Hontanas

You will normally expect any town on the camino of be on top of the hill or at least at ground level. Historically and practically it makes good sense. You can see your enemies advancing toward you from far away, and also the higher ground has strategic advantages in a battle. Hontanas however is the reverse.


It is well hidden in the valley. Only the church tower sticks out from the landscape.


The road to Hontanas.


Town with 2 albergues and a hostal. Very pilgrim friendly.


The owner of this house create strange sculptures out of wood and metal.


Final view in the morning the next day.

The Weight on my Back

For this I don't mean the weight of my backpack but my troubles and worries that I have brought along in the journey. It weigh me down more than any physical weight I had on my backpack. At the end my journey that weight has but all disappeared, spread across the camino.

Now that the journey's over they are becoming heavy again...

Burgos

Burgos is one of the 3 big cities along the camino. The other 2 are Logroño and León.


You can get really lost as I did walking into the city. With all the distraction and noise, it was easy to miss the yellow arrow marker in this built-up area than say a small town.


One of the many churches in the city.


Finally, at the famous catheral in Burgos.


Impressive!


Exit door of the catheral, 1 euro for pilgrims and at least 5 times more for tourists to enter the cathedral.





One of the numerous altars inside.


A metal pilgrim statue at the park bench.


From Plaza Mayor, close to where I stayed for that night.


In Hostal Hidalgo. The only time during the camino I did not stay in an albergue as the only available albergue is a half hour's walk away from the cathedral. Many thanks to peregrina Isabella for bringing me here.


On the way out of the city the next day...

San Juan de Ortega

The weather was cold when I arrived at San Juan de Ortega.


The place is a bit disproportionate. Big church but no town other than a row of houses alongside the church.


Many old artifacts inside the church.


Some soup (sopa de Ajo) served by Father Jose Maria after mass. I heard from a friend who told me he had a full meal at San Juan de Ortega from Father Jose Maria, but that was 16 years ago when there were less people walking the camino. Still, this is one of the special moments in my camino sharing the soup with other pilgrims.


Ah... perfect for a cold day. You can find the soup recipe here.

Belorado and a little beyond

Town of Belorado.


The ruins of Absides de Felices before Villafranca Montes de Oca. The altar seems to be the only thing that survived.


Villafranca Montes de Oca.


Church with a strange looking spiral.

Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a city that is founded by pilgrims for pilgrims.



A miracle happened there that would make this place famous till today.



The Hugonel family (father, mother, son), pilgrims from Cologne (Köln) in Germany were staying at the hospital at Santo Domingo. A maid propositioned the son but was turn down. In spite, she hides a silver goblet among his belongings and accused him of theft. He was arrested to be hanged at the gallows. As his parents were moving on, they heard his cry saying that he is still alive because Saint Domingo is holding his feet. The magistrate of the city were about to eat a hen and a rooster when the parents explained what had happened to their son. The magistrate sceptically replied to the parents that their son is as alive as his meal. Immediately, the hen and rooster came to live and jumped on his plate proving the boy's innocence.



Today we have a live chicken and rooster living inside the church. I smell something fowl here...

Nájera

The name Nájera has an arabic origin. It is small city set at the bottom of many layered rocky cliffs. A stop in the Camino which I did not take due to my short walk from Navarrete.


A local tour group along the bridge to the old city.


Another view from the bridge. A cliff on the other side of the city.


Church of Santa Maria la Real. Most of the churches are closed during the day. It must have been very beautiful inside.

Navarrete

Navarrete is not a regular stop on the camino. I had to stop there after walking just 12 km from Logroño to rest my mangled feet. In terms of distance, it was the shortest that I had walked for my entire camino.

It was a good decision. In the following days, I was back to normal. My feet still hurts, but it was manageable. This town marks the end of the physical ordeal that I went through on this first week of my camino.


Exterior of La Asuncion.




The altar inside La Asuncion


A couple of Italian pilgrims taking a break.


The restaurant where I had the best pasta in my entire camino. The secret I think is in the tomato sauce. As they say, "the secret is always in the sauce".



The Irish Nighthawks (same blokes that walked up Sierra del Perdón at night) certainly think the food here is excellent. They stopped their walk here in Navarerete and will resume their camino next year from here.

A Common Sight on the Camino in Spring

Stock's nest are a common sight along the camino during spring and summer. They are migratory birds and probably spend the winter down in Africa. They build their nest in high places for security, sometimes dangerously on top of electric towers.

Most of the time, they end up on top of church towers, like the one below with 5 nests. That was the most number of nests that I have seen on just one structure.


A chapel in a small town after Leon.

Angels on the Camino

"We are one another's angels"

I had a really bad time physically during the first week and during the last few days of my camino. In the beginning, it was the blisters. Only much later did I realized that in addition to breaking the blisters with a needle, I have to leave the thread inside so that later breakouts has an exit for the liquid to escape.



I only wished I had followed Rosalinda's tips earlier. It's too late for me since my boots were not broken in and they were not a size bigger to allow the expansion of my feet.


The 2 French angels who helped me dressed my badly blistered foot.

A few days before Santiago, my ankles started to swell and I suspect that I had tendilitis. Since I was so closed to the end, I endured the pain for the last 50 kms of my journey. Many pilgrims, seeing how much I was suffering, suggest that I should stop. There is no way I was going to stop walking this close to Santiago. I just asked them what they would they do if they were me. As we are all pilgrims, they understood immediately.


The 2 German angels have done the same for my swollen ankles on my last night before Santiago.

I want to thank the angels for all that they have done for me. Thank you!

OK, I know that angels are supposed to be androgynous, but I swear they were ladies and they spoke French (and German)!

Los Arcos

One of my favorite town, Los Arcos is another town with a close lineage with the camino.



Church taken from the albergue.



Liber Sancti Iacobi had mentioned it many times.



After mass, the pilgrims are told to move forward by the priest. Besides being blessed by the priest, we are told to do 4 things.

1. Pray for peace.

1. Pray for the sick.


2. Pray for church and it's constitution. (I didn't see that coming!)


3. When in Santiago, hugged the statue of St. James for him and the church of Los Arcos. (That I remember when I was in the cathedral in Santiago)

Beautiful lighting and architecture inside the church.

Crosses on the Camino

Crosses are everywhere along the camino. They come in all shapes and sizes. Picking up a rock along the way and leaving it beside a cross is becoming a tradition. This practice dates back to the pagan times where one does to appease the spirit along one's journey.


A typical cross along the camino.


The town before Cirauqui.


A metal cross after St. Domingo de la Calzada.




A simple wooden cross with 2 Danish pilgrims.


The big cross on top of the hill before the city of Astorga (background).


On the way to Foncebadón.


One famous cross (Cruz del Ferro) after Foncebadón, is the place where many pilgrims carried a rock from their own country to lay it beside the cross. This being the highest point on the camino (1509 meters) certainly helped in it's popularity.


I read about it before my camino. Here's my peeble from Singapore.


In Sarria. The city below.


Many celtic looking crosses in Galicia.

Estella

A typical pilgrim town (since 1099 A.D), charming, good food, nice albergue, what else can a peregrino ask for?


An old cross marks the beginning of the town.


Fisherman by the river.


Old cloister.




St. Pedro up on the hill. Beautiful coutyard inside. Too bad I do not have pictures of the courtyard.


Interesting arrow bridge.


Beautiful murals inside the albergue. And the laundry of pilgrims. This is probably the only other thing a pilgrim does every day other than walking.


Excellent food. And Wine. Verified by our French wine expert Benedicte.


Beautiful sunset with Mike and Benedicte on the bridge.


More old churches on the way out of the city the following morning.

Interview with a Peregrino from the Germany: Peter

(The mountainous stretch after Cruz de Ferro)

"When I was passing this stretch, I thought about you. This is probably as far away (not physically speaking) as Evan can get from Singapore. - Peter"

(You are so right Peter!)

1. Why the Camino de Santiago ?

I have been dreaming about going on this long pilgrims way since many years. I have grown up in the black forest and therefore used to long distance walking. I also have a deep understanding of religion, meditation and spirituality. The best way to combine all this was to do the Camino de Santiago. So I look at myself as a real pilgrim, not a hiker!

2. Have you found what you were looking for?

Yes indeed I have found it. As you may remember, I walked most of the time alone and started very early in the morning. This was the best of time on the day for me. But I also appreciated the discussions over the evening meals on our life circumstances, problems and plans. It helped me clarifying my own situation.

3. What surprises you the most about the camino?

It was definitely the open mind of almost everybody to discuss and to assist the other pilgrims.

4. You seems to be very knowleadgeable about the camino, what did you do to prepare for it?

I have read a lot about the camino. Almost everything I got my hands on. On the other hand I am always interested in the facts of the pilgrimage.

5. There are people who uses other transportation along the camino for sightseeing particularly near the end, any comments on that?

I have no objection against these as long as they let me do my walk and stay out of my way. If they occupy the albergues then this is something different. Then they disturb my concentration on what I am doing. This is falseness (does this verb exist?) and hypocrisy.

The pilgrim´s way is simple and down to earth. Respect nature and the others. As long as this is respected this is o.k with me.

6. Are you planning for another camino?

Yes, I have another plan. There are many pilgrim´s routes to go in Europe and now - I am retired - I have the time for it.

How much sacrifice should you make for the camino?

Is taking a bus or other transportation for some section of the camino be considered as less than a pilgrimage?

What about staying at a hotel or a hostal instead of an albergue for some nights?


(A hostal in Hontanas)

Sometimes when the albergue is full, there may be no choice but to pay more for a hostal/hotel/pension. Less communal, more privacy.

What about assistances in transporting one's backpack?



Some towns/cities along the camino has transport service for your backpack. For a few euros, you can leave your backpack with them in the morning and pick it up at your next stop later in the day. I like this picture. A backpack on wheels with a pilgrim staff, drinking gourd and the Santiago clam shell.

Sometimes a bit of assistance is necessary to complete one's journey. On the other hand, there are many pilgrims who started their walk close to Santiago (minimum 100 km to get your compostela) carrying virtually nothing and probably had booked their hotel for each night in advance. Then there are tour groups that have tourist walking just a few kilometers a day and the rest of the distance in the tour bus. What about pilgrims that walked the first day or two, takes a bus/train to avoid the mesatas, another day or two, and finally the last 100 km to get their compostela?

A German pilgrim said "I can recommend many beautiful walking path in Europe, but please don't use the camino for that. It is for a different purpose".

Other pilgrims considered that as cheating, saying that they rather remain as a 'purist'. I am curious, what is a 'purist'? A medieval style pilgrim? I'll bet that if a medieval pilgrim were to do his camino now, he would be taking a train all the way to Santiago.

As for me, I walked all the way from Roncesvalles to Santiago. No buses or any public transport under any situation. However, I did stay at a pension in Burgos and at the end in Santiago.

In short, I believe that the definition of a pilgrim is not in your feet, but in your mind. Just do your own thing.

Puenta La Reina

The first town in the crossroads of the French and Aragon Route, Puenta La Reina (Queen's Bridge) a typical small, quaint camino town.


An albergue and the church on the way into the town.



Further down the road, on the bridge looking down, pilgrims resting along the river bank.


Pilgrims crossing the old Queen's Bridge.


The town and the bridge taken from the top of the hill on other side. Close to the other albergue where I had stayed for the night.


The following morning on the way down from the hill.


The bridge from the other side one more time.




One last look...

Statues on the Camino

Along the camino, there are many statues. Most of them depicts St. James as a pilgrim. I find them quite motivating during my camino.


The first one I encountered. It's Mary.


The famous pilgrim statue before Puente La Reina. This is the junction where the Aragon Route joins the French Route.


A metal statue with 'Jacobeo 2004' as a shield. 2004 was the last holy year (when the feast of St. James on July 25 falls on Sunday). The next holy year will be 2010. Posing with the statue is Gil from Quebec.


Another metal statue from Sahagun.


Modern looking pilgrims in Mansilla de las Mulas.


A statue in front of the San Marcos (Parador) in León. Paradors are state run 5 star hotels.


A tired pilgrim staring at the Parador. (I know exactly how you feel!)


A cubist looking statue.


Another famous monument to the pilgrims after O Cebreiro.


This pilgrim is holding his hat. The wind is evil in this part of the mountain.


Tiny statue on top of the St. James cross in Triacastela.


Pilgrim statues in Samos. A statue of a female pilgrim is in the background. Not sure if there are women pilgrmin in those days.

Cirauqui

Cirauqui means 'Snake Nest'. Why would a town have such a name? Maybe in its past the town is a refuge for all the undesirable characters like robbers and thieves.


Only the path to the town is winding like a snake.


Or maybe it is because of these worm-like creatures before town. That is not even a snake. It has tiny front and rear flippers.


Some rock formation outside town.


The town seems peaceful and quiet.


No snakes here, the kitty purred!


Right outside the town is a famous ancient Roman bridge, still used today mostly by pilgrims. Here's Caesar and Fatimah from Brazil posing next to the bridge.


Pilgrims having their lunch after the bridge.


Another bridge further down the road. Roman?

On taking pictures during the Camino

Some pilgrims would rather not carry a camera as they might be a distraction to their camino. Other will bring along their digital camera, but they may not be as portable as one would like.



As for me, I use my camera phone. The year and a half old Nokia 6670. That way I don't have to carry too many devices, and the phone is portable enough that I can take any picture at a moment's notice. Although it has no flash and pictures with only 1 megapixel resolution, it's more than adequate for blogging. In fact, I still have to resize all my camera phone images down from 1152x864 to 400x300 for this blog.

(If you want to print your photos then you will probably need at the minimum a 2 megapixel camera)

Having an expanded 512 Megs memory card allows me to take more than 500 pictures during my camino on the phone.

Sierra del Perdón

Situated out Pamplona, Sierra del Perdón was a difficult uphill climb. I was however, compensated with a beautiful scenery.


At the beginning. Notice the modern windmills along the hills.


Spring flowers alongside on the way up the hill.





Looking back at Pamplona from the halfway point.


Almost there...


View of Pamplona from the top.


Metal caricature depicting the camino de santiago. 2 peregrinos checking their bikes.


The winds is very strong up here, hence the windmills here.




After that, it's a straight and steep downhill.



Sierra del Perdón at night. Picture courtesy of Mike, Pat and Connor. These 3 Irish guys actually walked at night when they couldn't find a place to stay at Pamplona. The lights from the city is amazing, and the silhouette scared them initially when they turn back to see the lights.

Pamplona

Made famous by Hemingway, this city is best known for it's festival of Saint Fermin in July with the Encierro (Running of the bulls).

It was in and out of the city for me, with the exception of witnessing a basque wedding.


Interesting building on the outskirts of the city.


Bridge before the inner city.


Old city wall.


Outside the old city gate.

Motivational Posters

Make your own motivational posters.

Upload your image from your computer, add title and your words of wisdom and viola!



This is a breathtaking image of the Sun breaking from the clouds on the Camino before Cruz de Ferro.

Here's to you Cristina!

Josephine told me Cristina had problems walking during her camino. Her walking pace is something you can set your watch with, that is how consistent she is. It must be very sad for her not to be able to complete her camino. In the end she got a certificate of participation for the camino at Santiago, not a compostela. Not sure if she will be coming back to complete her camino. I wish her all the best.

Interview with a Peregrina from the Italy: Rosalinda

1. Why did you walk the Camino de Santiago?

This question made me nervous because I didn’t know how to answer. I’m not believer in a tight sense.

(No worries, it's the same here for me. The most catholic association for me was that my primary school [Saint Stephen] and secondary school [Saint Patrick] are Irish Catholic mission school. - editor)

2. When did you decide to walk the camino?

I started to think about it in October 2005. I bought guides, and the rest of the information via the internet. It took me until spring this year before I start walking the camino.

3. Why now?

In early April, the idea of the camino restarted in my head, so I went to Rail Europe and bought the ticket train. I had this sudden strange determination, and this is the first time I took such an impulsive decision.

4. Did you find what you are looking for? If not, what have you found?

Yes I did, I think I have found what I was looking for. I lived more than a month in simple and healthy way. I stopped my usual routine to do the camino, and it gave oxygen to my soul. Plus I met extraordinary people.

5. Rome (Vatican) is just around the corner for you, have you ever thought of doing a pilgrimage there?

I was just looking at the information on Via Francigena, that began in Canterbury and ended in Rome. The problem with this route is that the way is only partially signed (no yellow arrow), few albergues along the path, no pilgrim-menu, and it could be very expensive. This path is not according the pilgrimage philosophy, but something is moving in the last months, and people has began to walk this path.

6. Knowing that the Italians are particular about their food. How do you find the food in Spain?

Good food is very important for most of Italians, not for me. I have found Spanish food very good, well cocked, just the right quantity, and lots of variety. Overall it's very good, especially with vin tinto.

7. Do you have plans in the future for another pilgrimage?

I don’t know, I’m tinkering in my mind on the French branch of the camino “La via Podense” from Le Puy en Velay to St. Jean P.P. We’ll see.

8. Finally, since Mike mentioned that you are his trainer in the camino, do you have any advise for would be peregrino?

Yes, here are a few important things to note:

a.) Make sure the weight of the rucksack does not have to exceed 15% of the body weight. Technology can help us as dresses, towels, socks and polar are very light. Every kg we carry are discharged on our feet and this increase the potiential problem, i.e. blisters. The weight is also a common cause for tendinitis.

(I learn that the hard way! Tendinitis is probably what got me 2 days before arriving at Santiago. I am glad that I had managed to limp my way there! - editor)

b.) Shoes. They must be fully tested (not new), must have a sole thick "Vibram" type for difficult ground. They must be bigger than normally shoes. Usually I have 36 (EU size) but 38 for walking.

(Too late for me. But hopefully useful for future pilgrims! - editor)

c.) Socks. Must have excellent micro-fibre, soft inside so they can move the sweat outside, and absolutely not to use the sponge socks! The humid sponge becomes hard and cause of blisters.

(Now you tell me! - editor)

d.) Lastly, walk slowly in the morning. This gives your body time to wake up!

(No problems here. I am always slow, and not just in the morning, hehehe. - editor)

And for you Evan: Never throw the “spaghetto” against the kitchen tiles to verify the cooking is “al dente” because if the “spaghetto” stick up on the tiles the “pasta” will be horrible.

(Only one strand of spaghetti! Anyway, I must have a word with that Italian guy again as he was the one who told me about this! - editor)

Books on the Camino

Just finished reading the book by Eyln Aviva, "Following the Milky Way: A Pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago".



An unique account from a woman who walked the camino way back in 1982 when it was nearly abandoned. The camino wasn't at all easy back then. Although Eyln has done some segments of the camino by using other transport (taxi) due to the lack of facilities in those areas, it is nevertheless a mean feat back in the eighties.

My latest purchase at Borders Book Store in Perth Australia, Tim Moore's "Spanish Steps: Travel with my Donkey". I probably could find this book at Borders in Singapore, but I just realized that the last time I took the trouble to drive to Borders here was like 2 years ago. Funny how sometimes we end up buying things far away that we can get locally.