A coin toss that led to a 779 km hike: my Camino Frances journey in 26 days
- Ashutosh Dabral
- Aug 16
- 17 min read
The Camino Frances was probably the toughest and most transformative experience I have had till now. The long hikes were a good time to introspect, think about different aspects of life and plan next steps. It is also a process that can help you let go of a lot of baggage. It ended up being even better than what I had hoped for.
I had read somewhere (on an Insta reel of course) that in the end we will all become stories. During these 26 days I met some very interesting people and heard some amazing stories and perhaps I also became a small story or anecdote for some of them. For e.g. towards the latter part of the trip I was doing close to 40 kms daily. One day I met a French lady, during the morning hike, who was surprised that I was doing such high mileage. We grabbed a quick coffee together at one of the rest stops and then went on our separate ways as she was walking a lot faster than me. She later met two french gentlemen at her hostel and told them about this crazy Indian guy, Ash (my full name is tough for most foreigners to pronounce so it is always Ash when I travel). And then at a rest stop a couple of days later I met the two and when I introduced myself they mentioned they had heard about me from her and wanted to click a picture and send it to her. There was a group of Japanese pilgrims nearby who thought I was some Indian celebrity as someone was asking for a selfie with me! After that I crossed paths with both of them many times for the next few days. I think all 3 of us finished it on the same day.
If I had to generalise and bucket the types of people I met on the Camino then the broad categories were:
1> People in a transition trying to figure out next steps in life: Met many people like me who were on a career break or on some other transition and thought the Camino would let them think and figure things out. A running joke among all of us was that the body is hurting so much that there is no time to think expect about the next rest stop. But this changes after the first few days once you get used to the pain
2> Teachers: Well it was the time of the year when schools are off so one big group of folks I met were teachers — from Europe, from Canada and from the US. First time in my life that I have made so many friends that are teachers
3> Doing it for the nth time — First time they had a strong reason and then got hooked onto it. Met one spaniard appropriately named Jesus who was doing this for the 9th time
4> Doing it for religious reasons — many had been planning it for years and were finally doing it now
5> Finishing what they started: They did some phase of the Camino earlier and are now trying to finish it. The most interesting story was an American gentleman who did 60% of it last year and then sat down on a chair at a restaurant and could not get up as he realised he had gotten a stress fracture. This year he went back to the same restaurant and sat in the same chair and then began his journey from there. We didn’t cross paths again but I really hope he finished the journey
But back to why I did the Camino. I had read about the Camino a few years ago and added it to the list of things I wanted to do at some point of time in life. The idea of a multi week trek sounded like the perfect way to do discover yourself and do something challenging and meaningful. The more I read about it and about the experiences of people who had done it, the more intrigued I was. But never had the free time to take up something which most people do in 35–40 days.
Then in July 2025, I started a career break and started thinking about what I wanted to do next. I was clear I did not want to start another job or another initiative right away. I wanted time to think, introspect, slow things down and figure out the next step at the “right” pace. There were multiple options which I was considering — spend a month in Kyoto, go on a long scuba diving trip somewhere in South East Asia and take the number of dives I have done from 50 to 100, Annapurna base camp trek, hire a coach for a month and take my tennis to the next level, and then there was the Camino. On 5th July I saw a few YouTube videos on tips about the Camino but I was not sure if I was physically ready for something so challenging. So I did what someone analytical does — I flipped a coin and decided if its tails then I will go for the Camino :).
Post the coin toss, I booked a flight to France (Bangalore>Paris>Bordeaux) for 8th July 1:30 am and a couple for train tickets (Bordeaux>Bayonne and Bayonne > St Jean Pied de Port). This itinerary would get me to St Jean by 6.30 pm on 8th. And then I would start walking on 9th morning.
I downloaded a pdf that had details to finish the Camino Frances in 26 days (from 9th July to 3rd August) and set about doing all the bookings. I booked an Albergue (pilgrim hostel) for all nights and meticulously planned how many kms I will do each day. My return flight was blocked for 5th August from Lisbon. The plan was to reach Santiago de Compostela early on 3rd, spend some hours there and take a bus to Porto. Spend a day in Porto and then take a train to Lisbon for the return flight. I had already visited Lisbon before and thought a day in Porto would be good enough to get some flavour of the city. Little did I know that all best laid plans will go for a toss after climbing over the Pyrenees.
When it came to packing for the trip there was one complication. One of my new year resolutions in 2025 was not to buy anything this year. A little strange resolution for someone whose last 2 jobs were in e-commerce, but it was what it was! Ideally I would have taken a 30 litre hiking backpack but the one I had available was 40 litres and perhaps too big for this trip (since you have to carry this backpack with you while hiking a smaller lighter bag with minimal stuff is the way to go). But apart from this the other stuff was easier to source as I had a lot of other hiking gear which I had bought for a trip to Iceland in late 2024. Now after 779 kms I have a pretty good idea of what is essential and what is nice to have for this trip. So reach out to me if you are planning to do this. The only thing which took a lot of time was to decide between my hiking shoes or my trail running ones. I think I took the right decision to go with the light weight trail runners especially in the hot July-Aug weather.
The people I met along the way was probably the highlight of this journey. So many anecdotes and interesting stories but some that standout:
1> The 65 year Italian helicopter pilot who now works 4 days a month for a billionaire, but in the past was pilot for their special forces and has flown many combat / anti terror missions. Was also the designated pilot for the Pope at one point of time and used to fly him to the alps for his ski vacations
2> The three Chinese folks all of whom had an identical story — it is impossible to get a month off so I told my boss I am quitting to do the Camino and then the boss gave me 5 weeks off and said I can come back to work after the Camino
3> The young man from Busan in his 2nd year of college. He was born in Busan and now goes to college there. Has never taken a trip out of there his life, but on this vacation he decided to take a solo trip for the Camino
4> Someone who teaches people how to ride the bicycle and is now transitioning to become an artist — with their first exhibition 1 week after they finish the Camino
5> A young Frenchman who was doing the Camino without his phone. We met while walking and stopped for lunch together. He told me he left his phone home as he wanted to “be free”. Every 5 days he would request someone to send one text to his parents, telling them that he was alive
6> A Italian youngster named Leonardo who when I asked “ Oh like Di Caprio” replied “No like Da Vinci”. Fair point — we all have our heroes!
7> An American navy guy fresh from a breakup who mentioned his only requirement for a girlfriend was a girl who is not on Insta the whole day
If you have read this far and want more details of the journey then the phase wise details are below
Phase 1: St Jean Pied de Port to Burgos — The Physical Phase
9th — 20th July > 286 kms, 5668 m elevation gain, 24kms per day average
It was an uneventful Air France flight to Paris and after a couple of hours of layover another one to Bordeaux. A shuttle from the airport took me to the train station and two back to back train journeys later I was in St Jean by 6.30pm. I immediately went to the Pilgrim office (it shuts down at 7.30 pm) to collect the “Credencial de Peregrino” which is like a pilgrim passport. You have to get it stamped everyday at places you stay and restaurants you stop at. This credential allows you access to the Albergues and to the completion certificate — the Compostela.
There was a very helpful volunteer at the pilgrim office who gave me a lot of details about the whole journey. She was very excited that I had come from India for this trip. I was also handed a detailed map and some things to watch out for on Day
.
It is said that this first phase tests your physical limits and the hardest is the Day 1 climb over the Pyrenees to cross over to Spain. I started early on 9th at 5.45 am. It is a 25+ km hike where the climb is brutal with a 1400m elevation gain. Within the first 2 hours I was questioning my ability to finish Day 1 After a quick breakfast stop at the 7km mark in Orisson, I soldiered on. The views upto this point were breathtaking, but so was the climb, literally!
It was a real struggle climbing for a few more hours and then the downhill stretch was also super tricky. The hiking poles really came in handy for the climb down. By the time I finished Day 1 and reached Roncevalles, I was completely exhausted and also felt a lot f knee pain. Then in the dorm I was allotted a top bunk and it was a nightmare just climbing and getting down from it. One thing I did realise was that my backpack was too heavy and I left a lot of “nice to have” things in the donation box. That included a favourite trouser I use for travel, a couple of t shirts, a sleeping bag, some toiletries, multi-vitamins and some other sundry items which weren't really needed. At this time I was really cursing myself for getting my camera as it was adding to the weight. But it wasn’t something I could donate! (there is still a waiting period to get the Fuji100XVI and of course it isn’t cheap).
During dinner when I mentioned my plan to finish in 26 days to someone who had done the Camino before, they just gave me a knowing smile and suggested I may want to reconsider the timelines.
Day 2 started off well, the initial part of the walk was through a beautiful forest but then later there was a brutal descent which was a nightmare for the knees. To top it off, it was an extremely hot day with temperatures reaching 38 degrees by afternoon. As per my schedule I was supposed to walk for 42 kms.
For the first 20 km I walked with my “bunk mate”. She was French, used to work in tech and had worked for an Indian tech company also, but had given up that career to become a teacher (I met many people in this journey who had taken offbeat career decisions). We really connected on our shared love for tennis after she saw the Rafa Nadal academy cap that I was wearing. The first few kms passed by with us discussing tennis, how much of the sport is mental, our favorite matches and players and some anecdotes from some local tournaments we had played. But we had to cut short the conversation as there were some tricky sections in the descent where one had to really focus. It is the section where many people twist their ankle etc. When she stopped for the day at the 20 km mark she told me I am making a mistake by doing so much mileage in the first few days. She said it was better to keep the first few days light and let your body adjust to long hikes with your backpack. But I thought I can follow my plan.
The day kept getting hotter and hotter and at the 30 km mark I realised I had run out of water. There was no rest stop or a place to get anything for many more miles. I contemplated turning back but then I saw a couple of farmhouses and tried ringing the bell. But this was the week of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona so there was no one home even in neighbouring villages as everyone had gone to Pamplona. I crossed another small village where the only bar/restaurant was also shut down because of the festival.
They have a saying for the camino — “the Camino provides”. Basically when you are in desperate need of something the Camino gives it to you. At the 33 km mark at a very obscure place, I saw what looked like a dysfunctional vending machine. But it worked and I was able to buy some water. I barely made it to 2 more kms and saw the sign for an Albergue in Zabaldika. Called their number and was told to try my luck as they may have one bed left. And when I finally climbed up the slope and reached there, they did have a bed. The place was a “donativo” — A place that runs on donation — so there are no charges and while leaving, if you can afford to pay then you can put what you think is the appropriate amount in the donation box. This was one of the best places I stayed at. It was run by 3 nuns ( there was a church /chapel attached to it) and two volunteers. All the pilgrims staying there cooked dinner and had a nice meal together. Post dinner we all went to the chapel and the nuns did an interesting exercise where all of us had to share our reasons for doing the Camino with everyone else.
After this ended, I had a very interesting conversation with the volunteers. When they realised I had made all the bookings for the 26 days, one of them asked me why did I have to plan everything in life and why couldn’t I just go with the flow. One of them also mentioned that I was the first person from India they had met while volunteering and maybe after going back I should write a book or make a Bollywood movie using this Camino experience as a backdrop (well that’s a plan for some other day, but with the various interesting people I met and the stories I heard it would not be impossible to put something together!).
I was already behind on my schedule so I did cancel the bookings for the next 2 days and decided that I will try to catch up to my old schedule within that time. What the volunteer said about going with the flow also connected with me at some level. And very soon there was no other option but to go with the flow! Next day was extremely hot and 15 kms after crossing Pamplona I realised I could not continue anymore. Luckily I found one Albergue open at the next village. And the day after that I got caught in a dangerous thunderstorms so again did very little mileage. By this time my knees were also hurting a lot and I did buy a knee strap and gel for the pain. Forget 26 days, now it felt like I wouldn’t be able to finish this journey.
But two short hiking stints did help with the recovery. I picked up the pace after that and over the next 7 days I averaged 25+ kms daily. But the physical stress on the body was still taking it’s toll. One thing that helped was the coin — on a couple of days I wanted to stop earlier I tossed the coin and it was tails again so I continued to the next village.
The scenery was breathtaking and finally there was some value in bringing the camera along for this trip.
The local people are very friendly and helpful and anytime they see someone walking the path they make it a point to wish you “Buen Camino”
Getting rid of some clothes to make the bag lighter also meant that I was left with only 2 sets of hiking clothes and for the rest of the journey I had to wash one set after reaching the destination everyday
By 18th, I decided to somehow complete the stage to Burgos and then take a call whether I want to continue or quit and go back to India. On 19th afternoon I tossed the coin again, to decide whether the finish line is Burgos or do I continue till the end.
And it was tails again so I had to go all the way!
As I had cancelled all hostel bookings and also cancelled my return flight. I just decided to go with the flow and let it take as much time as it takes.
The cathedral at Burgos was beautiful and I had a great time exploring the city. After many days of staying in shared dorms in bunk beds, it was great to stay in an airconditioned hotel room for a change.
I was also able to catch up with some folks who had walked the path with me earlier and were stopping their trip at Burgos
Phase 2: Burgos to Leon — The Solitude Phase
21st July — 25th July > 178.7 kms, 1061 m elevation gain, 36 kms per day
Next up was the Meseta — a 179 km stretch from Burgos to Leon with long straight stretches and practically no shade. Some people find this stretch boring and repetitive and take a bus from Burgos to Leon and continue the Camino from there.
For me the Meseta’s vastness and solitude were a perfect time for self-reflection and I really enjoyed this phase of the journey. Was able to ramp up the mileage to 40kms per day except the 45th day where I did a shorter walk to Leon.
It was really sunny though the weather this week was not as hot as at the start of the trip. But the vastness sky and the endless views around you makes you feel very small and insignificant.
Not only did I increase the mileage in this phase but I started walking at a pretty fast pace and covered the Meseta in 5 days. I could have even finished it in 4 but kept a few kms for day 5 as I wanted to get into Lyon really early and spend time exploring the city.
This part of the Camino was a photographer’s delight
This stretch has almost no shade so I was quite tanned by the end of it
Of course the speed and the extra mileage would come back to bite me.
By the time I reached Lyon on 25th noon I had intense pain in one ankle, rashes, blisters and some discomfort in the left shin. I think somewere in the quest to go fast I was taking really long and fast steps and it all had an impact.
I was unable to explore Lyon and spent the whole day resting apart from a visit to the pharmacy to get a lot of things.
Phase 3: Leon to Santiago — The Physical, Mental & Spiritual Phase
26th July — 3rd August > 310 kms, 6582 m elevation gain, 34.2 kms per day
This last phase was a mix of mental and physical challenges. But for me it became a case of mind over matter over the next 9 days. Inspite of the pain and discomfort, I just kept walking. Somedays it took me more than 12 hours to finish the trek and I would slowly limp to the destination at 6 or 6.30pm.
I decided to become the person who finishes what he starts, no matter what the circumstances (just a little bit of self aggrandising). I also got this urge to finish it in my original plan of 26 days. Not that I was short of time but I just wanted to meet my previous schedule.
At the start of the phase I crossed the beautiful town of Astorga and saw many holiday makers day drinking and was briefly tempted to give up my quest and join them.
The basic level Spanish I know really helped me when I stopped to eat at some small village restaurant or for some conversations with locals. Two days before the end I was at a small village bar where people were doing some sort of gambling during the day. One old man, probably after losing, came out and asked me in Spanish where I was from and when I told him he got a little pissed off and said why was I lying — why would an Indian do the Camino and know Spanish! He thought I was Mexican or Colombian. During the initial few days, one day when I started really early while it was still dark, a young Mexican American girl asked me if she could join me as she was afraid of walking alone at that time. We walked together for many kms that day and at a couple of rest stops people asked us if we were father and daughter. So maybe I do look Mexican!
The early morning start each day still gave me some wonderful opportunities to click pictures.
One of the most meaningful parts of the journey was near the 500 km mark near Foncebadón. It is the Cruz de Ferro, also known as the iron cross. This is the place many people leave the rock they have been carrying from the start of the journey. You leave it there to symbolically release burdens, forgive and let go of your worries. I reached there early morning and tried to do all the three. It was a beautiful moment because everyone sat there in silence and just in a contemplative mood.
This was probably the only stop where I did not have any conversation with people around me.
Each day was a struggle now. I gave a lot of business to the pharmacies on the way and tried gels, painkillers, bandaid, sports tape to get some relief from the pain, the blisters and other injuries. A particular gel, which had the picture of what looked like the medicinal plant popularised by Bob Marley, was especially effective in numbing the pain within 15 minutes of applying it!
The route started getting a lot more busier because some people do only Lyon to Santiago stretch and many of them just do the last 100 kms.
And now the hostels can get full quickly, so for the last 3 days I started making bookings for the evening at the start of the day itself.
On 3rd August I was still 40+ km away from the destination. Did a 5.30 am start and exactly 12 hours later I was at the finish line.
I went to the pilgrim reception center to get the “certificate”.
The volunteer who helped me said she hadn’t met any Indian in her last few years of volunteering. (Actually I did meet an Indian guy on the trail 4 days before the end but he would have finished a day after me). It was an emotional moment when she congratulated me for finishing it and said I should be very proud of myself.
I went to the Cathedral and for the next couple of hours I sat outside admiring it’s beauty and just recapping the whole journey in my mind. I did not feel pride but just a great sense of satisfaction for having completed what I set out to do.
The people I met on the way (My Camino Family) and the conversations I had made this a very meaningful and impactful experience. But the standout part was the long stretches of hiking alone and getting hours and hours to introspect and think. I do feel it has changed me as a person.
I hope some of you get a chance to undertake this journey at some point of time.
Buen Camino !