This via Francigena which I will be cycling later next week was original documented by the bishop Sigeric, who journey from Canterbury to Rome (via France/Switzerland over the St. Bernard pass) a thousand years ago. My journey is shorter and mainly from Rosalinda's house (a dear fellow pilgrim whom I had met on my Camino de Santiago in 2006) in Milan to Rome.
Tha would be 787 km instead of the 1900 km from Canterbury. I am so happy and honoured to be able to start from her house (or her albergue de peregrinos as she calls it).
When Rosalinda found out that I would need to get 2 things when I get to Milan, she went ahead and got me those ahead of time without my asking. The bike (with rear rack and bottle cage) and local SIM card is there waiting for me. I really owed her a lot, especially the effort on her part to get them. You are an angel Rosalinda!
Finally the video of my Camino del Norte in May is ready. It's basically a photo progression of my whole journey from Irun to Santiago de Compostela and then onwards to Muxia and Fisterra. Over 900 km in 36 days.
I didn't want to use any commercial music for the video only to have YouTube warn me a week later to take it music out due to copyright infringement. This time, I have something better, my own brother Victor who composes music for a living (thanks bro!).
I guess he is constrained by the video which has a picture transition every second, but the final results are fantastic. Together with Dharma from the band The Observatory (where Victor is an ex-member) I now have a great professional soundtrack for this video.
After three Camino de Santiago pilgrimages, this fourth Camino is more like an escape. Just an unadulterated descent to a simple life of walking, sleeping, eating (drinking) and washing (laundry).
You can change the quality of this video's playback to HD for better picture quality. I've also upload the same video to Vimeo.
Enjoy.
Including photos not posted to this blog.
Link - Camino del Norte
Cove GSpot vs the Easystar FPV from BasqueMTB on Vimeo.
Nice view of the Basque Country. Would make a good camino cam.
I received this in my mailbox (no, not the electronic one, the real one) today. Manfred, a German pilgrim whom I had met and walked together for more than half of Camino Via de la Plata in 2008 had sent this to me.
It is a copy of his pilgrim credentials and a DVD of his walk of the Camino del Norte in the summer of 2010.
I have been out action on the Camino since, but the way still beckons me, especially when the Camino del Norte is the final Camino I planned to walk in Spain.
I need find the time and opportunity, not so easy when you still have to hold down a job. When? 2011? 2012? No later than that....
Thanks Manfred, for sharing your Camino with me. While watching the video, it is as if I am also there (in spirit). No one appreciates the video more than another pilgrim. There is something about the Camino that cuts through people of all culture, language and age.
I'm speechless. They shot this video at compostela. Recognize the locations?
I received a direct email today from Joe in NZ. He asked:
The old hands are slowly accepting the fact that in the 21st Century smartphone will be used more often than not on the Camino. What are your thoughts on the iphone/ipod touch vis a vis the battery life, also how to make best use of the versatility of this one gadget which can replace many other gadgets. How do other phones/intelligent touchscreen phones compare in Singapore. What would you recommend?
I write to you direct as the Camino forums have too many anti-modern equipment zealots and they tend to flame questions on anything which they consider taboo to use on the Camino.
Interesting. Are you planning for your camino soon?
As for your questions, here are my thoughts:
First the conditions in the camino.
My experience:
- Weight is essential. So you'd probably want minimize the number of gadgets.
- A smart phone now has all you need in one package. Alarm clock (I wear it with headphones to sleep), emergency contact device, camera, music player, ebook reader (I read Paulo Coelho's The Pilgrimage on my last camino. Spoiler alert! He didn't finished his camino!), etc.
- Unless you are really a camera buff and don't mind lugging an SLR, a smart phone will do just fine.
- Don't be surprised to see pilgrims, especially in the more crowded Camino Frances lugging notebooks (crazy if you ask me). This is probably another reason why some of the folks are flaming those that uses too much technology along the camino.
- Battery life. Nokia is great for that, especially if you listen to music, read ebooks, alarm, and suddenly you realized that you had forgotten to charge the phone (an unused power socket can sometimes be hard to find in an albergue) and end up not charging the phone for a day or two. A Nokia phone can probably take the same load for the second day and maybe half of the third day. Not sure if you can achieve that with the iPhone or those phones running Microsoft Mobile.
For my next camino (planning for Camino Norte in 2011), here's the slight revision of my technology plan.
- I use the smart phone as the all in one device.
- If something fascinates me along the way, it take me less than 10 seconds to take my phone out, shoot the photo, and put the phone back in my pouch. Less distraction (for me, and others).
- I made the point of not using the phone for any communications during my walk. After the day's walk, I'd find a public library and with my phone's WIFI do a quick picture blog for the day. I try not to use the machines at the library as I do not want to deprive the kids there the chance to use their public computers. Imagine pilgrims line up to use the computers at the library (not a good sight). In cases where there is no WIFI at the library, I carry a USB adaptor for my phone's mini-sd card to upload and do my photo blog, very quickly of course. On my last camino I manage to do that almost 70% of the time.
- And no more phone usage until after dinner. One SMS per day and a phone call once every week back home (time zone reason).
- Some ebook reading on the phone before I sleep (only if it does not disturb my neighbours). Hint: use white fonts on black background. It increases the battery life and minimize the glare.
- On my first 2 caminos in 2006/2007 I had an older Nokia phone primarily for taking photos and basic voice/text communication. In the last camino (via de la Plata) in 2008 I carried the Nokia e61i. I used it also to do an almost daily blogging.
- I am still using the same phone daily. It still has the cuts and nicks (drop the phone twice during the camino), a daily reminder of my journey for me. If you are planning to use the iPhone, be prepare for scratches and dust, unless you are ultra careful. A hardier phone is a better bet in my opinion.
- I even tried to use VOIP with WIFI to save communication cost. However, the experiment did not turn out well. I can't talk at the library (must be quiet) or the cafe with internet (too noisy). I'd only manage to make one VOIP call during my last camino. It was on a Sunday, the library was closed but the signal outside the library was strong enough to make the call.
The reality:
- Minimize my need for WIFI. This will give me more personal time in the camino after the daily walk without trying to ask for the location of the local library or internet cafe. It would be fantastic to be able to do all that without leaving the albergue.
- In order to achieve that, I plan to get a prepaid local SIM card with data option (GPRS is good enough). I've been doing for my business trip to Brunei so I know it works.
- I have a Skype out account and will be trying out iSkoot or similar services so that the last kilometer of the call is to my local SIM card number, not WIFI. This will also minimize my need to top up the prepaid card too often and at the same time save some money on the long distance call home.
- For some of the albergue you may need to make a local call to ask the hospitalero for the key (Not an issue for Camino Frances, but it does happen in the other less trodden routes). Local SIM card to make local calls, another savings here.
- For writing I use the old fashion notepad. Ditto for the walking guide. For some things. you just don't want to put your trust on devices that uses batteries (at least not yet).
- Will I use a touch screen phone? Not sure. Problem for me is that I am now so used to phones with mini-qwerty keyboards it is hard for me to change. At the same time I know that it is also limiting my choices of smart phone.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions Joe.
- The age group in the camino are very spread out, from the young to the retired folks. Don't be surprise if some of the pilgrims who are against the technology are the younger ones.
- There will always be the purist, although this term is debatable especially if the purist are also using other high-tech equipment (fast drying clothes, lightweight walking poles, digital camera, expensive ergonomic backpacks). Shouldn't they be walking with a cloak and sandals, drinking from a water gourd? (I actually don't mind carrying a water gourd, if I can find a usable one)
- This is the 21th century. The only thing that is in common between pilgrims of yore and a modern one is the personal spiritual journey that awaits in the camino. Technology is not going to do the walking for you (unless you have rocket backpack :)). That said, at the same time technology should not be a distraction to one's journey.
- So what technology is acceptable? Which are not? What kind of phone is best? That is the challenge, as it can be very subjective.
