I’m back in Spain to walk a few more Caminos. I’ve been practicing all summer which has been a bit of a challenge what with the hot weather necessitating very early morning starts and continued issues with my hip muscles but I’m ready as I’m able and with fingers crossed I’ll start tomorrow in France.

I’m hoping to walk portions of the main Camino, the Frances, and the whole of 3 smaller ones: the Baztan, the Salvador, and the Primitivo by October 15th.

As marked on the map above, the Frances (#1) starts in St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, France and continues westward along the upper part of Spain all the way to Santiago de Compostela. I’ll walk as far as Pamplona then take the bus up to Bayonne and walk the Baztan Camino (#2) back to Pamplona. Then I’ll continue again on the Frances as far as Logroño and bus from there to Leon. After a rest day in Leon I’ll start my 3rd Camino, the Salvador, from Leon – Oviedo; then take the Primitivo (#4) from there to Aruza, and once again rejoin the Frances for the last few days into Santiago. Whew! A bit daunting when I write it all down. But that’s the plan, and I’ll just have to see if I can stick to it.

Tonight I’m in Pamplona, having flown in via Dallas and Madrid from Palm Springs. I checked out every person with a backpack at each airport, wondering if they were Camino pilgrims too. There were several possibilities and I found one definite one on my flight to Pamplona. Rui, from Brazil, had a scallop shell tied to the back of his knapsack which is the traditional symbol of the pilgrimage of St. James.

Once we landed we picked up 3 more pilgrims, all looking to share a taxi into town. That was one too many for the cab so Rui stayed behind with one lady while I and 2 others grabbed the next taxi. Of these 2 one will be starting her first camino tomorrow while the other has already been here for over a month, already walking one Camino before returning to Pamplona to walk another with his friend! Rui I will meet again tomorrow as we’re both catching the 10am bus to St. Jean.

My jet lag was kicking in once I arrived at my hotel so I made a quick dash to pick up some dinner and a SIM card for my phone before calling it an early night.