We were not bitten but actually saw them in the beds. One of the hotels was a very nice upscale property in Samos. I should do it every time as we encountered our first bugs in January this year.īoth times were not in albergues but in hotels. Keeps every thing dry even when the pack cover or poncho has problems keeping it out. I put the bag inside and put everything back in when rain is in the air. The garbage bag also doubles as rain protection inside the pack. Hopefully, that will help guard against the pack getting infested at that point. When I am in a suspect albergue (or hotel/pension) I put the pack into the plastic bag before I set it down. I have always taken a black garbage bag that my pack will fit in. I then do the post-camino cleanup of my clothes and equipment. I have had success with putting everything into a large plastic garbage bag (my wife insists that the pack go into it at baggage pickup at the airport), which is then spayed with permethrin and left closed for two weeks in the garage (it includes what I wore on the plane). Everything should be treated as contaminated when you return home. Bugs may live in walls and crevices, but they can end up in your pack, equipment, or clothes their eggs, too. You are in danger, or perhaps more accurately, your equipment is in danger right up to being put on the airplane. By the time you see them, they have had a week to hatch from eggs, they have traveled from where you came, and they have traveled to where you are going. Pilgrims move the bugs and their eggs along the Camino. The spraying of albergues seems to be the most common treatment method. I've known many pilgrims who just thought they had mosquito bites until someone informed them.Ĭlick to expand.There are a lot of techniques suggested on websites about bed bugs, but not a lot of them have been adopted on the Camino. I really feel there needs to be an educational paper given out when people get their credentials.

So it's often not the fault of the hospitalero/owner, but rather the fault of pilgrims who don't know (or don't care) that they're carrying bugs.

I also know of places where the owner literally took every bed out and blowtorched the metal frames and replaced the mattresses, only to have bugs the next week brought in by pilgrims. I've experienced bugs there several times and eventually stopped staying. The second, when I reported the bugs, the owner merely shrugged and gave me my money back more than once. I've found bugs there every time I tried and have personally seen many pilgrims who were horribly bitten there. One of those places is always filthy and I no longer stay there. However, there are at least 2 places I know of that consistently have bugs. I also know that MOST places are vigilant.

I've stayed in places where people were bitten and I didn't get a bite.

Hatch rest sound machine bugs