High Heels and Walking Boots
You don’t have to slum it to experience the Camino de Santiago. Sue Harris enjoys a bit of luxury on this spiritual voyage.
I am probably not the most obvious person to embark on a 120 mile walking holiday. I do possess walking boots and poles, though I confess the poles were chosen because they were a good match for my nail polish.
A few years previously a friend had told me how much he had loved walking the Camino describing it as “a totally humbling and spiritual experience’. He had, as so many do, stayed in large dormitories in hostels with many other pilgrims surviving on the princely sum of 10 euros a day. Not for me I am afraid!
Our small group of four travelled by train from Madrid to Soria and began our voyage in Barbadelo. Although this may sound quite an intrepid trip, we had booked through a specialist firm. As such they provided us with an itinerary outlining exactly how far we would walk each day, and gave us detailed notes on the daily route.
The international diversity of the people we met surprised us as did the fact that so many women felt safe enough to travel alone.
All our pre-booked accommodation was in the best small hotels and manor houses where the choice of food and wine was excellent.
Each morning we left our luggage at reception and it was transported as if by magic to our next port of call. Typically, we walked between 10 and 14 miles each day which usually took us around six hours. Whilst the walking was not particularly difficult, we always had very tired and sore feet when we reached our destination. And we were certainly ready for a well-earned beer or glass of wine.
Seven days later we arrived in the beautiful city of Santiago beaming with pride at our achievement.
All in all it was a very good experience; simple, unhurried, grounding, quite spiritual and made more enjoyable by the addition of a few essential luxuries.