Just as there are many Camino paths that lead to the Spanish city of Santiago, there are also many ways to undertake the journey. The classic image is the medieval pilgrim with sandals, a gourd for water, staff in hand, a scallop shell attached to a floppy hat, and maybe a dour look on his face!
Our present-day pilgrim on the Camino is a version of this – a high-tech version: Supportive and protective footwear, a highly engineered backpack, sun-blocking shirt, pants or shorts tailored for walking, a stylish high-UV protection hat, and maybe a collapsible walking pole. Buen Camino! Thank goodness for modern design and technology. When I was preparing for the Camino, I would try out all my gear on training hikes. Even the underwear as there is nothing worse than chaffing panties!
But even with much-disciplined packing, there is the weight of the backpack to carry. So how about getting a donkey to do that work? I met some charming donkeys along the way. A donkey in your Camino life might make things lighter but not simpler. First of all, you have to get it there – a horse/donkey box is called for. Or find a local one. I met a most interesting woman from California who was walking back along the Camino to return the donkey to a farmer on the Meseta. He had kindly lent her Princessa on condition she walks her back.
A donkey will only go at its own pace and stops for breaks. Come evening, you have to find an albergue that has a place to tether the donkey with fresh grass. As you walk, it becomes all about the donkey and you attract a lot of attention, which is a great for your Spanish.
But hooves and four legs don’t stop with the donkeys. Some brave and resourceful pilgrims do the trip on horseback. This involves even more specialized nighttime digs. But it is lovely to see riders along the way.
A lot more common are the cyclists. They really are in the high-tech department – bikes and gear. Much of the cycle path is the same as the walking path, but there are portions where bikes take another trail or the road. As cyclists probably average between 50 or 60 km a day, they zoom along compared to the foot brigade. The hills would kill me with my cycling abilities but I would really like the possibility to do detours from the trail. In fact, knowing curious me, it would probably take just as long on my bike as on foot, as I poked around the countryside exploring villages and small towns.
There are other ways to cover the Camino kilometres that involve an engine. I won’t be a Camino snob, but just to say you can do the Way in a tour bus and stay in hotels. And on some cold, rainy days, that could look like a pretty good idea!
Lovely post. I did not know there were so many ways to travel the Camino.