As many of you know, I am attempting the Camino again next week. I failed miserably last year, after I developed tendonitus in my left foot. Not to be deterred, I embarked on an intense programme of physio, personal training, and visits to the podiatrist. You can tell that I have become quite a fanatic! I have lost two stone in weight as a result of all of this, so now people hardly recognise me. My conclusion is the Camino is not for the faint hearted, and I would warn against anyone attempting it without adequate training.
Despite all of this, I still have my doubts as to whether I can complete the 150 miles. We are doing the Camino Potugueses, which is less well travelled than the Camino Frances, and less hilly, but it is still a long way if you are not a walker. All of our hotels are pre-booked as there are 10 of us in the group. I suppose we could have risked the hostels, but sometimes they are full, or some may be closed at this time of year. With these issues in mind, we did not feel we were cheating too much when we booked our hotels, some of which look rather nice! That long hot bath at the end of the day will be just the job for tired feet!
What has exercised our minds most has been kit. As we are pilgrims, we will be carrying all of our belongings. This certainly makes you think long and hard as to whether you should take something, or not. Although we will have to wash everything through each evening, this is much less painful than carrying a large volume of clothes! A very important first lesson of the Camino is thinking about what you really need to take with you. It is surprising, how little this actually is.
I will be keeping this blog on the Camino, and putting up some 'photos, so you can make a "virtual" Camino if you like. I thought you might like to see this 'photo from earlier this year. You can see that I am not enjoying myself very much as my feet were killing me, and I had only done a couple of miles!
Rina
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