few questions please help

[asiniv]

Hello,
I?m from israel and Im planning to do the camino de santiago, and start at the end of the month. I?ve read as much as I can about the route over the net and since I come from Israel and I do not speak french or spanish I have a few basic questions that I hope someone will be able to help so I?ll be successful at starting my journey:

1. starting point and getting there - since I have a flight to madrid and I?m a bit warry of how to find my way to the starting point. my plan is to do the more popular route starting at roncesvalles.
so, I?m planning on landing in madrid, take the train to pamplona and then a bus to roncesvalles.
Is it possible to book the train and bus on the spot since I?m not exactly sure on my arrival time at madrid?
2.is it possible to get the needed credencials, guide books and maps in madrid or roncesvalles (I cannot order them by mail)?
3. is accomodation along the route might pose a problem due to increasing popularity? since I cannot plan for this in advance and I?m afraid it might hinder my plans, how serious is the issue?...

thank you in advance, I would also appreciate any kind response and also some more information or links you might think should be neccessary for me.

Assaf

[annie]

Hi Assaf... in reply to your questions...

• I've never booked anything in advance for travelling in Spain, and things always seem to fall into place... the trains seem to run on time and buses too. I think you will be fine getting to Pamplona... suggest you find the central tourist office there & they have maps which will get you started & I would imagine they can either provide you with a credencial / tell you where to obtain one. Am pretty sure you can obtain a credencial from Roncesvalles too...
  
• If necessary you can always spend a night in a hostal in Pamplona before taking a bus out to Roncesvalles if you arrive too late to catch a bus that day.
  
• Accommodation seems to get more under pressure the nearer to Santiago you get... leastways that was my impression last year. But having said that I never got stuck! Just sometimes had to walk a little further than I wanted! And sometimes I had to sleep on a hostal floor instead of a bed... but that wasn't very often.
  

Don't worry too much. People are generally very supportive of one another and happy to help one another out. I hardly speak a word of Spanish and was walking by myself... & if I can manage I think most people can. It wasn't a problem.

My advice to everyone is to travel as light as possible. I have a bit of a 'bee in my bonnet' about this because I've seen so many pilgrims weighed down by too much stuff & suffer as a result... Eg use plastic 'zip'bags instead of heavy toilet bags. Compression sacs are great as they're waterproof and they squeeze clothes & sleeping bags down. Use small tube of toothpaste etc etc. Every 100grammes you can 'save' by minimising means you'll walk with extra ease ( and more pleasure). Last year I only took 2 pairs of socks... this was a problem when I lost one! So I now take 3 pairs, but manage with 2 pairs of pants and carry only one change of clothing. I might not look like a fashion model but I'm quite comfortable.

Also... I only take lightweight quick-dry clothing. This enables me to carry little and what I do carry is virtually dry by the following morning even in foul weather.

Have a wonderful Camino. Annie.

[Leslie]

1. yes
2. yes
3. will be fine this time of year

Have a good Camino

[jscerri]

Hello.

I'm from Malta and am planning to walk the camino frances this mid May and thanks to you I had many questions answered. But there is one that is worrying me (and my family and friends mostly). Most likely I will be doing the Camino alone, I would like to ask the ladies that already done the Camino, how safe it is for a woman to walk the Camino alone? I've been wishing to do the Camino for years and this is the only question remaining.

Thanks for helping
Josianne

[annie]

Hi Josianne... I can understand your apprehension... I felt a bit concerned before I walked alone the first time. Many women walk alone. I have walked over 1600km alone on both major and less well known routes and I have never had any problems. (Having said that I am over 50!) But I have met countless other women, young and old walking alone too.... if you propose setting off any time between now and September on any of the major routes there will usually be someone not that far away anyway if you walk during the normal hours.

My family were a bit worried about me the first time too. Now they just wave me off cheerfully!

I hope that's put your mind to rest. And your family & friends too... the response of so many people is 'Are you mad?' ... 'Will you be safe?'... For me walking the camino remains one of the single most wonderful experiences of my life.

Have a Good Camino... Annie.

[jscerri]

hello Annie,

thanks very much for your reply.... yes it did put my mind to rest. Anyway, my leave from work have been approved this morning, so I'm planning to start from Pamplona either the 19th or 20th May and I have till the 30th June. Any one during those days?

[asiniv]

hey,
thanks everyone for the kind response.
Ive made plans to get to paris on the 16th. take a few days to organize and with hope to set off to le puy.
from what Ive seen in the csj.uk.org the season from le puy starts at april, so I thought its a good time to start.
though Ive come to realize that there?s one thing that im mostly concerned about - the weahter...
Ive seen here in the forum, that it is ?possible? to start around this time of season, though I?m worried that it will rain most of the time and even snow...
so, - is it safe and fairly feasible to start from le puy in around 2 weeks more or less, should i be constantly worried about the weather or is it ok in general? and are there usually other pilgrims in this time of the year?

any advice would be much appreciated.

and another small issue - does anyone know if and where in paris i can get some of the recommended english guides - alison raju?s guide and\or the davies and cole guide?

thank you!

[annie]

Hi Asiniv... don't worry... there will be a steady stream of Pilgrims by the time you set off. Sometimes people need to delay going over the Pyrenees a day or so because of the weather, but - at worst - it shouldn't be too long this time of the year. And most probably it'll be OK.

I don't know if you can get the c.s.j. guides in Paris (though I doubt it)... but I can recommend MIAMMIAMDODO which you will be able to pick up. It has simple maps and accommodation & other information for everything en route. (Don't pick up the wrong one by mistake... theres one for Le Puy to the Pyrennees, another for the Arles route, and the Camino Frances one) ... if you can't find it in Paris, then you'll most certainly pick it up in St Jean.

Cheers, Annie.