A friend and I are in Spain walking the Camino Dr Santigo. At the moment we are some 300 km into it. We started in Pamplona and are now in Fromista. I have had a couple of blister problems, nothing too serious. But on the whole we are holding up well.
Any dopers out there that have done the camino? Any thinking about it?
Happy to answer any questions whenever I have internet.
I’d like to do it with a bicycle – maybe not the main route but maybe the coastal one.
Are you doing the whole *compostela *process?
Briuan
Yes, I would like to do it someday. How much time have you allowed to complete the journey?
The movie, The Way, introduced me to the Camino. I did not know it was a thing before that.
I loved that game! The PBS game show was pretty neat too…
What?
Oh. Never mind.
Same here. I’m not religious but I’ve been intrigued by the journey since I saw the movie.
We see several bikers every day, though 95% do it on foot. We started in Pamplona. My friend did it last year and had no interest in repeating the first three days.
We are planning on doing the whole thing and returning home with compostelias.
I budgeted 40 days which is looking to be about right. I also saw “The Way.” A fairly good movie, IMHO.
as long as the feet and ankle hold out I’ll keep plugging along.
I’m not religious either. I just want to see if I could do it.
Have you met any colorful characters along the way?
How many folks are you traveling with?
How many miles per day do you average?
How many nights do you sleep under a roof?
Last Lent my church was having folks make “pilgrim crosses.” Mine was the one that marks The Way. They’re Lutherans and found it exotic. Like jalapenos. :old rolleyes:
My wife and I spent a couple weeks in Spain this summer with most of it along the Camino. We walked about 10KM of it (from San Sebastian to Pasaia) and we definitely want to do the whole thing once we retire. My wife would prefer to walk but I would prefer to bike it. We’ll see which way we go.
We also spent time in several of the small inland towns the Camino goes through. We saw lots of walkers and some bikers.
It was a great area. We are not religious but we both love visiting the old cathedrals, churches, monasteries, etc. So much history at every turn.
Hope your feet hold out! And, totally jealous. 
[quote=“Turek, post:9, topic:796331”]
Have you met any colorful characters along the way?
There’s the man doing it in flip flops. The three German girls who spend the day singing as they walk along.
How many folks are you traveling with?
Just one. But we met people all day and generally set around and eat and talk for a couple of hours every evening. This cast changes as differences in pace take effect
How many miles per day do you average?
12 - 15
How many nights do you sleep under a roof?[/QUOTE
Every night. An entire industry has grown up to tend to the prescribed (pilgrims). There are only a couple of places on the camino where you are more than five miles from a town and every two so far has at least one albergue, hotel, or hostal.
Lots people do it chunks spread out over several years. This is big with the Europeans as travel is so much cheaper and easier for them.
There are few (no?) things around which an older hospitality industry has developed than The Way. I hope to bike it.
My father went on a Road Scholar trip along the Camino and brought me an onyx shell – the symbol since the different roads end up in one spot:
Ooh, and you could get one of these:
Yeah, those shells are everywhere. Most of the little towns we explored had the shells embedded in the pathway to keep the pilgrims on track.
The 10K stretch we hiked along the coast had painted stripes at trail intersections to keep you track.
Yes, they are quite good about marking the camino. Even if you do get confused people will help you. There has been several instances were people have stopped their car to point is on the right direction.
It is now 9:30 and time for all good perigrinos to get to bed. We have a longish day tomorrow (30 km) and need to be on the road by 6:30.
Hee. My father mentioned how some towns would put “fake” shell signs up to try and get people diverted to their place of business. 
Most of the camino is marked with yellow arrows. These are just painted on any available surface. You do see a good number of fake ones. Our guide book mentioned one small town where the arrows changed on an almost daily basis.
Haven’t got there yet although we’ve been thinking about it for years now, and yes, seeing The Way had something to do with that. We bought a Brierley guide and I’ve subscribed to a couple of Camino-related forums.
Do you refer to a guide at all on your way, or just totally wing it?
Did you travel from USA, and how did those arrangements go?