June 2014, Dolomiti, Italy

Mr. Sakuma, I call him Masa from now, is 72 years old, 4 years younger than me. He lives in the same town with me, Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture, enjoying hiking both domestic and overseas with his wife Fumiko-san, besides contributing to our community as a member of arbitration board.

When I informed him of my recent trip to my hometown in Nanki-Kumano District which is famous for Kumano-Kodo or Kumano Ancient Pilgrimage Routes, he replied and referred to his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, this June.
By my request, he came over and talked about his pilgrimage this time with a lot of documents.

The Camino de Santiago is the pilgrimage to the shrine of the apostle St. James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, north-western Spain.
There are now the following 20 routes of Camino de Santiago according to caminoway.com.

Masa walked along the French Way (Camino Frances), the most popular among them to visit the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, and then extended his way to Muxia along the Finisterre Way (Camino Fisterra) to have a view of the Atlantic Ocean. Total distance was 904.5 km spending 30 days.

French Way

Finisterre Way

In an attempt to start the pilgrimage on May 25 from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, he left Narita Airport by AF 275 at 11:00 on Monday, May 23, and landed at Paris at 16:15 local time the same day.
He stayed at a hotel in Montparnasse that night.

The next morning he headed for the starting point Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port by TGV train, and arrived there late at night. While in the train, he was about to have a hard time because of the delay by some fatal accident. He had a kindness from a gentleman and a lady. They explained what happened then and how to spend the idle time in slow and steady English to let him understand. So, Masa felt at ease thanks to them and got to the destination at 17:12.

He stayed at an albergue with dinner and breakfast there.
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The following table shows Masa's pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, and then to Muxia.
From the next chapter, I will pick up where and how he walked for 30 days from his detailed diary, with what he encountered and what impressed him on the way.

1.	Information collection -- read journals of experience and guidebooks
2.	Make a road map with an itinerary (30 days + 3 alternative days = 33 days in total)
3.	Join the meetings of "Asociacion de Amigos del Camino de Santiago en Japon" Get the guidebook of Camino de Santiago by the association and the book "John Brierley's Camino de Santiago"
4.	Prepare a budget
5.	Open a bank account for Euro
6.	Check of the equipment -- up to 10kg with the backpack
7.	Advance training, work-up of the new shoes
8.	Make transportation arrangements to and from the pilgrimage
9.	Make sure of the means of communication during the pilgrimage to Docomo

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Re: Albergue

Masa stayed in albergues through his Camino de Santiago for 30 days. Let me explain what an albergue is.

"Albergue" is a Spanish word of "a lodging for pilgrims".
It consists of two types.
One is Pubrico, managed by a local government, a church, a monastery or a covent.
Another is Privado, managed by a local group or privately.