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 Daily news from the Canaries and the islands' biggest English language newspaper on-line Walk this Way: Camino de Santiago A Tenerife teacher urges people who want to get away from it all and have a holiday with a difference, including a lot of exercise, to think about joining the thousands of ‘pilgrims’ who make the trek along the world famous Camino de Santiago or Way of St James in northern Spain every summer.  So what is the attraction of walking, often in total silence, along a combination of dusty trails and narrow winding roads for hours on end? We put this and other questions to her on her return. “I had no idea what it was all about even though I had done some background research before leaving. Friends had encouraged me to try the walk if I needed a break and, after a hectic year at school, it turned out to exactly what I was looking for. It is hard to persuade people, especially when you live in a tourist area like Tenerife, that you can actually have a great holiday without tanning yourself on a beach, eating out every night in restaurants and doing retail therapy.” The Way of St James is the exact opposite: it is all about peace and quiet and giving up the luxuries, explained Begoña. Unlike most holidays, you don’t book accommodation in advance, which was a worrying thought at first for the teacher and her walking colleague although they soon settled into the way of things. “You get up early, at 6am or so, pack your belongings (and hope the T-shirt and undies you hand-washed the night before are dry!) and set out along the route, having worked out roughly how far you want to walk. There are books and other guides available to tell you where all the small towns and villages are and what is available for the pilgrims in each. You try and make it to one of the official hostels by early afternoon to book a bed for the night and it can prove tricky at times if there is high demand. We found ourselves sleeping in rooms with bunk beds and eight or ten total strangers but we felt safe. The biggest problem was the snoring! Some of the hostels were full so we had to keep walking to the next village or give up and find a local B&B.” Walking in the August heat – and occasionally talking (which was frowned upon in some cases and Begoña learned how to steer clear of the chatterboxes who prevented her from enjoying the scenery or simply putting her thoughts in order) – may not be everyone’s cup of tea, as she readily admits. “Yes, it is tiring and can be sore on the legs and feet, but it is a very positive thing to do. You are physically tired at the end of the day having covered long distances. But your mind is fresh and that is what counts. You contemplate spectacular scenery at your leisure and meet nice people, all of them sharing the common goal of experiencing the route. It is not like going to the gym where you compete with the person on the next treadmill or exercise bike to see who lasts longer or goes faster. The finish point is the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, where tradition has it the remains of St James are buried, but you don’t have to do it all. I managed about 300 km, as far as Burgos. Others, including families with small children and even one man on his horse, do the whole route. You meet fascinating characters in the hostels and though you may lose sight of them the next day the chances are you will run across them again later, having a break at an open-air café or sitting with their feet in a stream to cool off.” For reasons that remain a mystery, and even though sections of the route are marketed by some adventure holiday firms such as Discovery Travel, the tradition has found much less favour among Britons than with continental Europeans, particularly those from northern and central Europe. Multilingual Begoña encountered just one solitary Englishman during her two weeks on the trail, a tiny number compared to the many Germans, Dutch, Italians and Spaniards she came across. Her prize for the most committed walker goes to a Slovenian who set out from his home country in May to do the full journey of several thousand kilometres to Santiago and was still going strong in mid-August. The crucible of nationalities made for great camaraderie, not to say some curious partnerships, including a Korean who spoke little English and a 19-year-old Spaniard from Cáceres who spoke even less English, but they still paired up as walking mates and communicated through signs and laughter, much to the amusement of fellow ‘pilgrims’. Apart from the exercise and contact with nature, what does the walk do for you? Here, after an initial humorous confession that it had taught her after many years that, “you don’t need a suitcase full of clothes and accessories to go on holiday”, Begoña becomes a little pensive and picks her words carefully, probably so as not to offend her husband or daughter, who were left behind in Tenerife and face the prospect of having to organise their own holidays in future: “It is all about having your freedom, even if just temporarily. The route is there but you do what you want, as little or as much. You are accountable to no one but yourself for a few days. No commitments, nothing. No worries, not even food because you stop off at small shops along the way and grab a sandwich and a yoghurt. The only concern making sure you find a bed. There were times when I did not even know where my friend was because one of us had started out earlier than the other. At home that would make me anxious but I knew we would meet up again sooner or later. I am in no way religious but I took great pleasure in visiting all the tiny churches along the way. The walk is a very spiritual thing even for someone like me. You literally ‘discover yourself’ in a way you could not have imagined. The bad part is going home: the routine of ‘normal’ life and the realisation that much of what we do is controlled and preordained for us. I can’t wait to go back as soon as I get some time off.” Anyone keen to join her? By Karl McLaughlin / Photo Credits: Begoña López This article appears in the print edition 599 of Island Connections
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