My Camino
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Part 1 - Underpants & Shampoo
Introduction | Before Leaving | Hungary to Slovenia
Introduction
WHAT IS THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA?
Some Definitions:
Pilgrimage - a journey to a sacred place.
El Camino - can be interpreted as ‘the way’ or ‘the road’.
Santiago de Compostela - thought to be the burial place of Saint James.
El Camino de Santiago de Compostela - sometimes referred to as ‘The way of St. James’ (Sant Iago).
For hundreds of years the route from St Jean Pied de Port 
in the foothills of the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, a city in north-western Spain, has been one of the most popular Christian pilgrimages.
People from almost every country on Earth, young and old, good and bad, sick and healthy, have taken the challenge of walking what is often known simply as the ‘Camino’ - the way.
It’s a tough challenge. Everyday there are many miles to walk. If it’s wet you could find yourself wading through the mud of lowland valleys. If it’s hot you’ll find yourself looking up at the peak of a distant mountain, knowing that you must get over it before you’ll find somewhere to rest.
And when you do finally reach one of the refugios (accommodation for official pilgrims) you might find it already full to the brim with other tired pilgrims. If you’re lucky you’ll get to sleep on one of the hard bunk beds. If you’re not so lucky, it’ll be a long night under the stars on stony ground.
Why would anyone want to do that?
Read on to discover what happened when five young Hungarians took up the challenge of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.
WHO MADE THE TREK?
Click on the names to discover more about the travellers.
From left to right: István, Csaba, Gábor, Gergő & Andi
WHY WE DID IT
Since 2000, I’d been thinking about doing the Camino. I’d seen a magazine article about it and, though it started out as a vague idea, soon it gained more strength every time I thought about walking the inconceivable 830 kilometres.
The first person I mentioned it to was my good friend Gábor. Like me he was interested in the chance to go to Spain, which is far away from Hungary and is so different from our homeland. We had both travelled quite a bit but Spain was enticing – and cheap.
We originally wanted to recruit a small group of 8 to 10 people but most of my other friends had very different opinions about what makes a great holiday. Golden beaches, lively cities with great nite-clubs. In short, they thought I’d gone crazy when I suggested we should pack our rucksacks and hike across northern Spain.
In 2002, I met a new friend - Csaba. I casually mentioned the idea to him and, to my surprise, he was immediately enthusiastic about the trek and later his sister, Andi, also agreed to join us.
I was very happy! Four will be enough. Americans have a film genre known as ‘road movies’. For such a technocratic country as the USA, road movies automatically implies driving a car. But why shouldn’t we be part of a traditional, very European road movie? We would walk!!
LINKS
Part 1: Introduction | Before Leaving | Hungary to Slovenia