What if my backpack gets run over by a bus...

[DharmaBum]

G'day,
I hope to be walking the Camino Frances from SJPdP to Santiago during this coming year. I will be traveling very light with only the minimal that i will require for the 4/5 weeks that i'll be walking. Unfortunately equipment breaks, gets lost, gets left behind or may even get run over by a bus (long story). My question is: are there any "outdoor" equipment stores along the Way in case i need to replace something and where can they be found? With the vast majority of pilgrims being Spanish, they must get their equipment somewhere.
Thank you much.

 

[Kiwi-family]

There are certainly places to buy things - or you might even pick up everything you need from the throw-away boxes in albergues! However, this may not be necessary, as if your backpack is run over by a bus, you are more than likely to be squashed with it. Never say never!

 

[simply B]

Check out Decathlon locations in Spain. Plus you have Caminoteca in Pamplona and a couple (as I remember) Planeta Agua (Logrono and Viana).

Leon is the last place with large selection then Astorga is pretty much your last chance though I cannot recall the name of the shops there. (Only two as I remember, one was just off the plaza across from a chocolate shop.)

It seems to me that Ponferrada should have one but I cannot recall seeing one on either visit.

So...don't get your pack run over after Astorga (or maybe Ponferrada).

B

 

[LesBrass]

My question is: are there any "outdoor" equipment stores along the Way in case i need to replace something and where can they be found?

Hello or G'day back at you

There are lots and lots of places where you can buy great gear ... and really helpful and knowledgeable staff too.

Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon and Astorga will have everything you could need. I bought new boots in a brilliant sports shop in Estella which is not a big town at all.

But, a few days in I decided I needed a sleeping bag rather than the liner I had, and it was a couple of weeks before I hit town when the shops were open. This was just been down to bad luck, public holidays and weekends... but if you do need something maybe think ahead to when you're in the big towns.

hope this helps ease your worries! it's a lovely walk in spring time

 

[GreatDane]

Planeta Agua

There's also a Planeta Agua in Zubiri (where I witnessed two people getting the oh too bad shrug from the unscrupulous shop keep lady. Both bought 2 trekking poles. She'd adjust the first one and send you on your way. Both people attempted the same method of adjustment on pole #2 and both poles broke. She wanted to sell them then yet another pole - without adjustment again!!!)

 

[C clearly]

So...don't get your pack run over after Astorga (or maybe Ponferrada).

Equipment is available in Sarria, which is after Astorga and Ponferrada.

 

[simply B]

There's also a Planeta Agua in Zubiri

Equipment is available in Sarria, which is after Astorga and Ponferrada.

Thank you both for the corrections! Zubiri??? Don't know how I could have missed that one, @GreatDane ! (But, based upon your observation, I think I would give it a miss in any event.)

And, yes, Sarria seemed to me that it should have one but when we enquired of some of the locals, we got shrugs. I guess I will be doing some online research to ID the locations. If you happen to remember name or location, @C clearly, can you share? Thanks!

B

 

[drvnsmiln]

I was able to purchase a raincoat/pack cover (Ferrin0) in Ponferrada. A small sporting goods store behind and up the hill (east) from the fortress. It saved the rest of my Camino!

 

[jirit]

I ran into a guy while walking the VdlP

He told me his story that he had walked from Scotland and had all of his gear and money stolen in Pamplona while walking the Camino Frances, a few years earlier.

That said, he still managed to continue on to Santiago supported by generous charity of others that helped him out along the way.

Mind you, if a bus runs over your pack, this probably means the bus ran over you too.

If this happens, looking for a replacement pack might be low on your list of things to do next.

As people say always - the camino provides but miracles are still rare.

 

[Icacos]

Let's stop talking about anybody/anything being run over by a bus!!! @DharmaBum, you're going to have a thoroughly wonderful Buen Camino.

 

[GreatDane]

Zubiri??? Don't know how I could have missed that one,

I was there mid-Sept 2014. It was on the main road, just past the bridge and on the corner (if I remember right!!) on the left across the street from Albergue Zaldiko.

 

[zzotte]

DharmaBum welcome to the forum, except from the very small towns you can find just about everything you need it may not be the high tech supper dupper merino wool blend with coconut fiber and 8% spandex but you definitely find what you need. But be carefull out there and try not to loose your backpack unless off course its empty because all your stuff was left at the albergue or worst under a bus as you know no one here ever lost anything


Zzotte

 

[simply B]

I was there mid-Sept 2014. It was on the main road, just past the bridge and on the corner (if I remember right!!) on the left across the street from Albergue Zaldiko.

Thanks @GreatDane! I was there a bit more than 4 months earlier but remember being pretty exhausted that afternoon for a number of reasons. I must have missed it owing to diminished observational skills. I know that nobody else ever suffers from this.

I will note this as a "possible" in my personal guide for if/when I can get back.

B

 

[Deleted member 43985]

Thank you both for the corrections! Zubiri??? Don't know how I could have missed that one, @GreatDane ! (But, based upon your observation, I think I would give it a miss in any event.)

And, yes, Sarria seemed to me that it should have one but when we enquired of some of the locals, we got shrugs. I guess I will be doing some online research to ID the locations. If you happen to remember name or location, @C clearly, can you share? Thanks!

B

Hi @simply B - the store in Sarria is called Peregrinoteca (http://www.peregrinoteca.com/tienda/) and is right on the camino as you go through town, just before the long flights of stairs. I took a few screen shots that show the location and gear inside of the store.

 

[Icacos]

....... I have no doubt that my camino will be thoroughly wonderful - it can't help but be, mainly because of the thoroughly wonderful pilgrims that i will surely meet along the Way

In addition to the thorough absence of tuk tuks!

 

[Stivandrer]

I was impressed by the huge and wonderful cows you meet once in a while in some lane, coming home to milking and you wonder if you will get squashed by these oncoming bovines. But usually the waters part and one is let unscathed. As yet no reports of crushed pilgrims on this account...Yet rather a cow than a tuktuk !

In Astorga, go for one of the main squares at this great Mochilia, take the steps down left to where an Austrian has a well supplied store of gear...

 

[movinmaggie]

So here's my tale of woe - In 1990 i was in Mumbai and had just gotten out of the tuk tuk i was riding in and had rested my then backpack on the curb next to me, which then proceeded to to topple over onto the roadway and was promptly crushed by not one but several oncoming vehicles. So it can happen - an example of Murphy's Law perhaps?
Icacos - I have no doubt that my camino will be thoroughly wonderful - it can't help but be, mainly because of the thoroughly wonderful pilgrims that i will surely meet along the Way

DB, as a seasoned volunteer in India, this would definitely be the place for something like this to happen - highly unlikely on the Camino. Think positive. Buen Camino.

 

[mcopeland]

But, a few days in I decided I needed a sleeping bag rather than the liner I had

Was this on your Camino? We are walking in later April-May and were thinking of just a liner. Mary

 

[SYates]

Was this on your Camino? We are walking in later April-May and were thinking of just a liner. Mary

Take a light sleeping bag, it can get cold in the mountains/hills at night and blankets are not always clean and not always enough. Buen Camino, SY

 

[obinjatoo]

If your backpack gets run over by a bus youo might count it as a blessing.... Imagine NOT having to carry all that crap around, what a relief!

 

[LesBrass]

Was this on your Camino? We are walking in later April-May and were thinking of just a liner. Mary

It was in September and during the day it was very hot but at night I often woke due to cold. I don't like sleeping warm so I was surprised... I loved feeling warm again after astorga!

 

[simply B]

Hi @simply B - the store in Sarria is called Peregrinoteca

Thanks a lot, @jozero !

B

 

[DharmaBum]

If your backpack gets run over by a bus youo might count it as a blessing.... Imagine NOT having to carry all that crap around, what a relief!

A life's lesson here - the less crap you carry around with you, both literally and figuratively, is a blessing and a relief. The bigger the "load" the more suffering.

 

[SYates]

... My question is: Are there any "outdoor" equipment stores along the Way ...

Yes, plenty! Buen Camino, SY

 

[fraluchi]

Let's stop talking about anybody/anything being run over by a bus!!!

Right! 90% of the Caminos are on narrow paths where buses are unlikely to pass. However.... watch out for bikers

 

[Castilian]

It seems to me that Ponferrada should have one but I cannot recall seeing one on either visit.

There are several options in Ponferrada like, for example, a Sprinter store (www.sprinter.es/tienda-deportes-ponferrada), a Decathlon Easy store (www.decathlon.es/es/store?store_id=PS_ES_1081), a Forum Sport store (www.forumsport.com/nuestras-tiendas) and some others. Forum Sport and Sprinter, as well as Decathlon, are present in other camino towns too.

 

[JillGat]

I think you should spend a lot of time worrying about what will happen if a bus runs over your back pack.

 

[Fritz]

In 2013 I shopped at a little shop in Castrojeriz, at the end of the covered Plaza Mayor. If I remember right, it was very close to the municipal Alburgue. The shopkeeper had sleeping bags and other camping equipment and as I remember, the store was floor to ceiling with other items.

I am guessing it is still there.

 

[Susan Peacock]

Don't worry about your stuff......The Camino provides and the Camino takes away; in the case of my Fitbit that I lost and this helped free my mind.
We lost the packing cube containing my walking partners other set of clothes, so all she had was what she had on her back. We made it work until we got to a town with a store. In the process we discovered that sharing worked and that underwear have two sides. It really helped us understand just how little we need. In fact, you can wear your poncho while you wash your clothes.

 

[Rob the Slob]

(...) and that underwear have two sides (...)

This is something that most men could have told you for free.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Worse comes to worst, if you are in an agricultural area (and much of the camino is) go to the "farmer shop." That's where farmers buy supplies for their cows and sheep as well as new boots, socks, hats, rain gear for themselves. It's where I go to buy LOTS of my camino gear, because they sell very good quality things without all the pseudo-scientific sports marketing BS (and matching massive prices.) Depending on the town it can be called a ferreteria, an "agro-veterinaria," or agri-jardineria."

I warn people about the Decathlon stores... I would only go there if I was desperate. Their low prices are reflected in the quality of a lot of the goods.

 

[MichaelSG]

The places where I have bought gear and have been very happy with are at the Decathlon store near the park in Logroño, the well-stocked little outdoor shop near the municipal albergue in Castrojeriz and the decent-sized camping store near the main church in Carrion de los Condes.

My guess is that you may not be able to replace gear everyday of the French route if you are only walking but a reasonable taxi ride, patience or some duct tape will save your Camino.

 

[purplesage]

There are certainly places to buy things - or you might even pick up everything you need from the throw-away boxes in albergues! However, this may not be necessary, as if your backpack is run over by a bus, you are more than likely to be squashed with it. Never say never!

A W E S O M E !!!

 

[jennyb]

Yes, there are plenty shops along the way.
I needed a new pair of shoes and we were taken to a large CARREFOUR? shopping mall in Ponferrada.
But be careful!!! The shoes I wanted were on sale but because my Spanish is not up to standard, I was informed that the sale had ended! YET all the sale prices were still advertised! I argued until I was blue in the face - to no avail! I had to pay full price as I needed the shoes desperately!