Our Walk Along the Via de la Plata

  “It is the weight inside that tires us the most.” Theft on the Via de la Plata This entry is a brief aside from our usual journal of the pilgrimage across Spain on the Via de la Plata. Tonight, as we sat at a patio table in Zafra’s main square, chatting with other pilgrims, an unexpected topic slowly emerged. Beyond the usual pleasantries, we began to hear stories we hadn’t anticipated. It was while speaking with pilgrims we recognized by sight, but with whom we had not yet talked or shared more than a nod, that tales of small thefts along the way began to surface. Pointedly, we had not shared our own experience of backpacks being rifled through or money being taken with anyone on the Camino before this. Yet apparently, thefts experienced by others had been a subject of conversation around communal dinners for several days. Thief among the Pilgrims One pilgrim recounted leaving their wallet on their bunk while stepping out to the washroom, only to return and find it gone. Othe...

"Take a walk outside – it will serve you far more than pacing around in your mind." Rasheed Ogunlaru Embracing the Slow Travel Hiking with Intention on Camino Today, we set out onto the Via de la Plata, after nine days on the Via Augusta , where we eased into the rhythm of walking with several shorter stages. During this hike, it became abundantly clear that we are no longer the same people who set out on the Camino Francés almost a decade ago. Nor are we those intrepid explorers who crossed Portugal on the Camino Portugués , followed ancient paths in the UK, walked the GR 65 Via Podiensis in France, or, not so long ago, completed the 28,000 km long Trans Canada Trail, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and to the Arctic Ocean. Nearing fifty, we cannot deny that our bodies have changed. We can no longer cover twenty kilometres in three hours under full pack weight, and we carry with us more aches, more fatigue, and more reminders that time reshapes every adventure.  Our bo...

Via de la Plata Information Camino Pilgrimage in the Modern World The Via de la Plata, together with the Camino Sanabrés , is one of the longest and most challenging routes of the Camino de Santiago. Beginning in Seville, it stretches more than a thousand kilometres north through Andalucía, Extremadura, and Castile y León, where pilgrims can either veer west onto the Camino Sanabrés or continue north to join the Camino Francés. The route traces the course of an ancient Roman road that once linked Mérida (Emerita Augusta) with Astorga (Asturica Augusta). Over the centuries, it was used by Visigoths, Arabs, and Spaniards, and in the Middle Ages by Mozarabic Christians making their way to Santiago de Compostela during the Muslim domination of Spain. Today, most modern pilgrims set out from Seville, passing through a series of remarkable cities including Zafra, Mérida, Cáceres, Salamanca, and Zamora. Walking the Via de la Plata means covering long distances between small towns, often ac...