Walking Camino in April 09 -The Best Month surely!!!

[fourtrack]

Who is walking the Camino in April of this year?

My mate Phil and I are flying over from New Zealand to walk the Camino and are looking to leave Saint Jean around the 14th of April.

It appears that April is a kind of slower period before the summer rush and, weather aside, could be the "dark horse" month of travelling.

So with 2 Kiwis from NZ going, who else will be on the Camino then? How many other nationalities will tread that well-worn path in April 09?

Happy responding/walking (in advance)

Chris

[Covey]

Listen very carefully to what the folks in the St Jean Pilgrims Office tell you about the weather going over the top to Roncesvalles, and follow exactly the advice they give you about the route and weather.

People have died on that stretch having ignored the advice they were given.

The weather will be very changable when you are going and can go from sunny to below freezing on the top in 30 minutes.

Don't worry too much about the sun cream and make sure you have good waterproofs. In April it will probably be cold and wet for the first week!!

Enjoy

[Leslie]

April and early May could be the best times to walk the Camino Frances during the next two years. The Camino Frances has become very busy and with the next Holy Year being 2010, well it will be madness.

[evike]

Hi kiwis!

I am planning to travel to Spain in April to walk a month on "The Way". how it seems now I will fly at 10. of april to barcelona.....

and you?

anyway i am Eva from Hungary......

I hope we gonna meet there.......

Evi

I almost forget about the smiles....

[Castellana]

Hello,
Flying in from New York - will meet up with my sister (who lives in Germany) in Burgos on April 5th, and plan to walk for about two weeks (hopefully reaching Ponferrada). We are both Spanish, and combined speak a handful of languages - so, anybody on the Camino needing linguistic assistance, we will be glad to assist (we will write into a blog during our walk).

[Leslie]

Hi Castellana welcome to the forum.

If you write a blog let me know and I will add it to my camino blog - unless you want to write something there? http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/hp_wordpress/

[lesliermt]

Seeing I only have 30 days, should I fly into Barcelona and out of Madrid.. Where would I start the walk and can I get there easy from barcelona or should I just fly into madrid..??? I need some answers really soon as I need to book my flight for us... thanks Leslie from canada..

[Covey]

Most who are flying from outside Spain head to Madrid, because in Spain "all roads lead to Madrid!". Barcelona is on the south coast and you are going in the wrong direction!!!

If you have 30 days I would suggest doing Burgos to Santiago. There are regular bus/express coaches from Madrid to Burgos each day and Burgos is a wonderful city to see and start from. Burgos to Leon is the Meseta or high plateau. Long rolling vistas, and plenty of time to let your mind wander!.

Leon to Santiago gets more frenetic the closer you get to Santiago, so you takes your pick.

There are frequent train and buses from Santiago to Madrid every day.

Burgos to Santiago will stretch the legs, but is achievable without too much difficulty.

You may find it easier to book return trips to Spain where you are arriving and departing from the same airport.

[nicola]

I may see you in Santiago - I walked from St Jean to Leon in Sept/ Oct & hoping to finish in April - that is me & my son who will be a year old then. You'll love it - there's all nationalities, but not many Brits. Surprisingly I met a large number of Koreans - apparently a famous Korean walked it & wrote a very popular book about it which has now encouraged many others to. I still have contact with an English guy, a Spanish chica, a Dutch folk singer & a French guy (who house sat for me over Christmas!). Its a great experience

[nicola]

Covey - sweety - the question of how to carry my son isn't in question - its how (or who) to carry the rest of the clobber. In Oct, I carried 22kilos & that was pushing it - nappies, babytoys - the works. This time its not possible as my son will be a few kilos heavier & now needs more stuff!

[Covey]

An amazing number of Koreans walk the Camino.

Last year I was walking up to Roncesvalles and as I rounded one of the million bends in the road a group of 8 Koreans started singing and clapping.

I naturally assumed they were impressed by my natural good looks and perspicacity only to be deflated when they stopped singing as they said they were singing a hymn to the sun which was just rising above the hills. I was merely in their way!!!

Anyway, I discovered from the leader that Christianity was the largest religion and that the Catholic Church was Numero Uno in Korea, which is why so many walk the Camino.

I had assumed that one of the eastern religions would hold sway in the Far East.

[Covey]

Nicola -Darling!

I may well be a founder member of the Grumpy Buggers Club but I am not that far gone to work out that any Mother who has the courage to take a 5 month old son on the Camino is unlikley to wish to be parted from him for more than 30 seconds, so the solution is to transport kit by an alternative method.

You are still going to need to carry bits even if you send some kit onwards to the next albergue. The problem is, how are you going to carry the bare minumum such as water, food, nappies(?) etc whilst you are ploddong your way up the trail.

If he goes on your back, then you could carry a chest bag which clips on to the frame of the back carrier. This does not cut down the weight but re-balances it, front and rear, and you can carry weight more comfortably if it is distributed fore and aft.

How many kms were you doing in a day with the 22kg load?

[Shelia]

Hello!
I'm flying into Frankfurt from the U.S. April 20th and then making my way to Jean-Pied-de-Port to begin the Camino. I'm walking sola. I attended La Universidad de Sevilla in 2001 spending about 4 1/2 months down in southern Spain but haven't been back since. I'm super excited to get a chance to explore the Northern region in a more in depth and personal way.

Sounds like we will have some cooler weather in April, that could be both good and bad and less travelers as well.

I happened to find myself with 8 weeks of time off work and so I'm hitting the road for 7 weeks in Europe. The first 5 weeks dedicated to El Camino and then potentially meeting up with some friends who will be visiting family in Croatia.

Any ideas on the cheapest way to get from Frankfurt to Jean-Pied-de-Port? Any advice would be appreciated. What have you heard about getting pilgrims credentials? I have read some conflicting information. I read that as of Jan 2009 El Catedral de Santiago won't be accepting credentials not issued by el Catedral itself. Regardless it seems as if we can get credentials in Jean-Pied-de-Port, yes?

Anyhow, its exciting to know other folks will be walking around the same time.

Cheers,
Shelia

[Covey]

I attach a link to the American Confraternity of St James regarding the validity of Pilgrim Passports.

http://www.americanpilgrims.com/cami...ntial_req.html

There is more than a little confusion about who can issue the Pilgrim Passport after Jan09, but it has been made clear that the ruling applies only to pilgrims starting within Spain and that the Cathedral will accept Pilgrim Passports issued outside Spain.

As 60% of pilgrims arriving at Santiago start in St Jean (France) I cannot imagine that the St Jean Pilgrim Office will issue Passports which are not acceptable to the Cathedral office in Santiago. I have often seen a Pilgrim Passport issued to Spanish pilgrims which is just a sheet of paper issued by their local priest, so I suspect that the new ruling is an effort to get some uniformity of passports within Spain.

To be doubly sure, you could get your Pilgrim Passport from the link above before you leave.

St Jean is not an easy place to get to for most pilgrims. The nearest airport is Biarritz and from the airport you get the local bus to Bayonne and then the local train to St Jean.

A lot of people travelling from the US and Canada fly to Paris and get the TGV high speed train to Bayonne. From Frankfurt, you could get an Air France flight to Biarritz which will cost about ?180 one way.

There are daily flights from the UK to Biarritz with Ryanair from London Stansted and a daily flight from Dublin to Biarritz. Ryanair has daily flights from London and Dublin to Santiago so we can get home again!!

[Shelia]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

Considering the whole trip is an adventure, I'm sure it'll start with getting to St. Jean

Is there a listing of the refugios somewhere? Are you taking a guidebook? I've got the one by Alison Raju, the maps aren't oriented North which drives me crazy but it's pretty detailed and not bulky.

Cheers,
Shelia

[Covey]

As I have said elsewhere on this site, I am one of those who don't bother to carry a guide book, or a map. One's life on the Camino is ruled by the yellow arrows which point the way!

There are a number of very good books written about the Camino Frances and all the places you will walk through, but my suggestion would be to read all you can before leaving home, and then unclutter your mind from all thoughts of schedules, plans, places to be etc etc, and just go with the flow.

You will have a date and place to start, and a destination. How you get between the two is down to you. You might decide one day to take it easy and only walk 10kms. The next day you might end up doing 30kms.

When I start walking at first light in the morning, I rarely know where I am going to finish in the afternoon, except it will be somewhere along the line of arrows!

[thomr]

Hey,
I'll be walking from St Jean in April so maybe I'll see you out there!

[rekkapix]

Me too - first-timer, freaking out a bit, in the next few weeks there will probably be a string of ridiculous panicky questions from me

[thomr]

It's going to be my first time too so I know what you mean!

[hodgmc02]

My husband and I are flying in to Madrid on April 2 and out on April 26. Haven't 100% decided where to start, which sections to bus, etc. I'd like to be in Burgos for Easter.

Hope to meet some of you then!!!

This is a silly question and may be answered at another place in the forum, but how easy is it to do laundry in the albergues? I'm a little concerned about things drying out in time to wear the following day considering the potential for cold and damp weather. I walked a bit of the Camino a few years ago when I lived in Spain, but didn't ever do laundry while walking...

Any thoughts?

MC

[Covey]

Laundry is not a silly question!!

Some official albergues have a washing machine and the rest you do it by hand. Virtually all private albergues have a washing machine and 50% have a tumble dryer, although it can cost ?5-6 a load to wash and dry.

Towards the end of the walking season the reliability of the machines is not so good, but it is a good idea to carry a couple of washing tablets just in case the albergue has no soap.

All albergues have washing lines where you can dry clothes, but the trick is to finish walking early around 2pm and then do the laundry. With a bit of luck the laundry will be dry before you go out for your evening meal.

Do not be tempted to leave your washing on the line when you go out as the evening dew in spring and autumn will leave your washing soggier than when it was washed!! The same applies to boots!!

[hazyhorn]

Hi Guys
I will only be walking fior 10 days with an Aussie girlfriend, probably starting the first week in April. We need to sort ourselves out in terms of what we're doing so if anyone has suggestions on the best place to start to end up in Santiago, it would be appreciated!
Thanks
Aine

[thomr]

Hi,
Is anyone going to be starting from St Jean at around this time?

[rekkapix]

I am starting on the 20th from SJPDP

[malena]

hi when in April are u planning to walk Camino de Santiago?
I am flying on the 2nd to Biarritz. Thats gonna be my first walk and i am bit afraid.
i will walk alone and thought that would be nice to al least start with somone.
and if u walked it before, could u tell me if the trial is difficult? is it easy to get lost?

[Covey]

There is no need to be afraid on the Camino, and apart from your feet pilgrims come to no harm on the trail, and if you find the going a little hard, there are plenty of other pilgrims who will give you a hand.

Every day pilgrims set out from St Jean on the road to Roncesvalles so you will not be alone. They estimate that 120,000 pilgrims will walk the Camino trails this year, so there will always be someone near if you have a problem. On the first couple of days people tend to stick together so you will not be short of friends.

Your life on the Camino Frances will be guided by the little yellow arrows!! which mark the way. Just follow them or the person in front and you will be OK.

[thomr]

Hi,
I'm planning to fly from Bairritz to go on to St Jean on the 19th of April - will anyone else be around then?

[robertsma]

Hi all,

I have booked my flight to Biarritz and will be setting off from St Jean on April 7. Hopefully, it's good weather but if not it will be an easier walk on day 1! Anyway, I'm taking plenty of time with 2 nights' stay in each of the main cities as I doubt I'll ever have so much free time again (finished masters' and left my old job) to appreciate it. I look forward to meeting anyone on the trip between April 7 and May 17 when I arrive in Santiago.

Looking forward to it immensely.

[vjpulver]

I leave the US on April 20th and will start the Camino from Roncevalles (unless weather conditions are snowy there). Just two weeks till I begin my adventure! I can't wait!

[selleri]

My first walk but find weather fantsatic. not too hot not too cold and lots of more experienced walkers seem to agree. Only "inconvenience" will surge in numbers due to Holy Week which falls now but you can sort out your stops to limit the effect. Probably will be worst teh closer you are to Santiago