Bed Bugs on the Norte ???????

[Bem48]

Hola and Hi everyone,

who can give me advice on this rather itchy topic "BED BUGS"??
I will be walking the "Norte" in May to mid June. Walked the "Frances" same time in 2008
and infrequently had encounters with BBs on route, not on myself, but with/on fellow-peregrinos.
Remember that most people affected had started their walk in France !?!? And brought the problem with them.
Heard and read now, that in the last couple of years this problem has grown .....especially on the "Frances and mainly in the hotter summer months.

Anyone knows if there is a problem on the "Norte" at this time of the year and in general ? And what is the best advice to prevent and/or treat?

Thank you and BUEN CAMINO
Bem in sunny Sydney

 

[mikevasey]

Hi Bem,

I walked part of the Norte last year, and then walked the Frances later. At the time on the Norte I dont remember hearing, seeing or even talking about bed bugs, not saying there not there, it just didnt seem to be an issue.

From Pamplona onwards on the Frances i saw a lot of people whos caminos were being afflicted by bed bugs, and you right about people starting in France or further a field seem to bring them with them. One couple who started in the French Alps said that the problem is rife in the Gites. This is what could save the Norte from the problems of the Frances, less or hardly any starting further afield.

Hopefully you have a bed bug free journey and Buen Camino.

Mike

 

[viajero]

I encountered bed bugs on the Norte in June, 2009

 

[Bem48]

Thanks Mike,
your experience or better the lack of it (BBs I mean !) is very encouraging. I'm looking very much
forward to a NON-encounter !
Viajero, thanks for your reply also, but where on the Norte in 2009 did you encounter BBs?


Thanx and Buen Camino
Bem

 

[viajero]

I encountered the bed bugs at the albergue in Gernika. My friends spotted the bed bugs crawling around and were moved to a different room (I was in yet another room). There didn't seem to be a great concern with the staff at the albergue in trying to get rid of the bed bugs. Although I did get bit several times, I ,fortunately, did not carry any of the bugs along with me and I believe that was the only albergue where I was bit.
Oh, and another comment (which is contrary to the above posts)...although I started in Irun, I met MANY pilgrims who had walked for weeks before through France (different starting points) before joining the Camino del Norte in Irun.

 

[AJ]

I encountered the bed bugs at the albergue in Gernika.

I too walked the Norte in 2009, starting from San Sebastian late August. I encountered no bedbugs nor any evidence of them. The albergue in Gernika closed a couple of days before I got there.

 

[AJ]

From Pamplona onwards on the Frances i saw a lot of people whos caminos were being afflicted by bed bugs, and you right about people starting in France or further a field seem to bring them with them.Mike

I walked from Vezelay last year and first encountered bedbugs in Leon. I heard that there were bugs in Burgos, but not before.

 

[mikevasey]

I heard that there were bugs in Burgos, but not before.

Hi, I walked later in the year and it was quite mild so the bedbugs had not become inactive yet. But there was at least 3 places with them before Burgos. I had never seen them in my life until Pamplona, one half of the albergue was in uproar at 2am in the morning with people discovering they were covered in bedbugs and were either leaving or going to the laundry. I was on the other side and our half slept through this, it wasnt until the morning when i got woke up and was shown dead bedbugs with blood in them that i got my first ever glimpse of them.

Mike

 

[poogeyejr]

My friend and I are doing the Norte May and June as well. We bought a bed bug kit to keep them at bay, but haven't heard of any on this route.

Where are you starting? When? We are walking into Irun on May 1.

Kathy

 

[Bem48]

Thanks for all your input.....very interesting to read all your experiences etc.
Hi Kathy, what is a bed bug's kit, what's in it and where do you get it??
Never heard of it here in Australia.
I'll be starting in Irun 5th of May and have to be in SdC by 10th of June, should be enough
time, so I hope!
Buen Camino
Bem

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Here is one kit:

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/new-y ... p-271.html

It looks a bit heavy for a back pack!

 

[lynnejohn]

While well-intentioned, I think that there would be some folks in the albergues who would not be happy with these products being sprayed indoors in what are often quite small spaces. I wouldn't.This type of thing should be used in an empty room. (see Q&A on product description).

 

[AJ]

what is a bed bug's kit, what's in it and where do you get it??
Never heard of it here in Australia.

http://www.travelclinic.com.au/permthri ... on-kit.asp

 

[stillz]

Hi all! Does anyone have updates regarding the bedbug issue on the Nortes? Any sightings or albergues to avoid specifically? How was your trip Bem48?

I'm experienced in the outdoors - rain, wind, heat, it's all part of being outside - but bedbugs are another issue. Very difficult to get rid of, psychologically stressful, NOT what I want my Camino to involve! I was very excited and getting ready for a trip this July & August but this is giving me doubts. I suppose it's something to ask about each night.

 

[angulero]

Es difícil que en el norte encuentres chinches. Yo vivo en la costa y nunca los vi. Supongo que el clima tenga algo que ver.

It's hard to find bugs in the north. I live on the coast and never saw them. I guess the weather has something to do.

 

[vanuatu]

Hi,
There are bed bugs at the albergue of Islares (Cantabria). I can see it before the night in june !
But you can sleep to the camping of Islares (not referenced but they start this year the accomodation for pilgrims) or you can go to the albergue municipal at Pontarron de Guriezo (4 km away).

Buen camino !

 

[mikevasey]

Hi, I think the Norte has a bed bug problem, it started off ok, but the closer I got to Oviedo different people I met told of encounters with them at various albergues. Once they are on there in the earlier stages that means at some point the other ones down the line will get infected. There was little control of people putting backpacks on to beds, you can tell someone what might happen if you see them doing it, but that is all you can do. The Hospitaleros seemed to be unaware of this as a potential problem.Maybe they have been on there in numbers for years and the colder weather has kept them in check.

Good luck to you all out there I hope you do not encounter them, but I would treat the Norte the same as the Frances for perhaps there being a bed bug problem.

Mike

 

[SandyBrown]

I just finished the Camino del Norte in June and never saw or heard of a bedbug the entire time.

 

[mikevasey]

Hi I walked in june and had the opposite

 

[anniethenurse]

My friend walked n June, too and she can confirm that there are bed bugs on the Norte.
Be aware and spray your gear before the camino!

 

[Plumber1000]

"Sleep tight don't let the bed bugs bite"

 

[stillz]

Hi all, posting from Guernika and having a great walk so far. I haven't encountered any bedbugs yet but I haven't been asking. Its difficult, especially at the smaller albergues, to ask right up front. Even though it affects my wellbeing it feels rude.

I'm super bummed to hear of these sightings. Any more specific towns/albergues would be helpful, as I can avoid them. Most other pellegrinos are oblivious.

 

[anniethenurse]

Take a routin to do the bed bud controll each time you check in an albergue, casa rural, hostal, hotel. Check the bunk, bed, frame, under the mattress, inside the mattress cover. Look after spots on the wall beside the bed.
Before the camino spray your sleeping bag, boots and backpack with permethrin.
Bed bugs travel in our backpacks from one place to another.
When you encounter bed bugs do shake and wash all your gear, and dry hot. Inform the hospitalero also and they are supposed to help you to get rid of them.

 

[stillz]

Yes, the inspection is part of my daily routine!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Take a foot of rope, and use it to fasten the hoist loop of your backpack to the corner post of the bunk. It is better than putting your pack on the bunk or on the floor. If you put your pack on a chair, I probably will remove it so I can sit in the chair (or some other pilgrim will do so, since the limited chairs are for temporary sitting, not storage ).

 

[vagabondette]

Take a foot of rope, and use it to fasten the hoist loop of your backpack to the corner post of the bunk. It is better than putting your pack on the bunk or on the floor. If you put your pack on a chair, I probably will remove it so I can sit in the chair (or some other pilgrim will do so, since the limited chairs are for temporary sitting, not storage ).

The clothes line made out of small gauge climbing rope with a small 'biner attached to the end works great for this.

 

[Abbeydore]

Take a foot of rope, and use it to fasten the hoist loop of your backpack to the corner post of the bunk. It is better than putting your pack on the bunk or on the floor. If you put your pack on a chair, I probably will remove it so I can sit in the chair (or some other pilgrim will do so, since the limited chairs are for temporary sitting, not storage ).

The clothes line made out of small gauge climbing rope with a small 'biner attached to the end works great for this.

Learn a few knots & forget the carabiner; we took our lightweight clothes lines, luckily they stayed in the bottom of sack.

this is a wonderful website:
http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/in ... dknots.com

http://www.animatedknots.com/indexscout ... dknots.com

 

[anniethenurse]

yes, wonderful website, David.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The last item I leave behind at each final packing at home is a carabiner. I have never missed it on a camino. It seems like such a handy device, but it takes some thinking to find an actual use for it. I agree; knots work really well, and weigh nothing. My clothes line, which I use daily, is elastic, so it is not much use as rope. It clips underneath the top bunk, and hangs clothes where it is hard to forget them (having left two shirts drying in the closets of hostales).

 

[mikevasey]

Just for the record here is where I heard of them,

Laredo -Buen Pastor
Arco Iris, Just after Polanco
San Vincente de la Barrquera - El Galleon
Llanes- Pension Iberia( many pilgrims stay here because it offers you rooms or beds for 10 euros a night)
La Isla- I have stayed here twice and really like it, but there is a lot of old furniture and mattreses.


There is also the possibility that pilgrims may be mistaking mosquito bites for bed bug bites, but I know that the French Peregrina who told me of her bites had walked a dozen Caminos(long ones) and knew what they looked like.

 

[vagabondette]

I know plenty of knots from my sailing days, but my 'biner is an inch long and weighs less than an ounce and makes setting up my line so easy I'd rather just use that on one end rather than deal with knots....

 

[stillz]

Thnk you David. Noted.

 

[stillz]

Sorry. Mike. Tired.