Alive Alive O!

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
At Last! Santiago de Compostela
Day 23, Wednesday 19 June

Finisterre

Day 25, Friday 21 June
Some people have requested some of the original 1600x1200 photos. They're available here.


Others
Read about turly's other hikes
Advice
Bits of History, Words of Advice
Ultreia!
Start reading about the camino (Bayonne, Day 0)

Alive Alive O! Page last updated by turly Monday 17 January 2011.
The Way of St James

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