| 6 Sep 2013, 13:12. Upon my return home from the Camino, I was often asked by people “How was it?”—as if I’d been on holiday at a tourist resort or on an adventure trek. Had I thought of the Camino in those terms, I could have evaluated it along such measures as quality of food, lodging, etc. But my approach had been to accept the Camino on its terms rather than to impose mine. A related, but often overlooked factor is that for many pilgrims the Camino is a matter of life and death, as pilgrims are frequently reminded by the memorials along the Camino that mark the site where a pilgrim had died. This marker at about 16.5 km (10.2 miles) from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port was the first of many such memorials I encountered. |
