Travel Writer Amy Wallis recalls her trek along the famous pilgrim trail, suggesting it is a safe and rewarding adventure from a female traveller’s perspective
Last September, a friend and I vowed to walk the last 114km of the Camino de Santiago, a famous pilgrim’s trail ending at the breathtaking Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. We wandered through fields, eucalyptus woods, hamlets and rivers for days, collecting stamps in our little Camino passport. At first, I was anxious as a woman to be travelling through a country where I knew little of its language and where I would walk through different towns every day. Yet, to my surprise, I found the Camino was safe and simple. It was filled with kind strangers, lovely weather and a great sense of community.
As two females travelling alone, there was an element of fearing the unknown, since my only experience of solo travelling has been in Iceland, a notoriously safe country. Since a flight mishap leading to sleeping on the floor of the Barcelona airport, my faith in Spanish travel was severely diminished. Yet paired with a very sensible travel companion and copious research, our journey went very smoothly (despite a brief airport security drug test). We pre-booked accommodation, which I would recommend as we always had a finishing point (yet some pilgrims do just wander until they find one of the many Albergues to rest at). Preparation was key to this smooth-sailing Camino; we found the app ‘Buen Camino’ invaluable as it marked where we were along the trail, had detailed descriptions of each day’s walking as well as marking places to stay with ratings, contact information and more. Our preparation meant we always had a place to stay which felt safe and secure. There was always food along the way, with lots of aioli consumed!
“Preparation was key to this smooth-sailing Camino; we found the app ‘Buen Camino’ invaluable as it marked where we were along the trail, had detailed descriptions of each day’s walking as well as marking places to stay with ratings, contact information and more
After arriving in our starting location Sarria, I was amazed by the simplicity and accessibility of the Camino. Iconic stone signs pointed the way and distance, meaning we were almost never lost, other than when exiting Portomarín where we suddenly shrouded in early morning mist, unable to see a couple meters in front of us! The paths were so easy, you almost desired a slightly more adventurous path, but that may just be the rock climber in me.
Whilst the walking was easy, the distance was not. As a fairly fit individual with a few mountains under my belt I thought I would be alright, yet in some cases the heat and long distance got the better of me, especially on our 29km day. We completed each strenuous stage with our belongings on our backs, although there is an option to send your bags ahead. My regret for my Camino would be not factoring in one or two rest days in which I would have enough time and energy to properly explore the areas surrounding where we were staying.
A while into our walk, we noticed the primary age group and gender were actually young to middle aged women from all over the world, always quick to greet you with a ‘Buen Camino!’. Everyone we came across were friendly and chatty, from enthusiastically persuading us to try the local octopus dish to long descriptions of their careers in Germany. When we sat on a bench on a hot day, we must have appeared a little worse for wear as a very kind elderly woman gave us a bowl of fresh figs, for which we left a thank you note written in very questionable Spanish. It was incredible to see a country in a very different way by trekking through every inch of this 114km stretch, ending by collapsing on the deliciously cold stone outside the cathedral in the hot Spanish sun.
“Everyone we came across were friendly and chatty, from enthusiastically persuading us to try the local octopus dish to long descriptions of their careers in Germany
As only my second experience travelling alone or with just one other female friend, I was pleasantly surprised by this experience. The Camino de Santiago allowed a great adventure through an incredible country where the greatest threat we encountered was only heatstroke and blisters. This has grown my confidence in my abilities to travel and allowed a greater degree of trust in strangers and unknown places. Yet this may not be the case for everyone unfortunately. I have great respect for those who complete an entire Camino, and I consider it to be one of my biggest travel achievements so far.
Confidence in my ability to travel has grown and allowed a greater degree of trust in strangers and unknown places, but this may not be the case for everyone. I have great respect for those who complete an entire Camino, and I consider it to be one of my biggest travel achievements so far.
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