317-Camino del Norte-Camino Primitivo
Show notes
Ask just about anyone who is a non-hiker to name a long distance hiking trail and chances are they will say the ‘Camino’ and by default this means the ‘Camino Frances’. also known as the ‘Way of Saint James’ or the ‘Camino de Santiago’, This well-known pilgrimage trail starts in France, crosses the Pyrenees mountains which straddles the border of France and Spain, and continues into Spain for a total distance of 780km long. This trail which was World Heritage Listed in 1993 takes most people around 35 days to walk. But did you know that there are over 200 ‘Caminos’ with a handful attracting the attention of keen hikers who want a different experience than that on offer via the Camino de Santiago.
In this episode we talk with hiker Sheila Lunter who joined the 828km Camino del Norte (the Northern Way) and the 321km Camino Primitivo (the Original Way) in a ‘choose your own adventure’ option to find out about these ‘lesser known’ Camino’s. www.australianhiker.com.au
Podcast overview
In this episode we discuss two of the lesser know Camino’s:
- Introduction
- Episode Introduction (time index 0:01:32)
- Introduction to Sheila (time index 0:02:53)
- Was this your first camino expereince? (time index 0:05:04)
- Why did you decide to do this hike? (time index 0:06:10)
- How busy are these two walks? (time index 0:14:00)
- Avoid starting on the weekend if you can.
- Is this a self-guided type of hike or are you better off travelling with an organised group? (time index 0:18:45)
- Now onto the experience itself. What is there to love about these trails and was one section better than the other? (time index 0:20:15)
- The people
- The landscape
- The views!
- The wildlife (time index 0:23:51)
- Limited
- Historic buildings
- The food
- Was this a ‘carry everything’ type of trip (e.g. tent, food, stove, sleeping bag etc) or could you get away with just a day pack and send your gear on? (time index 0:026:17)
- Spanish Postal Services the easy way to send gear on
- While we are talking gear, were you carrying standard hiking gear or did you need something special? (time index 0:30:31)
- Suggests a 40 litre pack size as a good option
- Pack cover
- Light weight quick dry boots
- Hikers wool
- What was the food situation? (time index 0:38:23)
- What was the water situation? (time index 0:41:48)
- Describe a typical day on trail (time index 0:42:36)
- Were you doing this walk solo? (time index 0:47:15)
- Were there any negatives from your perspective? (time index 0:48:57)
- Walking into cities
- Road walking
- The mud in some section
- The connection point between the trail where the hiker number greatly increase
- Who would you recommend these trails for? (time index 0:51:35)
- One final question
- What’s your next great hiking adventure? (time index 0:54:45)
- Tim and Gill’s final thoughts (time index 0:55:35)
- Close (time index 1:08:37)
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Resources
Sheila suggests the following YouTube video for this trip
The Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo guidebook
All images by Sheila Lunter
Sheila Lunter on trail
The Way Ahead: View from Jaizkibel westwards (Camino del Norte)
Westwards: Towards Islares (Camino del Norte)
Cliffpaths: Towards Laredo (Camino del Norte)
Laredo: View over Laredo beach and beyond (Camino del Norte)
Remains: Monasterio de San Antolin (Camino del Norte)
Monasterio Valdedios: towards Oviedo – linking from Camino del Norte to Camino Primitivo
Sunrise: golden light on the trail before the weather changed (Camino Primitivo – Hospitales route)
Woody Paths: typical paths on the Camino Primitivo
Transience: Cemetery along the path (Camino Primitivo)
Pilgrims: Praza Quintana de Vivos, Santiago de Compostela
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