Our Camino thoughts usually run along the theme of walking the nearly 800 km across northern Spain. But that is just the daytime. An important, interesting and historic part of the Camino is the albergues or hostels. They are a big part of Camino culture, and fun too!
They come in many shapes and sizes but one thing they have in common is a clothesline, or at least a way to dry your laundry, and a place to wash it. The whole washing event: the body and then and clothes, is one the first tasks pilgrims get down to when they arrive.
A pilgrim’s day starts quite early, when you are expected to leave the albergue, usually between 7:30 and 9 am but then around 3 pm, you start looking for a hostel for the night. It is a lovely time when you find a hostel that has room for you and your get your bunk, your little home for the next wee-while. Then you take your turn in the shower and before relaxing with a beer or tea, you wash your socks and undies and hang them out to dry.
Sleeping in an albergue dormitory in a bunk, a co-ed room, often crowded together is not a great experience. If you have any problems sleeping, you will be challenged by the snoring and snuffling of your roommates. But you do not come to the Camino to sleep or rest. What is delightful about the albergues is the company. The other pilgrims, and the volunteers or locals who run the place. And if it is a smaller community you get to chat with the local people because an albergue can be quite an institution in a village.
As you walk the Camino you form a moving community, you meet up at albergues, water fountains and cafés. Many albergues have kitchens and it works out well to team up with others and shop and cook a meal together. (Albergue cooking can be quite an adventure with an eclectic assortment of pots, pans and cooking utensils which have probably been assembled by local donations.) Some albergues provide a supper so you all get to sit at the common table. And these are the pilgrims you keep meeting along the way.
The hostels come in a variety of forms: the parish ones, ones run by religious orders, by national co-fraternities (pilgrims associations) and there are privately run albergues. In Spain, it is usually only in the private ones that you can book ahead.
There is the concern that the albergue will be full. This did happen to me a few times but locals are wonderfully hospitable: one community opened up the local clinic and we slept on the floor, a local church had an overflow space we could use. We did have to find a pension a couple of times, but it was very reasonable.
For some smaller villages, the presence of an albergue can mean a certain renewal, with pilgrim traffic they can run a local store or restaurant. So please shop and dine local. The non-for-profit albergues often run with donations, ‘donativo’, I think the appropriate amount is around 10 Euros.
Buen Camino and good night!