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San Martin Church
From the 11th century.The Camino de Santiago has been a pilgrimage route for more than 800 years, dating back to medieval times. Its popularity by modern day pilgrims has been on the increase for the past 20 years, especially after it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. On our travels around the globe, we’ve found that any site of significance is more valuable to tourism if it’s been granted the UNESCO seal of approval.
Camino de Santiago translates to The Way of St James. St James was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. The Bible records that Herod Agrippa had him beheaded in 44 AD. After his martyrdom, his disciples carried his body by sea to Iberia (now Spain) and took it inland for burial. The remains of St James were rediscovered in the 8th century in Santiago de Compostela and a cathedral was built to house the relics. Pilgrims began journeying to Santiago shortly thereafter and a tradition was born.
The Camino has many routes starting in places as far away as Turkey and Norway. I chose to start in St. Jean Pied de Port in France and cross the Pyrenees into Spain. This starting point is
France-Spain Border
Example of scallop shell trail marker. also the most popular and is where many guidebooks begin. It typically takes about 30 days of walking to cross the almost 800 kilometers (500 miles) to Santiago.
The terrain across the country to Santiago can be divided into three parts: the Basque region with its green rolling landscape and vineyards; the flat, seemingly endless and unyielding wheat growing country of the Meseta; and finally the tree-covered verdant hillsides of Galicia.
The entire way is marked with various representations of scallop shells such as bronze shells embedded in the sidewalk or painted shells stenciled on the sides of buildings. The use of scallop shells evolved from medieval times when pilgrims would take a shell from the shore near Santiago as proof they had completed the journey. Following these markers usually makes the route finding easy but when I did lose my way, a local would unerringly point me in the right direction. It’s usually in the larger towns and cities where there’s a lot of visual distraction, that one can get lost, but never for long.
The Camino runs from community to community and always passes by the local church or cathedral, some of which can be
Iglesia de Santa Maria
An ornate church in Los Arcos. very ornate given the size of the towns in which they’re situated. Los Arcos in Navarre, for instance, has a magnificent 12th century church and cloister, an altar covered in gold leaf and somber bells pealing the time every quarter hour. All of this in a town with a population of only 1300 people.
We spent every night in one of the pilgrim’s hostels. Being the most popular route, the Camino Frances has many hostels in towns along the way to Santiago. The level of accommodation varies from dorm style bunkrooms sleeping 60 people to smaller rooms with six beds each. All hostels have showers and laundry facilities for hand washing and drying dirty hiking clothes and some even have kitchens. For a price between four and ten Euros per night, it’s not a bad deal.
Hostels may be cheap but they are also noisy. My biggest challenge of the entire Camino was not walking the long distance, or any harsh springtime weather, but loud snoring from my fellow pilgrims. Most nights I was awakened between 2 and 3 in the morning by a chorus of snores. It is a wonder there haven’t been any reported sightings of
Vinoo, Johanna, and John
We would often take a 5 - 10 minute rest to give our feet a break. the Virgin Mary along the Camino by sleep deprived pilgrims.
For me, a typical day’s walk ranged from 20 to 30 kilometers, stopping every couple hours for a break. In the morning, after walking for a while I could always count on a café being open in a small town where I and my companions would enjoy a café con leche (aka a latte). Then after walking some more we would stop for lunch and either eat whatever we bought at a market the day before or get a sandwich from a bar. By then we were usually close to our final destination for the day, arriving in the early afternoon to check in to our hostel. There was always a hot shower available (what luxury!) and we usually followed that by a beer or two then dinner.
As with most journeys, the highlight of my pilgrimage was the people. I made several friends but after about two weeks I had settled in to a comfortable partnership with Vinoo and Johanna. Vinoo is a 50-something citizen of the world. He is very well read and so we had many enjoyable conversations on topics ranging from Monty Python to
global politics. On the other hand, Johanna is from Germany taking a year off before starting University. She is very mature for a 20 year old and was able to hold her own walking with two middle-aged guys.
I enjoyed the Camino for the same reasons I enjoyed hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1996. There is simplicity and comfort in long distance hiking; every day you know what you are going to do and the goal is clear. Everyone you meet has their reasons for being out there and a kindred spirit of the shared experience quickly develops. For me the Camino was a sabbatical from the hustle and bustle of life and a vacation from my year-long vacation.
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Mean Uncle Peter
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John that looks like a really neat experience. Did you have a favorite town along the way? If so, why?