what’s in your backpack?
this is by far the most frequent question one gets, when telling someone about the camino.
i take it literally this time around, there is plenty of time to go into it metaphorically along the camino. i guess we all carry rucksacks with plenty in them.
so, for camino insiders: i’m not walking with a donkey in tow, neither am i carrying the urn with the ashes of a loved one (luckily). it is mostly practical things i carry.
ropa interior & exterior, optimised for layering. i should be comfortable down to -5°c. outside, i mean. inside in the albergues it will hopefully be a bit warmer.
i carry a total of three trowsers, 2 long, 1 short, 4 t-shirts, 1 long-sleeve, the comfy hoodie jacket and the hiking jacket, a rain poncho, jogging shorts to hang out and sleep in, a puff, hat and thin glooves for the cold mornings (should there be any). the puff has the typical scallop shell design on it, so that others are able to identify me as a fellow pilgrim - in case that isn’t already obvious by the fact that we are all on the camino. plus i have a stylish flat hat, that i have worn on most caminos so far. the design carries the name alicante, hence entirely fitting for the iberian peninsula.
what you can find out during long train rides: a 1571 law required all non-noblemen in britain and ireland to wear wool caps on sundays. even though the law existed a mere 16 years, it sparked a trend to this day. of wearing flat hats. for this nobleman wears a hat every day of the week, at least when on the camino!
but i digress. back to the contents of my rucksack:
there are a few sanitary items so i’m reasonably groomed for eventual pilgrims’ dinners and such. i have forgone a sleeping bag in favour of a bit of a luxury item - that btw, was another question i received: what luxury items do you carry?
for one, there is this special recovery blanket, made of celliant fibres that supposedly reflect heat back towards the body, while still being fairly lightweight (this is not a paid advertisement, in case you are wondering).
other luxury items or essentials - i leave it up to you to deside which is which - are a bit of toilet paper, tissues, a pocket knife, a cutting board, an e-reader, mobile phone, headphones, photo camera and a few lenses. and a total of 35 self-designed stamps.
for what you ask? well, we will find out, won’t we?
what was this about donkeys and urns with ashes? if you know, you know. the ones that know could leave comments below for the others - let’s get a conversation going, people!
i am now at the traditional start of the camino frances in saint jean pied de port. a quaint little town on the french side of the pyrenes, hosting a pilgrims’ office where one can obtain the carnet du pelegrin or pilgrims’ passport. it’s staffed by volunteers and a buzzing place where people help each other out with languages, so that a french guy can talk to a korean person via two other people. french to spanish to english to korean. you also receive the weather report for the next day, advice on the number of fellow pilgrims to expect and whether it is recommended to reserve a bed one or two days in advance (it is, already at this time of the year, and it will be quite crowded over the summer months). last but not least you receive the first stamp into your carnet.
the pilgrims’ passport enables you to stay in municipal albergues for a subsidized price of mostly below €15 per night.
above sjpdp there is a citadelle that these days hosts pupils instead of prisoners of war - it was closed, so i couldn’t find out whether the conditions are better or worse these days. steep paths up, narrow stairs back down.
plus i have the first meaningful conversation. we are all social beings, the man says. and there is a crisis with being social, especially when everybody is immersed in their phones most of the time, on social media, that aren’t so social after all, he says. you can summon the ambulances to the bottom of the cliff or go to the top and talk people off the ledge.
he said, build fences, but i think talking works better. i don’t like fences too much. they seperate, us and them, you and me. they are built by people who write in capital letters.
so, tomorrow i head off on the long walk. its steeply uphill to honto, then orisson where i will have my morning coffee - many pilgrims stay there for a night, hence the albergue is always booked out way ahead of time - further up towards a mountain pass, that according to legend led roland, charlemagne’s nephew, to ruin by the hands of the basque (or their weapons). after about 1,400m of elevation gain it is downhill towards roncesvalles, already on the spanish side of the pyrenes, still in the basque country though, or euskadi, or navarra. a total of about 25km awaits, during which i can contemplate volker’s questions: what being on the road does with me, what's on my mind and how i feel. i’ll report. y para no olvidarlo, un saludo a jaime y su clan!
à bientôt.
