A Camino taster

I’ve come to the neat-as-a-pin town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port which is a great place to visit in the daytime, but it’s fair to say, it doesn’t offer much of a night life. Why?

Most of the people staying here for the night need to go to bed early - they have a long month ahead.

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, just known to locals as Garazi in Basque, is the usual starting point for the Camino Frances - the most popular pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.

The pilgrims starting here have 800km of shoe leather to get through before reaching the Saint James' final resting place. The first leg is to Roncesvalles, 25km away, much of it uphill.

Time to go to bed.

At 6am, the clomp and click of boots and hiking sticks on the street has already started. People in my dormitory busy themselves preparing the long hot day to come.

I’m due to catch a bus at 13:45 to Pamplona, so the most sensible thing to do would be to have a nice relaxing morning in the town, but the urge to join them, at least for a bit, is too strong. After all, when in Rome…

Within 10 minutes I’m on the street and heading out of town, up the Route Napoleon towards Spain.

How does everyone know the way?

You can follow the scallop shell signs which are the symbol of the route. You can also follow the other walkers who often attach a shell to their backpacks as an early souvenir.

A traditional way of following the route in the dark is to follow the Milky Way, which according to legend was created by pilgrims kicking a trail of dust up to the heavens. The walkers this morning have made do with head torches.

The vast majority of pilgrims walk but around 5% come by bike. A few hundred come on horse, some by wheelchair.

Pilgrimage to Santiago started in the Middle Ages but (re)conquest of Spain in 1492 from the Moors saw it elevated by the Pope to a prime destination alongside Rome and Jerusalem.

But by the mid 20th Century, the popularity of the pilgrimage had all but vanished. In 1985, just 650 pilgrims registered to make the journey.

However after a series of books, documentaries and films including Emilio Estevez’s The Way, interest in the route has grown exponentially.

By 2019 that figure had become 350,000.

The numbers sharply increase, particularly among the Spanish pilgrims, in jubilee years when St James's Day (25 July) falls on a Sunday. The next jubilee year will be 2027 - maybe give that a miss if you want to guarantee a bed in one of the top hostels.

Around 40% of pilgrims say they follow the route for purely religious reasons (on a non-jubilee year). 10% say their motivation is non-religious.

Just over half of pilgrims are women.

The most popular nationalities are:

1. Spain 40% (70% in jubilee years)

2. Italy 8%

3. Germany 8%

4. USA 6%

5. Portugal 5%

6. France 3%

7. UK 3%

8. S. Korea 2%

9. Ireland 2%

10. Brazil 2%

While some pilgrims like to collect a souvenir shell, others like to follow the growing habit of putting stones on posts...

After around 8km it's time for me to have a final look around before turning back.

On the way back, went past some pilgrims who were struggling - I hope they are OK.

Several walkers smiled at me and quipped 'Your going the wrong way!", one followed up with "over-achiever".

Only later did I realise that she probably thought I'd was on my way back from walking all the way to Santiago rather than just the nearest hill.

When I got back to Saint-Jean I had time for a nice cider

...before taking the bus to Pamplona, stopping at Roncesvalles on the way.

A glance at my watch and I wonder, I could have made it in time?

No matter, one thing's for sure.

I'll be back.

To find out more:

https://oficinadelperegrino.com/en/

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Way

https://santiago-compostela.net/camino-frances/