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Turly's walk on the Camino de Santiago |
In April 2002, I finally got ticked off enough to quit my job at Apple (I had worked for them for eight years; the last five on the OS X gcc compiler) and took six months off for some serious R&R. I've always liked travel and hiking, so what better way to clear the cobwebs than a nice long hike in a country I'd never been in before?
The Camino de Santiago is an old pilgrimage route to the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, the reputed burial place of the apostle St. James the Great. The bit of the pilgrimage that I did is perhaps the most traditional stretch - known as the camino francés starting from just inside the French border over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles in Spain, and thence to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, a distance of around 780 km (the best part of 500 miles.) This is the diary of my hike. Click on a day to go to its entry; if you're interested in the history of the camino, or even in doing this hike yourself, see the Bits of History, Words of Advice section at the end. Do not be put off by the distance: thousands of people will be walking the camino every year, many of whom have never before walked further than a few miles. As a way to see Spain and the Spanish, meet interesting people from all over the world, and get a bit of exercise as well, it can't be beaten!
 Bayonne Day 0, Monday 27 May |
 Distant St. Jean Pied-de-Port Day 1, Tuesday 28 May |
 Zubiri Day 2, Weds 29 May |
 Puente La Reina Day 3, Thursday 30 May |
 Backwards to Puente La Reina Day 4, Friday 31 May |
 Viana Day 5, Saturday 1 June |
 Azófra Day 6, Sunday 2 June |
 Santo Domingo de la Calzada Day 7, Monday 3 June |
 Villafranca Montes de Oca Day 8, Tuesday 4 June |
 Burgos Day 9, Weds 5 June |
 Mud on the meseta Day 10, Thursday 6 June |
 Canal de Castilla Day 11, Friday 7 June |
 Carrión de los Condes Day 12, Saturday 8 June |
 San Zoilo monastery entrance Day 13, Sunday 9 June |
 León Day 14, Monday 10 June |
 León Day 15, Tues 11 June (Rest Day) |
 Astorga Day 16, Wednesday 12 June |
 Cruz de Ferro Day 17, Thursday 13 June |
 Vega de Valcarce Day 18, Friday 14 June |
 Laguna de Castilla Day 19, Saturday 15 June |
 Camino as stream, Morgade Day 20, Sunday 16 June |
 A hórreo outside Toxibo Day 21, Monday 17 June |
 Arca Day 22, Tuesday 18 June |
Santiago de Compostela
Day 23, Wednesday 19 June |
 Finisterre Day 25, Friday 21 June |
 Read about turly's other hikes |
Bits of History, Words of Advice |
 Start reading about the camino (Bayonne, Day 0) |
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Page last updated by turly Monday 17 January 2011. |
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