Secrets of the Camino de Santiago – what the locals don't want you to know

A fresh approach to an ancient route

The Camino de Santiago is one of the most famous pilgrimage routes in the world. Winding its way across northern Spain, it leads pilgrims from every corner of the globe to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the final resting place of Saint James, one of the 12 apostles.

Read on for hard-earned advice from Eddie Rock, author of The Camino: A Sinner's Guide, on how to walk the route and also have some fun...

Welcome to the Way of St James

Pilgrims have been making their way to Santiago de Compostela ever since the tomb of the Apostle St James was purported to have been found here in the early 9th century. Legend has it that his body was miraculously brought to northwestern Spain by a boat made of stone after he was martyred in Jerusalem in AD 44. In 1492 Pope Alexander VI declared the Camino one of the three great pilgrimages of Christendom, and over the corresponding centuries people have been walking it to absolve their sins.

One destination, many paths

While the tomb of St James is in Santiago de Compostela there are a variety of paths a pilgrim can follow. The most popular is Camino Francés (the French Way), a roughly 500-mile (805km) trek that starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees. It is the route taken by 60% of pilgrims, but there are other routes too, including Camino del Norte, which hugs the coast, Camino Portugués, which starts in Lisbon, and Via de la Plata, a 620-mile-long (998km) slog that follows an old Roman road north from Seville and is the longest of them all.

A path trodden by the good and great

The Asturian king, Alfonso II the Chaste, is credited as the first pilgrim to walk the Camino, trekking close to 186 miles (300km) back in AD 813. Since then millions of pilgrims have followed in his footsteps. Chaucer mentions that the Wife of Bath visited Santiago de Compostela in his book, The Canterbury Tales. More recently actress Shirley MacLaine walked the Camino and wrote a book about her experiences. Martin Sheen (pictured) visited and made the movie, The Way. And in 2008, the world-famous British physicist, Stephen Hawking travelled a section of the path in his wheelchair.

…and author, Eddie Rock

Irish-born author, Eddie Rock, walked the Camino Frances route at a low point in his life and wrote a book about his experiences, The Camino: A Sinner's Guide. “I was caught between a rock and a hard place back home and I needed to get away,” he says. He needed to turn his life around and the Camino gave him the chance to set a goal to achieve and maybe figure out things along the way. “I guess in some ways it was a spiritual journey,” he muses.

Hard-won advice, leavened with humour

While not strictly a guidebook, The Camino: A Sinner's Guide is full of useful insights and practical advice, particularly for those who aren’t necessarily walking the Camino for religious reasons. His book recounts the highs and the lows of traipsing the trail, reveals the mistakes he made and chronicles the comradery that develops between fellow pilgrims. “There’s a reason the locals call wine ‘the blood of pilgrims’,” he laughs.

Guided by the ancients

As for guidebooks, Eddie suggests getting one with good maps and advice on the different routes. “The Confraternity of St James put out an official one,” he says. “But I just bought the first one I saw in Amsterdam, before I left. It cost me 30 euros – more expensive than the Bible!” Along the way Eddie also picked up a copy of Pilgrim Guide to Santiago de Compostela, written in 1140 by the French monk, Aymeric Picaud. “Close to 900 years later and his observations are still spot on,” Eddie chuckles. “The Basque language does sound like barking dogs!”

Passport, please

An equally important document to get hold of, says Eddie, is the Pilgrim Passport. Also known as the credencial, it is issued by the Confraternity of St James to be stamped along the way to prove your pilgrim status. “You need it to be able to stay in the pilgrim hostels along the route,” Eddie explains. "And to order Pilgrim Menus, kind of like a menu of the day, but cheaper.” Holders are also eligible for discounted entry into cathedrals and museums along the route, but for some it becomes all about getting the stamps. “Some people get obsessed,” laughs Eddie.

Every journey needs a purpose

Eddie got his passport from a stern-looking priest at the Royal Collegiate Church in Roncesvalles. He had to show his real passport, nominate whether he was planning to complete the pilgrimage by foot, horse or bicycle and then list his full name and address and next of kin. “The next of kin question startled me,” admitted Eddie. “I mean, I was walking the Camino not climbing Everest.” He was also caught off guard when he was asked the purpose of his journey. “I was tempted to say 'For the craic!',” laughed Eddie, but in the end said it was spiritual.

The Camino is open to everyone

Eddie met people from all over the world walking the Camino. “Brazil, Korea, Japan, China, Argentina, Ireland, England, Holland… there wasn’t many places they didn't come from,” he says. Eddie met people of all ages too. His fellow pilgrims included a woman pushing her baby in a pushchair, noisy groups of Dutch and Spanish teenagers causing all kinds of havoc and older people, some almost 100 years old. “I met an Italian guy walking with his 90-year-old grandfather, holding his hand every step of the way.”

Lighten your load, lighten your heart

Eddie says his most important piece of advice to pilgrims considering walking the Camino is to pack light. It can take more than 30 days to hike the Frances route, so you’ll feel every extra pound. “My backpack was way too heavy,” admits Eddie. “I had to ditch a lot of weight on the first day.” He also believes that the extra weight was a factor in him twisting his knee and hurting his back on the very first day on the Camino. “It was a mistake that came back to haunt me nearly every day of my walk,” he admits.

The essentials, according to Eddie

Asked what every pilgrim should pack, Eddie is emphatic. “Decent footwear,” he says in a flash. “Waterproof, Gore Tex boots. Lightweight. You don’t want heavy ones. And a pair of flip-flops for wearing around the hostels.” Eddie also recommends buying quality woollen socks. “You’ve got to look after your feet as best you can.” Walking poles are worth investing in too. “They help walking down hills funnily enough,” says Eddie. “Especially if you’re carrying any injuries.”

Be prepared to battle the elements

While Eddie enjoyed blue skies and sunshine for most of his walk, there were times the heavens literally opened. “A decent poncho is a must,” he says. “A proper US Army one that is totally waterproof and goes over your pack as well.” Eddie started his walk with a lightweight plastic poncho and it didn’t even last the first day. “It blew off and got stuck in a tree,” he laughs. Make sure you have plastic bags to keep your wet clothes in too. “The last thing you want is everything else getting wet in your pack too,” says Eddie.

Learn when to cut your losses

Because everyone is following the same route and using the same guidebooks, Eddie warns that there’s often a queue to get a bed in the albergues (pilgrim hostels). He suggests asking how many beds there are in a particular hostel and then count the number of people queuing before you join the line. “There’s a lot of ungodly pushing and shoving in the queues,” he laughs. “Why put yourself through that if there aren't going to be any beds left anyway?” Best cut your losses and find somewhere else to stay before everyone finds out the albergue is full.

Pray for a bottom bunk

Another top tip about staying in hostels from Eddie is his advice to try and secure a bottom bunk – the best option if you need to nip to the loo during the night. And grab a shower as soon as you arrive while the water is still hot, especially if it has been raining and you’re soaked to the bone. “The last thing you want is to have a cold shower and have to put your wet clothes back on,” he says.

Don’t count on sleeping well

“To be honest, getting a good night's sleep was one of my biggest problems,” says Eddie. “Nearly all the albergues get really crowded and noisy.” If it wasn’t Dutch teenagers roughhousing well into the night, it was the older pilgrims snoring. “Sometimes it sounded like tanks rolling up a street,” says Eddie. And that was despite him using what he regarded as his most important piece of kit, a pair of industrial strength earplugs, the kind he used to wear when he worked on construction sites.

Avoid the pilgrim menus

Food is the essential fuel for your journey and while northern Spain is famous for its tasty dishes, you won’t find it on the special pilgrim menus, says Eddie. Not unlike normal tourist set menus, they are offered by albergues and restaurants along the Camino, and if you have a pilgrim passport, you get a discount. “Most only cost 10-15 euros but don’t always represent good value,” says Eddie. “In fact, some of the pilgrim menus I had would go close to being the worst meals I’ve ever eaten – which is a crime considering how good Spanish food is.”

Eat like a local instead

Eddie recommends checking out local bars and restaurants and seeing what they’re offering. He says it’s often better and cheaper than the pilgrim menus. “I had a fantastic Italian meal in Portomarin,” says Eddie. Preparing your own food is an option too. “I walked with some young Brazilian guys for one section and we’d all muck in, buy some groceries and cook,” says Eddie. “One of them was a really good cook. Again, it was much better than any pilgrim menu I had.”

Garlic soup for the soul

One dish you must try, says Eddie, is the garlic soup served at the Albergue San Juan de Ortega. Set in a partly converted monastery, the monks here have been serving the same soup to pilgrims for centuries. The Albergue is a really nice place to stay too, says Eddie, but the menu makes for any interesting evening in the dorms. “If you have never spent the night in a room full of pilgrims that have eaten garlic soup for dinner, you have not lived,” he laughs.

The social side is the best part of the Camino

One of the things Eddie noted – and what prompted him to write his Sinner’s Guide to Camino – was the active social scene along the Camino. Every town and village along the route boasts lively cafés and bars and most of the pilgrims were happy to give them their custom. “It really helps when you fall in with a good bunch of people,” says Eddie. “The parties, the get-togethers, even the deep and meaningful chats. It seems to lift a weight off your shoulders and makes walking the Camino a hell of a lot easier.”

Wine, the pilgrim’s blood

Drinking has always been a part of walking the Camino, says Eddie. The route passes through some of Spain’s most famous winemaking regions, including La Rioja, a region known for its robust reds. “It’d be rude not to,” laughs Eddie. There is even a ‘wine fountain’ in the small town of Ayegui, built by the Bodegas Irache winery so that pilgrims can enjoy a free glass of red wine along the way. “The wine’s not great,” says Eddie. “But that doesn’t seem to stop the pilgrims topping up their water bottles with it!”

On that note, pace yourself

Blisters, pulled muscles, twisted ankles, sunstroke and exhaustion – Eddie says that no matter how fit you are or how much you think you’ve prepared, the Camino will take its toll. “Don’t try to do too much or try to keep pace with others,” he says. Instead, find your own pace. And if an affliction does befall you, there is help in every village, from doctors to pharmacies. “Spain has more pharmacies than hot dinners,” says Eddie. “Most of the pilgrims are living on paracetamol and ibuprofen.”

Tendonitis nearly ended Eddie’s pilgrimage

Eddie twisted his ankle on the first day of his trek and by the time he reached Ponferrada, still 13 days walk to Santiago de Compostela, his leg had swollen to the size of a tree trunk. “When I showed it to the pharmacist in Ponferrada she cried ‘Santa Maria!’ and did five Hail Marys”, he grimaces. “She said I had acute tendonitis and told me to take a month off walking and let the swelling go down.” Desperate to keep going, he visited a local doctor and got an injection as well, all to no avail.

The miracle at Ruitelan

Eddie hobbled his way to a tiny hostel in Ruitelan, just after Villafranca del Bierzo (pictured), convinced that his pilgrimage was over. “It was run by two Spanish guys, Luis and Carlos,” explains Eddie, “And they noticed straight away I was having problems.” Luis gave him a vial of ‘Anacardium Orientale’ and later that evening set about massaging and manipulating Eddie’s leg. “When he finished he told me I would be cured by the morning,” remembers Eddie. “And you know what? I was! It was like I’d never had it. It really was a miracle as far as I’m concerned.”

Beware of false prophets

While Louis and Carlos were saints, Eddie found that you meet the full spectrum of humanity along the Camino, some really wonderful, others not so wonderful. “There’s a percentage of pilgrims you meet who think that it’s all about them,” he says. “It’s their Camino not yours and you’re spoiling their Camino experience.” Most of the time it doesn’t impact your journey but sometimes it can. In Larrasoana a crotchety Dutch pilgrim told Eddie the hostel was full only for another pilgrim to chase after him and tell him there was an entire empty dorm upstairs. “You’ve got to be wary of false prophets,’ laughs Eddie.

And of holy chickens as well

One of the traditions of walking the Camino is to feed the chickens that live in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada in La Rioja. The chickens are said to be the descendants of a chicken that miraculously rose from the dead. Legend has it that if they eat the bread you give them, you’ll make it to Santiago de Compostela, if they don’t, you won’t. “It’s true too,” laughs Eddie. “They ate my bread, but they didn’t eat the bread of a Dutch couple who were there at the same time. I ran into them later. They didn’t make it.”

And the ghosts of plague victims in Samos

One of the most unique places to stay along the Camino is the Monastery of San Xulián de Samos in Galicia. “You sleep in the crypt where plague victims used to sleep,” explains Eddie. It’s an unforgettable experience, he says, in more ways than you think. “It’s not a very comfortable experience for one,” says Eddie. “And everyone who spends the night there complains of having terrible nightmares.” Passing through the old pharmacy where plague victims were treated (pictured) doesn’t help getting a good night’s sleep either.

Put your trust in God, not your phone

One thing that really struck Eddie was just how many pilgrims walk along staring at their phones, not taking in what is around them. And how they rely on apps to help them rather than finding things for themselves. “Nobody leaves it to chance anymore. They're all petrified they’ll miss out,” says Eddie. “One girl told me that there were no places left on Booking.com in Portomarin so she was heading to a village three miles (5km) away. I asked her if she’d tried a little hostel that I knew about, and of course, she hadn’t.”

So, was it worth it?

After 31 days, Eddie finally reached the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela and watched the giant Botafumeiro (incense holder) swing over the pilgrims gathered below. “I got my sins washed away” laughs Eddie, “But if I am being honest, I didn't feel any different than how I felt before.” But recently Eddie moved back to Galicia, started a writing career and playing a lot more music, finding contentment. “In the end the Camino de Santiago did change my life for the better. I just didn’t realise it,” he laughs. “So, buen Camino!”

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