A few weeks back I returned from the beautiful region of Galicia in Northern Spain where I undertook the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James). It was a great time and I want to add some detailed posts on my hike there over the coming days.

It really is a lovely walk. I use the term walk purposely here as before I went a sister of a colleague of mine corrected me at a party when I used the term ‘hike’ to describe it i.e. it’s more a ‘walk’ than a cross country ‘hike’ as such.

Now, calling it a ‘walk’ is open to debate as while I only started from Sarria and walked one hundred and twenty or so kilometers to Santiago, the minimum amount to get your completion certificate or ‘Compostela’, many pellegrino’s (Pilgrims) will do the whole thing starting from St. Jean.

That’s a hike of approximately eight hundred kilometers or five hundred miles, part of which is through the Pyrenees so I would expect that to be pretty tough. While much of the Camino route is very well marked out on easily accessible paths and so maybe not really ‘hiking’ cross country as such, the sheer distance alone to me means it should be defined as a very long hike indeed.

Getting Started

We flew into Santiago de Compostela and then got a coach out to Sarria for the beginning of our journey. We flew in the day after the tragic train crash on 25^th July so needless to say the atmosphere was somber from a city and country in mourning.

The trip was organized in such a way that our main bags were transported to our next place of accommodation so we only needed to bring a day pack with us when walking. We started on the Camino on Friday July 26^th and walked twenty two kilometer’s from Sarria to Porto Marin.

The first thing that surprised me was the weather. I have been in Northern Spain before and so did know it can be quite mild, similar to the United Kingdom and Ireland. However for mid-July, I did expect it to be a bit hot. This wasn’t really the case. The mornings are fresh and cool and really ideal for walking in. The paths were very dusty on the first day as it hadn’t rained in a few days so my hiking boots (I opted for boots for the trip rather than my hiking shoes but they would have been fine) and socks were like two big lumps of dust on my feet!

This leg was nice enough with some detours through country roads and natural pathways. Most of the ‘stage’, as such, was along tree lined roads which offered good shelter from the sun as the day progressed. The weather held and the sun shone for the whole of this part of the journey.

As we walked we passed through many little hamlets and passed many small cafes where you could get your Camino passport stamped to acquire your certificate at the end. It’s a minimum of two stamps from two different places each day to ensure you get your Compostela.

This is easily done as everywhere, from the cafes to the restaurants, hostels to hotels will all be able to provide you with a stamp. As with any hike you need to ensure you have the right hiking supplies with you, so adequate water, etc. is important as there can be significant gaps between hamlets and therefore cafés.

Conclusion

So, we had day one under our belts and by making it to Porto Marin we had twenty two kilometers in the bag. The group I was with were generally in good shape but talk of a few blisters was bubbling among a few folks.

I need to sign off on this for today so will continue on from day two it in the next blog post!  If you want to read the next installment, click here 🙂

Have you hiked the Camino? Share your experiences below, I’d love to hear about it.

Tomorrow I am flying out to Spain to do the pilgrim’s walk of ‘El Camino de Santiago’.

El Camino de Santiago, also known as the way of St. James, is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Northern Spain.

The way of St. James was one of the most important pilgrimage routes in medieval times. Legend holds that St. James’s remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where he was buried on the site of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela.

The Camino can be split into three main parts, the hillls of the Basque country, the hot and flat section of the ‘meseta’ and the beautiful green hills of Galicia. I will be starting in Galicia and hiking approximately 100 km’s, give or take a few kilometers.

The pilgrimage can take any number of routes but I will be starting in Sarria (See Red arrow on the map below). This is the minimum distance to start from Santiago to enable you to get the certificate of completion of the Camino De Santiago. The minimum requirement is that you either walk 100 kilometers on foot or cycle 200 kilometers.

To get the certificate you need to acquire a ‘Pilgrim’s passport’ in advance, also known as the credencial. These can be acquired on arrival in Spain but you can also get them in major cities before going to Spain.

You need to get the passport stamped in locations with the official St. James stamp in each town or village you pass through. When you get to Santiago at the end, you hand your passport in to get a certificate of completion, also known as the ‘Compostela’.

I plan to enter more blog posts on this hike on my return. The Camino has a great reputation for being a fascinating hike as many people do it for all sorts of reasons. Some just for the sake of doing a beautiful hike but many for religious, spiritual or personal reasons. One can expect to meet a lot of interesting people on it and I am really looking forward to it! The scenery will be spectacular and the temperature in Northern Spain should be pleasant in and around 25C / 77F.

I will be wearing light shorts and convertible pants and a good pair of hiking shoes while hiking there. The most important thing will be good pairs of hiking socks and appropriate underwear to prevent any chafing! Oh, and I mustn’t forget the sunscreen either!

I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance to add any new posts while away hiking, so if not, until my return, Buen Camino!

Have you hiked El Camino de Santiago? Share your experience’s below, we’d love to hear your comments!