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Cornwall Morganeering Copyright

 

 

CAMINO FRANCES PRACTICAL.

 

Note that in preparing these web pages on the Camino I have tried to do three things, namely (a) to make a record of my journey (b) to provide notes to friends who are thinking of doing the Camino and (c) to show some of the many photographs that I took. The average reader may not be interested in seeing pictures of buses, trains and the sleeping accommodation in albergues and small hotels, but I felt that these photos and the accompanying information would be of keen interest to those planning to go.

Due to a chest infection I had to return home after 200 miles, so my camino comprises two halves, in March/April and May/June, with a three day trip to Santiago de Compostela in between!

 

CAMINO 1. St Jean Pied de Port to Tardajos, near Burgos
26th March - 10th April 2013

 

 

Schedule

Day From To Hrs Km Cum
0 London Stansted

St. Jean Pied de Port
(Hotel Itzalpea)

      
1 St. Jean Pied de Port Roncesvalles
(Albergue de Peregrinos Real Colegiata de Roncesvalles)
7.45
 27 27
2 Roncesvalles Zubiri
(Albergue Perigrinos Concejo de Zubiri)
6.5
 21.5 48.5
3 Zubiri Pamplona
(Albergue Jesus y Maria)
5.5
 22 70.5
4 Pamplona Puente la Reina
(Albergue de Perigrinos Padres Reparadores)
6.5
 24 94.5
5 Puente la Reina Estella
(Hospital de Peregrinos de Estella - Asociación de Amigos del Camino de Santiago de Estella)		 5.5 22 116.5
6 Estella Los Arcos
(Casa de la Abuela)		 5.5 22 138.5
7 Los Arcos Viana
(Albergue Izar)		 4.0 18.5 157
8 Viana Navarrete
(Hostal Villa de Navarrete)		 5.0 22.5 179.5
9 Navarrete Nájera
(Albergue Puerta de Nájera)		 4.0 18 197.5
10 Nájera Santo Domingo de la Calzada
(Hotel Corregidor ***)		 4.75 21 218.5
11 Santo Domingo de la Calzada Belorado
(Casa Rural Verdeancho)		 4.5 23 241.5
12 Belorado San Juan de Ortega
(Alojamiento Rural La Henera)		 5.5 24 265.5
13 San Juan de Ortega Burgos
(Hotel Norte y Londres **)		 6.5 27.5 293
14 Burgos Rest Day        
15 Burgos Tardajos (Returned to Burgos for Medical Attention) 2.5 10 303
 
 Recovery day.
 
 Decision to return home; Bus to Airport; Easyjet flight to London Stansted
   

 

Travel Details

25th March 2013
ETD London Stansted 06-30 hrs Ryanair Flight FR8378
ETA Biarritz 09-45 hrs

Bus 14 from Biarritz Airport to Bayonne Station (30 mins; 1 euro; pay on board)

Train ETD Bayonne Station 14-55 hrs
ETA St. Jean Pied de Port 16-20 hrs (9.60 euro)



Alternative: Taxi from Bayonne Station to St. Jean Pied de Port - approx 90 to 100 euros

Return from Burgos- Wednesday 10th April:

Bus from Burgos Bus Station ETD 10-15 hrs
ETA Bilbao 12-15 hrs (Euro 12.88)

BIZKAIBUS ETD Bilbao Bus Station 12-25 hrs ETA Bilbao Airport 12-45 hrs (Euro 1-35, pay on entry)

Easyjet Flight EZY3224 ETD Bilbao 13-40 hrs ETA London Stansted 14-30 hrs

 

Pilgrim's Passport or Credentials

 

This is available free by return post from http://www.pilgrims-to-santiago.com/freecredential.html, although they ask for a small donation to help them with their costs and support their organisation.


 

 

European Health Insurance Card

 

Make sure that your European Health Insurance Card is up to date and that you take it with you. I needed mine for admission to hospital in Burgos.

 

 

Copies of Key Passport Pages

I find it useful to make a couple of copies of the key pages of my passport to put somewhere other than my valuables pouch so that if my passport were to be stolen or lost I have the details for the Embassy or Consulate to get a replacement.

 

Sentinel Debit/Credit Card Contact Information

If you subscribe to the Sentinel debit/credit card system it is useful to print out the details of the telephone contact page so that if your credit cards are lost or stolen you have to hand the contact details.


ATM's

There are plenty of ATM's available on route and getting cash was not a problem. However it is worth notifying your bank of the time that you expect to be in Northern Spain and during which you might be using debit and credit cards

WiFi

WiFi is widely available in albergues, coffee shops, hotels etc etc. . Some albergues have computers where you can pay typically 1 euro for 20 minutes use.

Security in Albergues

Generally when you stay in albergues you are surrounded by fellow pilgrims with similar interests, and although personal space is somewhat limited you feel secure. However not everyone is as they appear, and in one albergue in Rabanal del Camino, the Albergue Gaucelmo, two people had Euro 45 and Euro 250 stolen from their packs overnight. This is no reflection on the particular albergue, which has a very high rating amongst pilgrims, but it it is a warning not to get complacent with valuables on the Camino.

Packing Details

  Item Grams  
  Lowe Alpine 65 + 15 L rucksack 2,500  
  Rain cover for rucksack 120  
  Walking Pole 200  
  Sleeping bag 800  
  Blue Rohan quick drying walking trousers 450  
  Green Rohan quick drying walking trousers 450  
  Mountain Equipment Goretex Jacket 600  
  Paine Lightweight Goretex Jacket 500  
  Sprayway Goretex Overtrousers 400  
  Bag for Goretex jacket/overtrousers 60  
  Scarf 100  
  Quick drying Craghopper shirt 250  
  Lowe Alpine fleece 300  
  Craghopper fleece 350  
  Peaked cap 100  
  Floppy sun hat 60  
  Thinsulate cold-weather beany 50  
  2 pairs Thinsulate gloves 200  
  Goretex overgloves 80  
  Green Berghaus undershirt 300  
  Blue Berghaus undershirt 300  
  2 x Patagonia wicking undershirts 350  
  Socks 410  
  Light weight trainer running shoes for evenings 650  
  3 pairs underpants 200  
  Coat hanger 100  
  Pegs and string for drying clothes 160  
  Towel 200  
  Toilet bag and contents 1,100  
  Canon G10 Camera 600  
  Chargers/Spare camera battery/adaptors etc 380  
  John Brierley Guidebook 400  
  Michelin map/guidebook 50  
  Toilet roll 100  
       
  Total 12,870  
       

 

Whilst the above totals nearly 13 kgs, I was wearing quite a few of the items and carried my walking pole and camera; nevertheless I estimate that my rucksack weighed approximately 11 kg when I started, which was a bit too much. I got rid of some items that I did not really need (such as the spare pair of gloves which went to a welcoming peregrino with cold hands, and I transferred all my toiletries etc into a plastic bag getting rid of my old and unnecessarily heavy toilet bag. But finally I posted a 2kg box of stuff to be collected at my destination .... my spare goretex jacket, a spare shirt, spare socks. a spare undershirt, a spare electricity adaptor, and my John Brierley guidebook.). This left me with basically one set of clothes for walking in, and one set for changing into in the evening.

It is worth considering the purchase of a special lightweight rucksack for the Camino.... you can get 50 litre rucksacks weighing only 1200 grams!

 

Baggage Transfer

See www.jacotrans.com

I spoke to several people about using Jacotrans and their response was generally positive. It is not as complicated as it first appears, and many people used Jacotrans just for selected stages and arranged their bag transfer the night before. The way it works is that you get a "Jacotrans envelope"..... either get a few of them before you go or ask at the albergue.... fill in the details of the bag pick up point and the bag drop off point, put 7 euros in the envelope and seal it, and then get the albergue to phone Jacotrans to log the bag into their pick up and delivery schedule. Whilst this could save you carrying a heavy rucksack on a difficult leg, or perhaps when you are injured or have blisters, the only problem is that you do not know exactly what time your bag will arrive at the destination point, so if you want to go on further it can be a bit of a problem waiting for your bag to turn up!

The other point to remember is that not all albergues/casa rural/pensions accept bag transfers.... you may have to send it to another albergues/casa rural/pension in the same town and pick it up from there. Below are scans of the Jacotrans envelope showing the detail, and the terms and conditions.

 

 

 

Jacotrans are not the only company offering this service. For example, if you don't fancy lugging your bag up O Cebreiro, there is a local company that will transfer it for you. When we climbed O Cebriero we arrived at the top at 10-30 a.m. and actually went on to do another stage (to Triacastela)........ but this would not have been possible if we had had to wait for the bag to arrive.

 

 

Another bag carrying service between Burgos and Leon

Spanish Postal System or Correos


Spanish Post Offices offer two standard "Caja Verde" boxes which come flat-pack and "flip-up" into shape. They have a self adhesive strip for sealing so all you need is a pen to write the address on. The "Caja Verde Mediana" box cost Euro 2-40 and measures 317 x 215 x 125 mm. I used one of these boxes to post 2 kg of clothes to Santiago de Compostela for Euro 7-30. You can send it to a hotel if you have booked one, or to the central post office in Santiago de Compostela.

The other box is the "Caja Verde Grande" which costs Euro 2-95 and measures 390 x 280 x 190 mm.


 

CAMINO 2. - 1st & 2nd May 2013
Visit to Santiago de Compostela

 

As Sue had Ryanair tickets to Santiago de Compostela flying on Wednesday 1st May and returning on Friday 3rd May, rather than waste them we decided to have two days in Santiago de Compostela. We were interested to see what the place was like, but as the people I had been walking with were finishing about this time, I was keen to meet up with them to see how it had gone.

1st May 2013

Ryanair flight FR 8378 ETD Stansted 06-30 hrs ETA Santiago de Compostela 09-45 hrs
Ryanair flight FR FR 8379 ETD Santiago de Compostela 10-05 hrs ETA Stansted 11-15 hrs

Empresa Freire bus (www.empresafreire.com) Santiago de Compostela Airport - City centre 3 euros per person - pay on the bus. Buses run from 7-00 hrs a.m. to 01-00 hrs a.m. every half hour and take about 30 minutes, calling in at the Bus Station on the way. Buses terminate in Praza de Galicia which is a short walk from the cathedral.

City Centre - Santiago de Compostela Airport. Buses leave Praza de Galicia every half hour from 06-00 hrs a.m. to midnight. Buses stop at the railway station and the bus station on route and can take up to 40 minutes depending upon load and delays.

Hotel: Pousadas de Compostela, Hotel San Clemente, 20 San Clemente, Santiago de Compostela. ( A small 10-room hotel within 5 minutes walk of the Cathedral. http://www.pousadasdecompostela.com/hotel2.php?idhotel=2&idseccion=12&ididioma=3

Note that there is an albergue called "Mundoalbergue" right next to the hotel). http://www.mundoalbergue.es/index.php

 

 

 

Airport bus outside Hotel Universal in Praza de Galicia

 

CAMINO 3. - 22nd May to 14th June 2013
Tardajos, near Burgos to Santiago de Compostela

Schedule

  • Day From To Hrs Km Cum
      London Stansted Bilbao (Ryanair)      
      Bilbao Burgos (Bus      
    16 Tardajos Hontanas
    (Albergue El Puntido)    		 4.5 21.5 324.5
    17 Hontanas Boadilla del Camino
    (Albergue En El Camino)    		 6.5 26 350.5
    18 Boadilla del Camino

    Carrion de los Condes
    (Albergue Espiritu Santo)

    		 6.5 25 375.5
    19 Carrion de los Condes Terradillos de los Templarios
    (Albergue Los Templarios)    		 5.5 24 399.5
    20 Terradillos de los Templarios El Burgo Ranero
    (Albergue Domenico Laffi)    		 7 31.7 431.2
    21 El Burgo Ranero Mansilla de la Mulas
    (Amigo Del Perigrinos Mansilla)    		 4.5 19 450.2
    22 Mansilla de la Mulas León
    (Paradores San Marcos)    		 4 20 470.2
    23 Rest Day León
    (Paradores San Marcos)    		      
    24 Bus to Hospital de Orbigo Astorga
    (Albergue Amigos del Camino de Santiago Astorga)    		 4 17 487.2
    25 Astorga Rabanal del Camino
    (Hosteria A Cruz Del Ferro)    		 4.5 20 507.2
    26 Rabanal del Camino Molinaseca
    (Casa Rural El Horno)    		 6 24.5 531.7
    27 Molinaseca Villafranca del Bierzo
    (Hotel Posada Las Donas del Portazgo)    		 8 31 562.7
    28 Villafranca del Bierzo Vega de Valcarce
    (Casa Rural El Recanto)    		 4 18 580.7
    29 Vega de Valcarce Triacastela
    (Meson Vilasante)    		 9.5 33 613.7
    30 Triacastela Sarria
    (Pension c/o Escalinata)    		 5 21.5 635.2
    31 Sarria Portomarin
    (Posada Del Camino Portomarin)    		 5.5 21.5 656.7
    32 Portomarin Palas de Rei
    (Pension Residencia Barcelona)
    		 6 22 678.7
    33 Palas de Rei Arzua
    (Pension Casa Frade)    		 7 25.5 704.2
    34 Arzua O Pedrouzo
    (Pension Pedrouzo)    		 4.5 19 723.2
    35 O Pedrouzo Santiago de Compostela
    (Hospederia San Martin Pinario)    		 4.5 20 743.2
    36 Sightseeing Santiago de Compostela
    (Hospederia San Martin Pinario)    		      
    37 Sightseeing Santiago de Compostela
    (Hospederia San Martin Pinario)    		      
      Ryanair Flight 8379
    ETD Santiago de Compostela 10-05 hrs
    ETA London Stansted 11-10 hrs
       

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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