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Pilgrim's Road: A Journey to Santiago de Compostela
Since the tenth century, pilgrims have travelled the ancient roads through France and Spain that lead to Santiago de Compostela, the legendary shrine of St James the Apostle. Travelling in groups for safety, they braved marauding Moorish armies, raging torrents and fearsome mountain passes, trusting in the protection afforded them by the emblem of St James, a scallop shell.
A thousand years later, Bettina Selby tackled the pilgrim's trail alone and on a bicycle, finding the scallop shell still a powerful talisman, opening doors and providing shelter. Through tiny hamlets seemingly untouched by the twentieth century and the awe-inspiring beauty of the Pyrenees, Bettina Selby discovered a vibrant tradition that lures more and more people to become pilgrims on the road to the 'Field of the Star'.
A thousand years later, Bettina Selby tackled the pilgrim's trail alone and on a bicycle, finding the scallop shell still a powerful talisman, opening doors and providing shelter. Through tiny hamlets seemingly untouched by the twentieth century and the awe-inspiring beauty of the Pyrenees, Bettina Selby discovered a vibrant tradition that lures more and more people to become pilgrims on the road to the 'Field of the Star'.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Bettina Selby
37 books4 followersAt the age of 47 I found myself free of commitments. I decided the time had at last come to do what I had long wanted, namely, to see something of the wilder regions of the world. I had already discovered the eminent suitability of a bicycle for travel and exploration, and so, with little more ado, I set out to see something of the Himalayas.
My first objective was Pakistan. I planned to ride from Karachi to Kathmandhu; going first along the line of the Indus River, and then weaving my way in and out of the Himalayan Valleys of India and Nepal. Five months and five thousand miles later I achieved my goal. Back home I set to work on the account of this journey. I called it RIDING THE MOUNTAINS DOWN, after a poem by e.e.cummings.
With the book published and selling well,with various foreign translations, I was commissioned to write another book.
This was a very different undertaking. I decided to make a journey from London to Jerusalem following the routes of the Medieval Crusaders and early Christian pilgrims. As physically challenging as the Himalayan journey, it was also one of the most enjoyable long distance rides I ever made, and not just for the many different countries and cultures I passed through, but particularly for the numerous and amazing sites of antiquity that I had long wanted to explore. RIDING TO JERUSALEM is the account.
My third long journey was a far more dangerous enterprise. I followed the course of the Nile from its Delta on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, through the length of Egypt and Sudan to the Mountains of the Moon in Uganda. It was a journey that presented great contrasts - the most stunning African landscapes and wonderful and diverse peoples on the one hand, and on the other the terrible problems of drought, poverty, desertification and the plight of refugees. And always there was the problem of my own survival; of staying alive in the deserts; of finding food and clean water; and of steering a way through the skirmishes of the Sudanese civil war and the aftermath of the Ugandan massacres. The account of this journey, published as 'RIDING THE DESERT TRAIL', is available in German as 'AH AGALA'
A second African journey centred on yet another of that continent's great rivers. This time I followed the strange course of the Niger, which bites deep into the Sahara Desert before turning back on itself, as Mungo Park first discovered,to flow through some of the poorest countries in West Africa. Through the remote desert lands of the Sahel, home to the last of Africa’s nomadic tribes, through Niger and Mali, I struggled with the sand and the climate to get to Timbuktu. Again beauty and hardship were the two poles of the experience. The terrible beauty of an inimical desert terrain permeated by the ghosts of the past, of black empires steeped in gold and the slave trade.`FRAIL DREAM OF TIMBUKTU' is also available in a German translation as `TIMBUKTU'
I have also written two books about my own country. RIDING NORTH ONE SUMMER was intended as a celebration of the English landscape seen through the web of its history. It was as good a summer bicycle jaunt as I ever took - three months of cycle/camping through the byways of England, discovering a green and pleasant land that still existed there, away from the motorways. Like all journeys, it produced its own surprises.
My other `home book’, 'THE FRAGILE ISLANDS', is about the Outer Hebrides - a string of small remote islands off the North West coast of Scotland. I find them as exotic as the remotest places I’ve travelled in, and even after spending a very wet summer there in a very small tent, my love for these Western Isles remains undimmed.
More recently I travelled in Eastern Turkey, going by way of the little explored and horrendously mountainous Black Sea Coast, before heading up into the even more mountainous lands of Kurdistan and Armenia, and on through the vast plains to Mount Ararat with its legends of Noah and t
My first objective was Pakistan. I planned to ride from Karachi to Kathmandhu; going first along the line of the Indus River, and then weaving my way in and out of the Himalayan Valleys of India and Nepal. Five months and five thousand miles later I achieved my goal. Back home I set to work on the account of this journey. I called it RIDING THE MOUNTAINS DOWN, after a poem by e.e.cummings.
With the book published and selling well,with various foreign translations, I was commissioned to write another book.
This was a very different undertaking. I decided to make a journey from London to Jerusalem following the routes of the Medieval Crusaders and early Christian pilgrims. As physically challenging as the Himalayan journey, it was also one of the most enjoyable long distance rides I ever made, and not just for the many different countries and cultures I passed through, but particularly for the numerous and amazing sites of antiquity that I had long wanted to explore. RIDING TO JERUSALEM is the account.
My third long journey was a far more dangerous enterprise. I followed the course of the Nile from its Delta on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, through the length of Egypt and Sudan to the Mountains of the Moon in Uganda. It was a journey that presented great contrasts - the most stunning African landscapes and wonderful and diverse peoples on the one hand, and on the other the terrible problems of drought, poverty, desertification and the plight of refugees. And always there was the problem of my own survival; of staying alive in the deserts; of finding food and clean water; and of steering a way through the skirmishes of the Sudanese civil war and the aftermath of the Ugandan massacres. The account of this journey, published as 'RIDING THE DESERT TRAIL', is available in German as 'AH AGALA'
A second African journey centred on yet another of that continent's great rivers. This time I followed the strange course of the Niger, which bites deep into the Sahara Desert before turning back on itself, as Mungo Park first discovered,to flow through some of the poorest countries in West Africa. Through the remote desert lands of the Sahel, home to the last of Africa’s nomadic tribes, through Niger and Mali, I struggled with the sand and the climate to get to Timbuktu. Again beauty and hardship were the two poles of the experience. The terrible beauty of an inimical desert terrain permeated by the ghosts of the past, of black empires steeped in gold and the slave trade.`FRAIL DREAM OF TIMBUKTU' is also available in a German translation as `TIMBUKTU'
I have also written two books about my own country. RIDING NORTH ONE SUMMER was intended as a celebration of the English landscape seen through the web of its history. It was as good a summer bicycle jaunt as I ever took - three months of cycle/camping through the byways of England, discovering a green and pleasant land that still existed there, away from the motorways. Like all journeys, it produced its own surprises.
My other `home book’, 'THE FRAGILE ISLANDS', is about the Outer Hebrides - a string of small remote islands off the North West coast of Scotland. I find them as exotic as the remotest places I’ve travelled in, and even after spending a very wet summer there in a very small tent, my love for these Western Isles remains undimmed.
More recently I travelled in Eastern Turkey, going by way of the little explored and horrendously mountainous Black Sea Coast, before heading up into the even more mountainous lands of Kurdistan and Armenia, and on through the vast plains to Mount Ararat with its legends of Noah and t
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 28, 2020
I have now read a few books on the Camino de Santiago, and still my fascination continues. Bettina Selby is an engaging, honest, insightful and knowledgeable commentator, and the reader is carried away on her bicycle 'pilgrimage', sharing her highs and lows. I further liked the fact that Bettina is obviously Christian, but does seek to proselytize. Must say I also share her astonishment, when during a service along her journey, non-Catholics were allowed to share in the Holy Communion, in Spain, a supposedly 'strict' Catholic country. I enjoyed this read.
June 17, 2021
Those who don't like Dervla Murphy's style may like Bettina Selby's: less caustic, more compassionate.
October 28, 2018
One of my themes for 2018 was to take in as much travel writing by women writers as possible. Bettina Selby's book "Pilgrim's Road: A Journey to Santiago d Compostela" entered my reading list and I found her travel log an enjoyable read. Ms. Selby traveled by Bicycle along this historic pilgrimage trail, and her adventures of trying to find any church open, as well as the weather, made for an enjoyable escape. You will struggle to find a more earnest account of this pilgrimage.
February 14, 2022
Wonderful account of the author’s pilgrimage to Santiago by bike. Ms Selby followed the Camino Frances. She traveled in April starting in Vezelay. Understated descriptions of what must have been phenomenal scenery and architecture.
February 8, 2015
A bicycle pilgrimage! I've been halfheartedly hoping to get my hands on a copy of The De-Caff Camino: A 500 Mile Cycling Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, just out of curiosity (a number of other memoirists have been a bit...tetchy...about cycling pilgrims), but lo! I found this instead.
Selby is an experienced traveller -- an experienced bicycling traveller, at that. As such, she doesn't suffer too much from isolation or physical exertion; moreover, she travels with a tent and is perfectly well prepared for rustic accommodations.
Making her trek in spring rather than summer seems to have been both a stroke of luck for Selby -- it's never difficult for her to secure space in a refugio (and not because, as other writers moan, she was travelling faster -- simply because there were so few other pilgrims) -- and a source of struggle, as the weather was often not obliging. She takes it all in stride, though, approaching setbacks with the philosophy that they make the trip that much more...real? She's reluctant to call herself a pilgrim, actually, it seems that she never quite thinks she's suffered enough for it.
Actually, this book reminds me a fair bit of Walk in a Relaxed Manner -- Selby's not Catholic, but she and Rupp both seem determined to approach the journey, and (inter)actions along the journey, in a mindful manner.
Selby is an experienced traveller -- an experienced bicycling traveller, at that. As such, she doesn't suffer too much from isolation or physical exertion; moreover, she travels with a tent and is perfectly well prepared for rustic accommodations.
Making her trek in spring rather than summer seems to have been both a stroke of luck for Selby -- it's never difficult for her to secure space in a refugio (and not because, as other writers moan, she was travelling faster -- simply because there were so few other pilgrims) -- and a source of struggle, as the weather was often not obliging. She takes it all in stride, though, approaching setbacks with the philosophy that they make the trip that much more...real? She's reluctant to call herself a pilgrim, actually, it seems that she never quite thinks she's suffered enough for it.
Actually, this book reminds me a fair bit of Walk in a Relaxed Manner -- Selby's not Catholic, but she and Rupp both seem determined to approach the journey, and (inter)actions along the journey, in a mindful manner.
July 18, 2014
I enjoyed this book. A friend who'd read it gave it to me as she knew I've often hankered after walking some part of the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage route, whether in France or the more traditional later Spanish stages. This book whets the appetite anew. Selby's descriptions of the varying countryside, of churches and monasteries, whether simple or splendid, of hostel life and fellow travellers encountered are described with affection and enthusiasm. Yes, I'd still like to go, and she's converted me to the idea of a winter or very early Spring journey. But cycling, sometimes on busy main roads? Camping alone? No, not a chance. I admire Selby's resilience, and noted with interest her growing spirituality as the journey proceeded, but spending a freezing night in a chilly field doesn't feature high on my list of Things to Achieve in life. If you enjoy travel books, Spain and France, if you're thinking of doing the Compostella Pilgrimage route, you'll find reading this book should tempt you afresh.
November 21, 2016
I have read several books on this subject, this one is the best Bettina has that natural talent to convey so much using so few words, humorous, optimistic and realistic, she describes everything so vividly you think you are actually there.
April 6, 2011
more santiago do compostela .by bike this time..bettina selby seems determined to make things harder than they need to be..
October 1, 2011
Makes me want to do the pilgrimage.
May 14, 2014
Essential reading to anyone interested in travel literature in general and the history of the Camino in particular.
December 2, 2012
Not sure if this is the book I read ...
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews