

[joe]

I couldn't be dealing with petty arguments like that, no matter who you are, lights should go out at a certain time and come back on at a certain time. If you have chosen to stay out a bit later, or chose to wake up a bit earlier, then that's your own choice so you should have to deal with it instead of making a fuss over it and disturbing other people... there's nothing more irritating than someone elses inconsideration, especially on a pilgrimage! And once your eyes adjust to the darkness you can pretty much make your way through a room, maybe use a torch for getting your gear together and to search for the door, but that's it, you don't need an entirely lit room to do that.

Covey I like your idea of seperate rooms... it would be such a relief for everyone!

[Covey]

Joe....You will discover once you have actually experienced walking a Camino route, that what sounds the right way to do things from the comfort of your own home, can seem very different when you are tired and hurting, hungry and fed up, and then someone displays what might seem a very minor error of behaviour, but which erupts in to a full scale strop!!

A couple of years ago, WW3 broke out in one albergue because one small group of pilgrims wanted the airconditioning turned off and the windows opened. This was fine for them at the end of the room where the windows were, but those at the other end of a 100 bed room needed the aircon in August to try and keep cool so they could sleep, because they had no windows or breeze at their end of the room..

[grayland]

LOL....Covey has said it the way it is. Albergues are full of people speaking many languages and coming from different cultures and habits. What seems like a simple solution from home is a different breed of cat on the Camino.
Normally, the annoying parts are early risers turning on lights, snorers, taking the last of the toilet paper with them in morning....I guess there are a few more than I thought.
Usually very peaceful and calm.

[Covey]

I had forgotten the angst caused by those who trouser the last roll of toilet paper leaving nothing for the next pilgrim. I always carry my own loo roll to avoid the consequences of such bad manners!!

Some have suggested that my advice to carry a roll of your own is un-necessary, but there are not many alternatives in the middle of nowhere! and it is a weight penalty I gladly carry.

[grayland]

your own personal roll is really a no-brainer.

[BHinSanDiego]

Covey, I like your idea of the separate rooms for the people that desire to get up early and that snore. The air conditioning, that one hit close to home, I stayed in the municipal alburgue in Najera, I was stuck in the middle of the room as far away from the windows as was possible (this alburgue assigned bunks, no first come first served), there wasn't any A/C at this place anyway so this made for a long night.

[joe]

Haha, yeah i'll be carrying my own toilet paper too after reading about the "urgent" calls of nature. It's a foreign country with foreign food so anything could cause your digestive system to go a bit wrong.

I agree that most will be tired, hungry and a bit fed up, but that shouldn't stop you from showing respect for others or being courteous. But I guess there are some people who are used to having their own way, so they might not think like that... maybe the Camino teaches them about it haha

[Deborah]

mhsc2001
Re: Advice needed!

I have found this site very useful for working out expected temps and rainfall ..... Clima Maps: Route overview
Most people suggest I wont need a sleeping bag in June but I look at this map and am not so sure.

[Covey]

It's not so much the temperature outside that you need to worry about, but the temperature inside that is the problem! In June/July the trail is quite busy and that means that the albergues are usually full by 6pm.

Most albergues maximized the number of beds they could squeeze in to a room long ago, so you can have 6 bunk beds in a room which at home would sleep one! This makes it quite warm at night anyway, even with the windows open.

I have walked the Camino Frances in June, July August and September and have never taken a sleeping bag. I just carry a bug treated silk sleeping bag liner, and sometimes I feel too hot in that!

[Deborah]

It's not so much the temperature outside that you need to worry about, but the temperature inside that is the problem! In June/July the trail is quite busy and that means that the albergues are usually full by 6pm.

Most albergues maximized the number of beds they could squeeze in to a room long ago, so you can have 6 bunk beds in a room which at home would sleep one! This makes it quite warm at night anyway, even with the windows open.

I have walked the Camino Frances in June, July August and September and have never taken a sleeping bag. I just carry a bug treated silk sleeping bag liner, and sometimes I feel too hot in that!

Thanks Covey,
I think I am brave enough to run with your advice and save myself 600gm. Will just have to find a hot Spaniard if you are wrong.

[cindy]

That is new to me: not taking a sleepiong back at all! That would take about 2kilos of my gear, but as you said, what happens when the albergues are full? i heard that sometimes people sleep outside on the lawn... Is that something that has happpened to you? don´t you miss your sleeping bag then? ore somekind of mat?

[grayland]

That is new to me: not taking a sleepiong back at all! That would take about 2kilos of my gear, but as you said, what happens when the albergues are full? i heard that sometimes people sleep outside on the lawn... Is that something that has happpened to you? don´t you miss your sleeping bag then? ore somekind of mat?

IF you did not get a bed...very, very rare, depending on the time of the year. Sometimes the best thing to do is get someone else and book a cheap hostle. Two people would usually be less than 15 euros each which is not a whole lot more than an albergue.

Wow..two kilos (4.4 lbs) less weight to carry!! What a major difference that will make on your Camino. What is the total weight of your pack with the sleeping bag included?

[Covey]

Deborah..........Stranger things have happened on the Camino.

If you are going to take a sleeping bag liner then buy a silk one if you can. More expensive than a cotton one, but silk has much better thermal properties and will keep you warmer.

You can buy them pre-treated with anti bed bug repellent, or you can do it yourself. The best repellent is Permethrin which you use in a 5% solution and just soak the bag in it and let it dry. The Permethrin will protect the bag for around 10 washes if you wash it once a week.

Permethrin can be bought in a 5% solution in camping/trail shops and in country stores that sell animal veterinary products. It is not normally sold in pharmacies.