Surviving Snoring on the Camino

It was half past one in the morning when I first heard it. I sat bolt upright in the dormitory terrified. At first I thought it must have been a nightmare. Nevertheless, I felt tense. I sat there in the bed looking around in the darkness for any signs of it. After several minutes, I realised I was being silly and lay back down again hoping to get some sleep before the long day ahead.

As I lay there gathering my thoughts and trying to drift back to sleep, it happened again. It was unmistakable. It was the deafening roar of an Ape. Well fast forward to the next day and it turns out that it actually was mistakable. Apparently it was the sound of an Italian man sleeping. As I continued along the Camino, stories of this particular man kept popping up.

He was notorious among the other pilgrims walking the camino at this time. Just to be clear, it wasn’t snoring, it was a noise that no human should be making. Frankly, this man needed a priest. And he wasn’t alone. There were a few other thunderous snorers on the trail too.

If I embark on another camino, I will be absolutely sure to pack military grade earplugs. Another guy had these and he said that they worked a treat. Unfortunately I just packed cheap foam earplugs and it turns out these were about as effective as a shot of espresso in helping me get to sleep.

Despite this I should say that I had an absolutely brilliant time walking the Camino. I met so many amazing people and got to share so many unique experiences with quite a few of them. If you are at all curious about embarking on the Camino, I would encourage you to go for it. You will not regret it. Just please bring decent earplugs!