By Tom Thumb, Posted Dec 10, 2006
Sections: Intro El Camino de Santiago Cape to Cairo Raft the Amazon? New York to LA Road to Kathmandu The India Rickshaw Race Trans-Siberian Train Pilgrimage to Kailash Hajj to Mecca Improvise More Travel Ideas
 |
The Camino de Santiago (the way of Santiago) or, the Way of St. James in English, is one of the core Christian pilgrimages to the remains of a saint famous for slaughtering Turks – guaranteed sanctity back in the old days.
The route stretches from the French Pyrenees to the town of Santiago in Galicia, Western-most Spain and draws plenty of Christians, pagans who reckon that it’s an ancient fertility rite (certainly the Romans also walked the route) and your average roadjunky with no better idea of how to spend a few weeks or months.
It’s recommended to start on the French side of the Pyrenees if only because the walk over the mountains is spectacular. To start, you need to head off to the nearest tourist office to get a compostela, your pilgrim’s passport – this gets you entrance to all the monastery dormitories along the way where you can stay for just a few euros. Food’s cheap, too and walking the Camino de Santiago is probably one of the economical ways you could pass a month or two in Europe – provided you don’t get too loaded at the bars on route (although in Spain you get free tapas with each beer).
The route is partly spectacular, partly tedious beyond belief with endless wheat fields or accompanying highways. Some people are sticklers for walking every last inch but you’ll remember the pilgrimage more fondly if you take a bus for the boring bits. You’ll still get your name announced in the mass when you reach the cathedral in Santiago – and have all your sins wiped clean as a result.
For a comprehensive guide to making the Santiago Pilgrimage check out:
The Pilgrims Forum
All about the Camino de Santiago de Copostela
Some people like to travel light. And the idea of taking a musical instrument with them on the road just seems like too much hassle. Guitar strings break, harmonicas ...
There was a feel-good article in the Guardian the other day about laughter classes in Tehran.
God knows there’s lots to laugh about. Here’s a comic speech given by the ...
