Hu didn’t think the terrain was particularly harsh, but walking up to 25 miles each day in 100-degree Fahrenheit heat proved difficult in itself. “It was very tiring, but very rewarding,” Hu said. “It’s hard on the body, but it’s very good training. I think I’d do it again, because I think you’d get more out of it if you did it for longer.”
power of pilgrimage
Paul Christie, CEO of Walk Japan, which runs off-the-beaten-path walking tours in Japan, says there has been a surge in the number of tourists taking guided pilgrimage tours. “Our experience shows that interest in pilgrimage is a natural outgrowth of the growing general demand for walking across a wide range of age groups and nationalities,” says Christie.
But Guy Hayward, co-founder of the British Pilgrimage Trust, which promotes inclusive pilgrimage, says not everyone embraces the more secular view. “It’s clear that there are die-hards who believe there is only one way to perform the pilgrimage and it has to be very dedicated,” Hayward says. “But my hope is that they understand that pilgrimage can be a kind of side street for people to encounter deeper aspects of themselves.”
Kimberly Davis, 35, a marathon runner from Toronto, completed the 480-mile Camino Francis from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port through the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I decided to walk.
(Is the Camino over yet?Let’s try the Shikoku 88 Sacred Sites Trail. )
