Where There's a Will.....There's a Camino Way!

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It's 'Adventure Time' again! Perhaps not as epic as the seven weeks in the Antipodes earlier this year, but epic nevertheless. Those who know me well, will be aware that since I left the world of banking nine years ago, I have developed (along with five other fellow 'crazy people') a passion for long distance walking. This started four years ago, when we tackled the legendary, 200 mile, 'Coast to Coast' trek from the West Coast location of St. Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire, on the East Coast. Since then, we have successfully completed two other hikes of around 100 miles in the North of England, including the Dales Way last year, from Ilkley to Bowness on Windemere. But, my friends, this year is a little different. This year our merry band of hikers is venturing abroad, to Galicia in Northern Spain in fact, to try our hard at one of the most well known routes in the world........the 'Camino Way'.

Many of you will probably be familiar with the 'Camino' from films such as The Way starring Martin Sheen, or the recent TV series following a bunch of 'Z List' celebrities completing the route (sort of!!), or..........you may simply be aware of the status that the 'Camino' has in the world of walkers. But for those who have not heard of it, here's the 'history bit'.

Since the discovery of the body of James the Apostle in the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela in 812AD, the cathedral in Santiago (where the body is interred) has been an important destination for Christian Pilgrim's from all over the world - you may well ask how anyone can possibly be certain that the body is indeed that of James the Apostle, but I guess it doesn't really matter; if people believe it is, then that's probably good enough.

There are, of course, many routes leading to Santiago, but the most famous is the French Way from the French side of the Pyrenees to Santiago itself, a journey of around 800 kilometres. However.........we're not doing that!! We may be crazy, but not totally mad! Our route will be following the 'Camino Ingles' or the 'English Way', the route which English Pilgrims followed in the Middle Ages, firstly by boat from the South Coast of England to the coastal town of Ferrol in Northern Spain, then followed by a 130 km hike to Santiago, conveniently covering the minimum distance of 100 km to qualify for the 'Compostela' or 'Certificate' on arrival in Santiago. To ensure that you don't cheat you have to get 'stamps' from at least two different locations each day in a Credencial de Peregrino or 'Pilgrim's Passport' obtained by each walker, and only if you have all the relevant stamps (obtained from hotels, shops, bars, churches, etc), will you be able to get your 'Compostela'.

Once again, we are using a specialist outfit to transport our main luggage from accommodation to accommodation, this time using a company based in Dublin called CaminoWays to organise everything and so far, they have done a very good job. We are staying at the Premier Inn at Gatwick tonight, before we fly out with Easyjet (LGW to Santiago) at 5.55 am tomorrow, get picked up at Santiago by taxi and taken straight to our hotel in Ferrol, then have a spare afternoon before we set off on the trek to Santiago on the 9th June. Six days walking should see us arrive in Santiago on Thursday 14th, following which we have a day trip to Finnisterre on the Friday, before flying home on the Saturday.

People do the 'Camino' for many reasons, with the top reason being the 'spiritual experience' in following the route trodden by Pilgrims for centuries before. However, I must be honest..........we're doing it 'because it is there', but if a bit of faith rubs off on us, then I guess that would be no bad thing. So, feel free to follow the Simple Six on our journey.......or not, of course.........a journey which, based on previous trips, is likely to include a lot of fun and probably a mishap or two!



Buen Camino!!

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Comments

[Chris Bresnahan]

Good Luck
Just wishing you merry group of ??? (couldn't think of anything appropriate - just too difficult to describe) best wishes for your trip. Hope the weather is kind to you and it's not too hot. Take on board plenty of liquid (at least make some of it water). Look forward to reading all about it. Cheers

[Paulkilby]

Cheers Chris! You know what, I'd kill for a bit of heat right now - we've had better weather in the Lake District in March before now!