Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[MichaeLeahy]

Hi

As I prepare for my Camino, the thought occurred to me about the safety of rucks in refugios. After arriving, I would like to be able to go out to either explore or enjoy tapas or have dinner.

While I would never leave a wallet or passport or camera behind, is it safe to leave a ruck in the refugio or should I expect to carry everything with me as I go around the town/village?

Any opinions or experiences?

Michael

[Liv Marit]

Hi, Michael !

On my first week on the Camino in May, me and my fellow travellers always left the backpack besides the bed in the refugios when we got out for food or sightseeing. I never missed anything, and I will do the same the rest of the way to Santiago in september.

Buen Camino !

Liv

[katarina]

[quote="Liv Marit"]Hi, Michael !

On my first week on the Camino in May, me and my fellow travellers always left the backpack besides the bed in the refugios when we got out for food or sightseeing. I never missed anything, and I will do the same the rest of the way to Santiago in September.

Buen Camino !

Liv :)[/quote]


Yes it is very save to leave your backpack.
I been there 4 times and all was going really good
don't worry all the pelegrinos leave there things .
Just watch out for your money and your passport
,that is important
Josephine

[marktqm]

Generally, it is safe to leave one's backpack beside the bed as you go around town, but in some refugios (esp. the private ones) there are lockers that you can use. No one will probably take interest in your pack unless you let others see you stashing your expensive digicam inside it before going to the shower or going out. When I go to the shower I take the money and credit cards with me in a thin belt bag but I leave the passport and camera in the deepest recesses of the backpack, making sure no one has seen me.

Be warned though that some people around you are fake pilgrims with evil intent. Theft along the camino is not unknown.

[rioja routard]

Hello

Sad as it seems there are thefts, just reading smillers blog on yahoo confirms this, a considerable sum of money was stolen from her Canadian friend Aidan. This is a really sad thing to behold.

I've often wondered when in the showers about my belongings but to judge other fellow pilgrims as dishonest displays a lack of trust and not very neighbourly.

We can just console ourselves that those who choose to steal from others are in the minority.

I'm off to Longoño on Wendesday to walk to Burgos.

Buen Camino

[Liv Marit]

Hi again !

Of course, you NEVER leave your little bag with passport, visa-card, plane-ticket or big money. Or anything else you would not like to miss. If you have a camera or mobile-phone, you could think about whether you would like to remove the cards in them. I never did, and all my 1084 pictures got home safely, even if I did'nt take my camera with me in the shower.

I cannot imagine anyone would steal my smellegrino-clothes in my smellegrino-backpack. And after the posts about bed-bugs, I can neither imagine people's sleeping-bags being in danger of theft.

Take care and be smart.

Buen camino ! I envy you. Santiago was beautiful last week......
Liv

[Ulysse]

Hi again !

Of course, you NEVER leave your little bag with passport,Liv

Glad to see that you made it safely back Liv and that you remember how to treat your "mistress" .... Hugs and kisses from your old companion.

Michel

[vinotinto]

I always left my backpack in the albergues, and never had a problem.

That said, I took everything irreplaceable or of extreme value (money, ID, credit cards, passport, camera, guidebook, credencial) with me in a small daypack wherever I went. At night, I locked the zippers with a small TSA lock (and usually kept them locked while walking around in big cities to foil folks w/smooth fingers), and when I hit the rack I secured the daypack to the bedpost next to my head with a PacSafe cable lock.

Perhaps I was paranoid, but I wasn't taking any chances on some dirtbag ruining a once-in-a-lifetime experience like the Camino. And all that helped me not to forget my valuables - like a gal who left her wallet behind in an albergue. Despite one of the worker's heroic efforts to catch her (he ran up a huge hill outside of town - I think it was Castrojeriz), he was unable to track her down (perhaps she was a biker).

Bottom line, I like the proverb: "Trust God, but tie up your camel."

[Janeh]

Vinotinto, could you please explain what a TSA lock is and also how heavy or what type was your cable lock?thanks.

[John Hussey]

I left everything on my bunk each night from France to Finisterra and never lost a thing. But I almost always had a small fanny pack (worn to the front) with me that kept my small journal, digital camera, passport and funds. There were times, though, that, tired, I'd forget and leave even that upon the bunk with my other stuff when I walked off to find the shower, yet it was always there when I returned and spotted it, vowing never to do it again. The Camino is amazingly crime free. But it is, regrettably not entirely so.

[vinotinto]

Vinotinto, could you please explain what a TSA lock is and also how heavy or what type was your cable lock?thanks.

A TSA lock is one that can be opened by US airline security folks with a special key (so they don't have to cut it). It's just a small (about the size of your thumb) 3-dial combination lock used to secure zippers on packs, bags, etc. Makers include Lewis N. Clark and Eagle Creek.

My cable lock was an early model of the Pacsafe Retractasafe cable lock. It's a self-contained 3-dial combination unit about as big as a deck of cards. The approx. 90cm/35in. steel cable extends from (and rolls up into) the hard plastic casing, loops around the bag (or through, say, a handle) and locks it to a secure fixture (the end of the cable snaps into the case, thus creating a loop).

[notion900]

If you put locks on your pack it just makes it look like there is something valuable in it. Dirty socks are a good deterrent. And as everyone else says, keep your valuables on you at all times, including in the shower. I had someone riffle through my pack while I was washing, they didn't get anything, ha ha!! The less you take the less there is to worry about. I didn't take a mobile phone and never missed it.