0:00:03 > 0:00:06For centuries, people have walked the Camino de Santiago
0:00:06 > 0:00:09to the shrine of Saint James the apostle in north-west Spain.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16Now, this 800-kilometre pilgrimage is as popular as ever.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21And seven people living in the public eye
0:00:21 > 0:00:24are going to be giving up their hectic modern lives to join it.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27We walk in the same footsteps that the Saints have walked in
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and that's a real privilege and an honour.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Each has their own reason to be here,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36as they seek answers to life's big questions.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39From a comedian who firmly believes God doesn't exist...
0:00:39 > 0:00:42The moment of realisation was when I saw them installing a lightning
0:00:42 > 0:00:43conductor on my local church.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46If YOU'RE not showing any faith, why should I?
0:00:46 > 0:00:47..to an Anglican priest.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49The mistakes we make about priests,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51we expect them to be better than other people,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54but actually, we're not Jesus. We're the disciples.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58- A widow.- I've been there, I know.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01You can't be sad, because there's somebody
0:01:01 > 0:01:03much worse off than you are.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04And a former prisoner.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06What existed was my belief in finding
0:01:06 > 0:01:09the evidence that was going to prove my innocence.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11There was no God involved.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16Over the next 15 days, they'll live together as modern pilgrims.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Cell Block H springs to mind!
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Are we having fun? Are we having fun?
0:01:20 > 0:01:21I don't feel closer to God,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23but I definitely feel closer to death.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26It's a journey that will test them physically.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Some to the point of exhaustion.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31This is sweat. It's hard work.
0:01:31 > 0:01:32It's almost like a panic attack.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35That's got to be one of the most horrible kilometres
0:01:35 > 0:01:37anyone can ever do in their life.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39But will be experience change the way they look at faith?
0:01:39 > 0:01:42I wanted to feel fellowship and community,
0:01:42 > 0:01:44and this has been fellowship and community.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46And how they see themselves?
0:01:46 > 0:01:51I would like to find out whether I still believe in anything.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54We're not the same people as we were when we put our first foot down.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57We've become pilgrims.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15The seven pilgrims have landed in Biarritz, France,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19where they'll say goodbye to many of the comforts of modern life.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Ahead lies an ancient pilgrim path which they'll share with some of the
0:02:28 > 0:02:31176,000 people from around the world
0:02:31 > 0:02:34who walk all or part of it each year.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45They only have 15 days to cover nearly 800km.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48So they'll walk some of the route in sections...
0:02:50 > 0:02:53..before tackling all of the final 100km
0:02:53 > 0:02:57to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Some are looking forward to it more than others.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Comedian Ed Byrne is a seasoned walker.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I am raring to go.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13It's a beautiful day. Apparently, it was tipping it down here yesterday,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15so...this bodes well.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Not so journalist Raphael Rowe.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23- That's a heavy bag?- It is heavy, yeah.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27I don't think I'm looking forward to carrying this for two weeks.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Actor Neil Morrissey is well-prepared.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I think that's mine there.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37That's the Cub Scout in me.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40- Were you in the Scouts, then?- Yeah, I got kicked out for stealing.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45Studying to become a priest didn't prepare
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Kate Bottley for such a physical test.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50I'm feeling pretty terrified, if I'm honest.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52This is so far out of my comfort zone.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Entertainer Debbie McGee has her worries, too.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03I'm pretty nervous about the clothes aspect.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07For 16 days I'd normally have about four suitcases.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Oh, goodness! It's you!
0:04:11 > 0:04:14I can be relieved now.
0:04:14 > 0:04:15- Can you, darling?- Yeah.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Joining them all is singer Heather Small.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23You've got a pretty big sack there, if I may say so.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25- Like hermit crab style. - Super-size.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Back home in London, a good walk for Neil often ends at his local.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Evening.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Growing up and having Catholicism sort of instilled in you
0:04:37 > 0:04:39kind of makes you doubt it later on.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43I have faith in humanity and I have faith in the goodness of people.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Right, cheers.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47But I don't believe in...
0:04:49 > 0:04:51..God.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54But I like the idea of a bit of quiet contemplation in order to
0:04:54 > 0:04:57consider just how the world is.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Merci beaucoup.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09The group, completed by Invictus Games presenter JJ Chalmers,
0:05:09 > 0:05:10is soon on the move.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15OK, I think we're heading up those steps.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18They'll be climbing to an altitude of 800 metres,
0:05:18 > 0:05:20from the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
0:05:20 > 0:05:22at the foot of the French Pyrenees.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35- Bonjour!- Bonjour!
0:05:35 > 0:05:40First, they make a call on Camino historian, Jean-Louis.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43He shows them a guidebook with a difference.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45A medieval companion to the route called
0:05:45 > 0:05:47the Codex Calixtinus.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00The pilgrims will be following an ancient route
0:06:00 > 0:06:03dedicated to the apostle Saint James.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06He was beheaded in 44AD
0:06:06 > 0:06:08in Jerusalem.
0:06:09 > 0:06:10According to legend,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13his body was then taken to north-west Spain and buried.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19His remains were discovered in the ninth century,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22in what is now Santiago de Compostela.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Pilgrims flocked here from all over Europe.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Many taking the old trade route
0:06:28 > 0:06:31through the mountains and hot, dusty plains of northern Spain,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33almost as far as the Atlantic.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42God, I'm out of breath already, we've only done the steps.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43As a first thing.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Yeah, straight into it.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47Oh, there you go, look.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49That's the first sign.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50That's our first arrow.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52And it is pointing this way.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58They'll follow the symbolic way markers all the way to Santiago.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02We always use a seashell in baptism in church.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05The grooves in the seashell are supposed to represent
0:07:05 > 0:07:07all the different paths that everyone takes,
0:07:07 > 0:07:09but they all end up at the same point.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Kate has left the role that made her famous,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18reviewing TV programmes from the comfort of her living room.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21I find myself at a crossroads as a priest at the moment.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23I've just come out of full-time parish ministry.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I'm fascinated to find out what I'm going to learn about,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29not only my identity as Kate, but my identity as priest,
0:07:29 > 0:07:31my identity as a person of faith.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Do I absolutely, 100%,
0:07:35 > 0:07:37I'm convinced of the existence of God?
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Not every minute of every day, no, of course not.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Medieval pilgrims needed a document giving them permission
0:07:45 > 0:07:47to walk the pilgrimage.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Bonjour. Have a seat.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53OK, so the first thing we need to do
0:07:53 > 0:07:56is to get you started with the passport for Compostela.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58OK.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Here's your first stamp for your first day.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Today the stamps give pilgrims the right to cheap accommodation,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08and are proof they've gone the distance.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11This is the all-important passport.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Yes, it is. And we'll...
0:08:13 > 0:08:16- First stamp.- And follow the signs that will tell you where to go.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18- OK.- It's just straight up the mountain.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20First down and then up.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24- You say mountain? - It's a pretty big hill!
0:08:24 > 0:08:26- Is it?- OK.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Hills are my nemesis, I really don't like hills.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Apparently the elevation is "tres severe", as they say.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40My friends and I require passports.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42- Yes, you do.- We understand you're someone
0:08:42 > 0:08:44who can sort these things out.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Yes, I do. For a fee!
0:08:46 > 0:08:47Oh, of course.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49- Always for a fee!- 3 euros, please.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53- Camino.- Stamp one just happened.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54Stamp two will happen.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58So it's kind of a jolly route of stamping ahead of us.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09As the group head out of town, the heavens open.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11I'm going in. Are you going in?
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You go in. I'm going to take this opportunity
0:09:14 > 0:09:16to put the cover on my ruckie.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19The chance to shelter from the rain
0:09:19 > 0:09:23in a church dating from the 13th century splits the group into two.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27There's quiet contemplation inside...
0:09:29 > 0:09:31..polite refusal outside,
0:09:31 > 0:09:33as three pilgrims opt to shelter
0:09:33 > 0:09:35under the entrance gate instead.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41So, Neil, Ed and Raph didn't come into the church, but for me,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43it doesn't really matter.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I don't think God's any less with them than he is with me
0:09:46 > 0:09:49because I came in, it's not like a good luck charm.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51We don't think, "Oh, well, God's not going to
0:09:51 > 0:09:52"make sure they do the walk."
0:09:52 > 0:09:55It doesn't work like that, God's everywhere, and not just in church.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57It's weird, isn't it?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Because I work in places like this.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02This is like my office.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05But it's not where God's to be found, necessarily.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08I think we're much more likely to find a spiritual place
0:10:08 > 0:10:10on that hillside than we are in a building.
0:10:13 > 0:10:14I've never lit a candle in a church.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Do you not come from any kind of a religion?
0:10:19 > 0:10:21No, I didn't.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Nobody in my family when I was growing up
0:10:23 > 0:10:26was religious at all, you know, so I grew up in a nonreligious household.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38Raphael Rowe, now an investigative journalist,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41spent 12 years of his young adult life in jail
0:10:41 > 0:10:44until his conviction was quashed.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48It was inner strength, not faith, that got him through it.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50What existed was my belief,
0:10:50 > 0:10:52my determination in finding the evidence
0:10:52 > 0:10:54that was going to prove my innocence.
0:10:54 > 0:10:55There was no God involved.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59So there was never a moment where
0:10:59 > 0:11:01I'd get down on my hands and knees and look up
0:11:01 > 0:11:03to the top of the cell ceiling,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06and pray to somebody that was not there for me.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10No, my conviction was overturned by three Appeal Court judges,
0:11:10 > 0:11:11human beings.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16I'm going on a pilgrimage journey.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It's not religious salvation.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22I've always seen religion as the root of all evil.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25It divides people.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26I don't know what I'm looking for,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28but I know I will discover and find
0:11:28 > 0:11:31something about myself every step of the way.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40- All right?- Was that nice?
0:11:40 > 0:11:42It was lovely. I said one for you.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Oh, did you? Thank you.
0:11:44 > 0:11:45- No worries.- That's nice of you.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48Oh, it stopped raining while we were in there, so, it...
0:11:48 > 0:11:50- You know.- Maybe there's something in it.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52Maybe there's something in it after all, boys.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04# I got rhythm, I got music. #
0:12:04 > 0:12:06- No.- You hate my singing.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08- I don't hate it.- You do! - I just don't LOVE it!
0:12:10 > 0:12:12So, this must be the junction, then.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17So I think we're probably here.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20So we'll be going down or up there,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22which must be that road up there.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26Over the next two days,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30the group will be crossing the Pyrenees from France into Spain.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36Starting with today's 7.5km hike up to 800 metres...
0:12:38 > 0:12:39..where a refuge waits for them,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42perched on the side of Pic d'Orisson.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52This leg of the journey was notorious in medieval times.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Climbing so high, it was said pilgrims
0:12:56 > 0:12:58could push the sky with their hands.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Wolves and bandits lay in wait for stragglers.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10None of which is fazing Kate,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12who's setting a pace she may come to regret.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19I'm from Sheffield originally and we have a story about women of steel in
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Sheffield. They kept the steelworks going through the Second World War,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25so I'm channelling my inner woman of steel.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27That's what we're doing.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Smashing the patriarchy with every step.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34I'm going on this as a pilgrim, not a preacher.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38I'm no better or worse than anybody else, and I think that's one of the
0:13:38 > 0:13:40mistakes we make about priests.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43We presume that they're better than other people,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46and we expect them to be better than other people, but actually,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48we're not Jesus, we're the disciples.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Part of the attraction of the Camino
0:13:53 > 0:13:56is the chance to meet and talk to new companions.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Had a lot of stress in the last year,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02so just getting away from it all,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and clearing my brain out, really, and...
0:14:06 > 0:14:10I love meeting people and I love meeting people from other countries.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15In 2016, Debbie lost the love of
0:14:15 > 0:14:18her life, magician Paul Daniels.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21They were married for 29 years.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24I was brought up in the Catholic faith.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28When I met Paul, he was a complete atheist.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36That really was a changing point of what I felt about a God.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41I think having lost Paul has had a bearing on me,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45in the way I think, and in wanting to go on a pilgrimage.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49I can talk about Paul a lot,
0:14:49 > 0:14:54but I can't think about things that we did.
0:14:57 > 0:14:58I go, completely.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04I'm in a place in my life that I really don't know where I am.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09I just hope that by the end of the pilgrimage,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12there will be some sort of enlightenment.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I've got a funny feeling that this is a case of the tortoise and the
0:15:24 > 0:15:27hare and that me being out in front means I'm going to be last.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Also, the Bible says, the Book of Revelation,
0:15:30 > 0:15:32"The first shall be last and the last shall be first",
0:15:32 > 0:15:35so I should heed my own call, shouldn't I, really, and slow up?
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Get your head down, get on with it.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03It's 2.00pm in the afternoon.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07The group have only been on the road an hour.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Oh, it just looks all ruddy hills.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12Oh, no, look at that one!
0:16:12 > 0:16:14- No, don't, don't.- What one?
0:16:14 > 0:16:17- That one there!- It's horrible.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18Slowly, but surely.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22It's a nice place to live... if you're a goat.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31This is shit, man.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46- It's quite tough.- It's tough going uphill, very tough,
0:16:46 > 0:16:47on my poor old legs.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49And, er...
0:16:51 > 0:16:53..with the pack, as well.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55When you hit a flat bit,
0:16:55 > 0:16:57it's like landing in heaven, isn't it?
0:16:57 > 0:17:01You see, you're talking about Jesus, you're talking about heaven.
0:17:01 > 0:17:02- I know.- We will convert you!
0:17:02 > 0:17:04You've only gone 5K!
0:17:04 > 0:17:06- And already...- This is your road to Damascus!
0:17:06 > 0:17:08I'm practically on my knees!
0:17:18 > 0:17:20I can't believe this just seems to get steeper and steeper.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26- Jesus.- Is that who you're calling on?
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Isn't it funny? Here I am, an absolute non-Christian,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35first words I utter when I'm absolutely in trouble
0:17:35 > 0:17:38are those of the fallen, crucified one.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43- It is...- It's worth it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Rather lovely.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47I don't feel closer to God, but I definitely feel closer to death!
0:17:50 > 0:17:51Parents are Catholics.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54I suppose, growing up,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56and at some points having to go to church,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and having to have ecumenical discussions, etc,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00I came to the conclusion,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03when I became of a thinking age, that,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07how can there possibly be anything beyond
0:18:07 > 0:18:10what we know as earthbound people?
0:18:10 > 0:18:13I couldn't lay my hat in anyone's courtyard and say,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16"This is what I believe and forget the rest."
0:18:16 > 0:18:20If the great theological minds of all these various religions couldn't
0:18:20 > 0:18:23make their minds up, how do they expect me to?
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Unlike the others,
0:18:27 > 0:18:28Ed is an experienced hiker,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and frequently climbs mountains in Scotland.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34This a lot of moaning going on.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I normally am the moany one in any given group.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42I enjoy a good whinge.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44But I enjoy a good walk,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47which nobody else on this,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52what I think of as walking holiday, wants to walk.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55So I'm just hearing complaints.
0:18:55 > 0:18:56Go away!
0:18:56 > 0:19:03Our friendly neighbourhood priest is particularly against
0:19:03 > 0:19:06the amount of undulations God put on the Earth.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- How are you doing?- I'm not walking another step.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15- Yeah, you are, come one.- No, I'm not. Are we going up that bastard?
0:19:15 > 0:19:17No, no. It's just before there.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19We're going to cross a stream in a second.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Have you... Have you had anything to eat since we left town?
0:19:22 > 0:19:23- No.- Right, you should eat something.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27- Seriously.- No.- You haven't eaten anything in hours.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29It's probably the reason you're not in a good mood,
0:19:29 > 0:19:30because you've not eaten.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37Comedian Ed was brought up in a Catholic family in Ireland.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42A need to get away from everything and completely change your life,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45even for just two weeks, it absolutely appeals to me.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48You know? I am not a spiritual person.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55I have no reason to believe in any form of God.
0:19:59 > 0:20:00We want to go up here.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02- Yeah.- No, I don't.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03- That is where were going.- It is.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- No, it can't be.- According to the book.- We have to go off road?
0:20:07 > 0:20:102km to the refuge d'Orisson.
0:20:10 > 0:20:11- Yeah, I know.- Half an hour.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14- Yeah, but...- You can go up by the road if you LIKE.
0:20:14 > 0:20:15How long does it take by the road?
0:20:15 > 0:20:16Oh, you don't want to go...
0:20:16 > 0:20:20Because it says, "Don't go by the road, you arsehole." It says here.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22It says go by the zigzag through rocks.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24We have a choice. We can keep following the road,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26or you can follow the path, the actual thing.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30This here says 2km, half an hour to the refuge.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33OK. Oh...
0:20:33 > 0:20:34I hate you.
0:20:34 > 0:20:352km. Half an hour.
0:20:35 > 0:20:372km, half an hour.
0:20:37 > 0:20:38Stop annoying Ed.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Half an hour and we are done for the day.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48- Yeah.- And then the rest of the day is spent... # Drinking pina coladas
0:20:48 > 0:20:51# And getting caught in the rain. #
0:20:53 > 0:20:56# If you're not into yoga
0:20:56 > 0:20:59# If you have half a brain
0:20:59 > 0:21:02# If you like making love at midnight
0:21:02 > 0:21:06# In the dunes of the cape
0:21:06 > 0:21:09# I'm the love that you've looked for
0:21:09 > 0:21:13# Write to me and escape. #
0:21:13 > 0:21:16And at 4.30pm, just as Ed promised,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19they make it to their first pilgrim hostel,
0:21:19 > 0:21:20where they'll stay the night.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Much of the accommodation on the route is...basic.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32According to the Codex guide,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34hostels were a place where pilgrims could refresh...
0:21:37 > 0:21:38Oh...
0:21:38 > 0:21:40I'm going to get a beer.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42..the destitute relax...
0:21:44 > 0:21:46..and the dead be prayed for.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50And though all seven pilgrims have survived their first day,
0:21:50 > 0:21:51they do need reviving.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55I'm going to have some rehydration salts and some water,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57a fag,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59and then...
0:21:59 > 0:22:01one of my five-a-day,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03which is Breton cider.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09I think the only way you can train for this is to move to Wales
0:22:09 > 0:22:14and walk up the hills of Wales every day, because it hurts.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16Either that, or getting a cricket bat and just hitting yourself
0:22:16 > 0:22:18continually over the head for three days.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20Come on, cheer up, you're a bloody Christian!
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Do you feel any better about yourself, now you've done it?
0:22:23 > 0:22:25- Honestly?- Yeah.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Really? Because you've got to walk up that tomorrow.
0:22:28 > 0:22:29I know, but listen.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31I just... Live in the moment!
0:22:31 > 0:22:35Do you feel satisfied now, having done the first bit?
0:22:35 > 0:22:37You sound like a verse in Matthew where Jesus says,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39"Don't worry about tomorrow,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41"for tomorrow's enough worries of its own."
0:22:41 > 0:22:44You see? I have more Christian knowledge in me
0:22:44 > 0:22:46- than I actually knew!- Yeah.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54In true pilgrim tradition,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57the group will be sleeping in a dormitory on bunk beds.
0:22:57 > 0:22:58Oh...
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Cell Block H springs to mind!
0:23:02 > 0:23:04There's nothing wrong with that.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07- That is absolutely spot-on. - Look at that, that's proper.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12Well, the top tip I heard was pick a bed away from the loo.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13- Right.- Oh, it's got a...
0:23:13 > 0:23:15I was thinking it had no door, then.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17I was going to panic like crazy.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20This is very peculiar for me, sharing with all these people,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23and I'm sure everyone else is the same, you know?
0:23:23 > 0:23:25It's something you do when you're young.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28I don't like the idea of sleeping in a single bad,
0:23:28 > 0:23:29I don't want to sleep in a single bed.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32That's my attitude right now.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35I have not slept in a single bed for 17 years.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37You haven't lived, mate!
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Who do you think's a snorer?
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Somebody did admit to snoring.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43I reckon Neil Morrissey's a snorer.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46I reckon Neil's a snorer.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51ALL: Cheers!
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- We made it.- Day well done.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Wherever they come from in the world,
0:23:57 > 0:24:02pilgrims are encouraged to reach out to others and create a sense of
0:24:02 > 0:24:03community along the route.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12It's our tradition, every night here we ask you to present yourself.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16I start. After, you can stand up.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20- Everybody.- I'm Neil and I'm from England,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22and I'm enjoying this walk so far,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24even though I'm absolutely shattered!
0:24:24 > 0:24:26LAUGHTER
0:24:26 > 0:24:29I don't feel at all imbued with godly pilgrimage.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34I feel imbued with aching bones and sore shoulders.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36I'm Michael from USA, California,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39and I'm here with my family and thank you for having us.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43You know, glad I've made it one day!
0:24:43 > 0:24:44Only 14 more to go.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50I'm JJ, I'm from Scotland, and I've had a lovely day, as well.
0:24:50 > 0:24:51I wish you all welcome.
0:24:53 > 0:24:54I'm also from Munich, Germany,
0:24:54 > 0:24:58and I hope I will make it back in time for Oktoberfest!
0:25:00 > 0:25:05I'm Debbie, I'm from England, and I survived today, so...
0:25:05 > 0:25:06THEY CHEER
0:25:06 > 0:25:09I really enjoyed walking with Raph.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12I felt we were a really good team, it's quite good, the two of us.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15There were a few nice people on the way and, just,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19when I got here, I felt like we'd really achieved something.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21My name's Heather.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24My feet feel like they've been beaten by hot sticks,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26but today has been an absolutely wonderful day,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29and it's been topped by coming on this.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31And I wanted to feel fellowship and community,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34and this has been fellowship and community, so I thank you.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40That's nicely put, nicely put.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Heather, who sang with M People,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48hopes the Camino will help her work through issues that trouble her.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53All my life I've searched for a place to be a spiritual home.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Though she considers herself a Christian,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00she isn't always sure the church is the place for her.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05It's quite hard to look into something when you know that certain
0:26:05 > 0:26:10religions have been used to enslave and denigrate,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15so my path to religion has been difficult.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17But the belief in God has always been there.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20I always think there's a higher being.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Thank you so much.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And that we are quite small,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29and to find a bigger picture, we need each other.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33At the end of the first day,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Kate's already discovered how much she needs her fellow pilgrims.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39I was a horrible,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41horrible person walking up that hillside,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44and that's not good for a vicar, it's a very bad witness.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46So I'm very grateful,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51not only that the rest of the group pushed me and carried me,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53but also that they put up with me.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56It's a real credit to them and a real testament to them
0:26:56 > 0:26:58that they tolerated me,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02and I guess that teaches me something about fortitude and
0:27:02 > 0:27:04patience and kindness,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06because I didn't exercise much kindness today,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09but they all did, so that's good.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11So that's probably today's lesson learnt!
0:27:23 > 0:27:25I hardly slept a wink.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27It was so noisy and I'm a really light sleeper,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30and I had earplugs in and everything,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33so it wasn't the comfiest night for me.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35I know you roll it from the hooded end.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Wish I'd gone camping when I was a kid.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43I think this is going to defeat me.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50It was a pretty comfortable bed and there was only one person snoring,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53which is exactly the number of people I'm used to
0:27:53 > 0:27:55hearing snore when I'm at home.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Not to diss my wife on national television
0:27:57 > 0:28:01or anything like that, but I'm used to
0:28:01 > 0:28:03sharing with someone who snores.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07I had a dreadful night's sleep.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Neil Morrissey snoring and filling the dormitory
0:28:10 > 0:28:12with sound that I've only heard when someone's
0:28:12 > 0:28:15been in the throes of their last minutes of life.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19Raph, who spent time in some of Britain's toughest prisons,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23had other reasons to sleep uneasily on his first night.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25Have a look at that. What do you see there?
0:28:25 > 0:28:28That's the window, it actually looks like bars.
0:28:28 > 0:28:29I was laid on top of this bunk last night,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and I looked in that direction, that's all I could see.
0:28:32 > 0:28:33Not a comfortable night.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39Raph was 19 when he was sentenced to life in prison,
0:28:39 > 0:28:41something he hasn't yet told the others.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45When I was released, I never slept in a single bed,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48I wouldn't sleep in a single bed, so this is the first time,
0:28:48 > 0:28:5117 years later,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55the very first time that I've spent a night in a single bed.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Which was a reminder of what I didn't want to be reminded of.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Where are we trying to get to today?
0:29:11 > 0:29:12What's the name of that place?
0:29:12 > 0:29:14- Ron...- Roncesvalles or
0:29:14 > 0:29:15- something.- Or something, yeah.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Look, this is all downhill.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20That last little bit there.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23- This is just a map.- These lines mean...
0:29:23 > 0:29:26This is... OK. This is all uphill to here,
0:29:26 > 0:29:28and then this is all downhill to there.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30So it's about half and half.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Come on, Kate. Let's go and attack this bit.
0:29:36 > 0:29:37Steady pace.
0:29:53 > 0:29:5918.5km of walking, with a steady climb up to 1,400 metres,
0:29:59 > 0:30:03will take our seven pilgrims out of France and into Spain.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12This is a good old pace.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15I don't think we need to go this quick.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18My legs are already outrageously tired.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24That's... I'm going to say that's moan number one.
0:30:24 > 0:30:25Three minutes in.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29My God.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32Dentists' drills don't whine as much as these people do.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35They are the moaniest.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37It's like living with ghosts!
0:30:38 > 0:30:40Everyone's just moaning!
0:30:45 > 0:30:47Seriously...
0:30:47 > 0:30:49Why do people do this?
0:30:52 > 0:30:56They're moaning because they didn't realise
0:30:56 > 0:30:59that pilgrimages involve walking.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03So they're not just whiners, they're idiots!
0:31:05 > 0:31:07I didn't think we'd be doing it for real.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14So I thought we'd walk, like, 100 yards then put our stuff on the van.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16I didn't actually think we'd be doing it.
0:31:19 > 0:31:21It's only day two.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24I cannot conceive that I've got to do this for another...
0:31:24 > 0:31:25however long it is.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27I can't... I can't even get me head around it.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31What I find really fascinating is
0:31:31 > 0:31:34the people that are doing this that have no faith,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38because I don't know what they hope to gain from it, you know?
0:31:38 > 0:31:40I don't think this is building my faith at all.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43My faith's taking a knock, actually.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45It certainly took a knock yesterday,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47and this morning I haven't even done my prayers this morning,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50because I just couldn't face it, don't want to talk to him.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52Don't want to talk to anyone, let alone God!
0:31:59 > 0:32:02You just need to get that initial burn out of the way, don't you?
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Yeah. The thighs really feel like they don't belong to you.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08- Yeah. And then you're kind of up and running, almost.- Yeah.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11Then you just walk.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14And walk. And walk.
0:32:14 > 0:32:15Yeah!
0:32:21 > 0:32:25I don't think the whole idea of doing this punishing walk
0:32:25 > 0:32:26is mumbo jumbo.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29That'd be disrespecting the people who really believe
0:32:29 > 0:32:31they get something spiritual out of it.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35But I don't think,
0:32:35 > 0:32:40in this modern day, God would want you to punish yourself.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42You know, to feel more spiritually fruitful.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44I think it's...
0:32:45 > 0:32:48It's just a hangover from the 12th century, before we had cars.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57Call me optimistic, but I'm getting the sensation that you guys are
0:32:57 > 0:32:59feeling a bit better today about this whole thing.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01- It's still not my thing. - Yeah, but...
0:33:01 > 0:33:04- And it hurts.- I'm not asking it to be your thing.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09- OK.- I'm just saying, are you feeling a little better about it?
0:33:09 > 0:33:10I cried most of the way up there.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13I had a big cry this morning.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16There you go! That's proof that I'm really not as good
0:33:16 > 0:33:18at reading people as I thought I was.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20"You seem a lot more positive today."
0:33:20 > 0:33:22"Well, I am doing a LOT of crying!"
0:33:25 > 0:33:27The route is rich in history.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31In the eighth century,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33the warrior king Charlemagne came this way
0:33:33 > 0:33:35as he fought to re-establish Christianity
0:33:35 > 0:33:37as the dominant religion.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40Though he suffered a rare defeat
0:33:40 > 0:33:43at the hands of local forces in Roncesvalles,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45where the group will sleep tonight.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50The Codex guide warns of the local savagery,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53saying they would not only rob pilgrims,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56but mount them like donkeys and murder them.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00I think now is the perfect time to get into a discussion
0:34:00 > 0:34:02about Christianity versus atheism.
0:34:02 > 0:34:03It's a great moment because I can't speak!
0:34:03 > 0:34:05You're completely out of breath, you can't speak.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07I'll do all the talking, Kate!
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Well, the problem, you see...
0:34:10 > 0:34:14When you apply a rigorous amount of logic to the situation...
0:34:14 > 0:34:16That's the trouble about faith.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21As a boy, I was an altar boy and took Catholicism very seriously.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25I look back on the amount of energy and effort and time
0:34:25 > 0:34:31that I put into something that, from the age of 18, 19, I realised was...
0:34:32 > 0:34:36..was a charade and I just resent it.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38You know, I could have been spending that time
0:34:38 > 0:34:42learning a language or doing karate,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45learning how to knit a yoghurt, as my mother would say.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Just doing something, anything that had more of
0:34:49 > 0:34:51a real-world application.
0:35:18 > 0:35:19Oh...
0:35:20 > 0:35:21That's good.
0:35:24 > 0:35:25That's not so good.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29All I'll say is getting that lovely mountain breeze
0:35:29 > 0:35:32between your tootsies is something else.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35When did Mary ever wear a crown?
0:35:36 > 0:35:39I seem to remember her not being quite so showy.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43She's not as beautiful as I thought she would be, the Queen of Heaven.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46She looks like I feel.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49A bit worn around the edges, worse for wear.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56JJ is the son of a Christian minister,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58but isn't a regular churchgoer.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04I can appreciate when I look at that that it's a point where people will
0:36:04 > 0:36:05have definitely come to,
0:36:05 > 0:36:07so if you want to sort of ground yourself
0:36:07 > 0:36:10into the journey of everybody here today,
0:36:10 > 0:36:14but also going back into the medieval times, you can imagine
0:36:14 > 0:36:15that people stopped at that point.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22The statues, as beautiful as they are, they don't embody faith to me.
0:36:25 > 0:36:26It's the people that inhabit them,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29it's the people that stand around looking at the Virgin Mary,
0:36:29 > 0:36:33because faith and Christianity is a community as far as I'm concerned.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Down there, you've got a flock.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47You just can't get away from the Christian symbolism, can you?
0:36:47 > 0:36:49- You can't.- It's everywhere.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51- Shall we crack on?- Yeah, go on.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56- This pilgrimage isn't going to walk itself.- Which is a shame, really.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Ed is a patron of Humanists UK,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05which promotes kindness and morality without religion.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07But he was schooled by Catholics.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12The same people who tell you that the capital of France is Paris,
0:37:12 > 0:37:15the same people that tell you two and two is four,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17are also telling you there was a woman called Mary,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19and she was a virgin and she had a baby,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23and he was called Jesus, and it's all being presented as fact.
0:37:23 > 0:37:24And it's not.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32It's three in the afternoon.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35The pilgrims have been on the road six hours,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39and the Camino is starting to work its magic on Raph,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42who doesn't naturally turn to others for help.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48For most of the walk, at least 10km, I was kind of on my own,
0:37:48 > 0:37:52but I did find that that solitude that I really enjoy
0:37:52 > 0:37:55was not getting me to where I needed to go.
0:37:55 > 0:38:00So I did start talking to people and when I did start talking to people,
0:38:00 > 0:38:04the walking became easier and I fear that that's something I will need to
0:38:04 > 0:38:07do in order to complete this task.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Sharing a moment and a time in a way that I've never done before
0:38:13 > 0:38:18gives me another tool to deal with my past.
0:38:22 > 0:38:2618.5km done, eight hours after he set off,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29Neil finally makes it to the hostel.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34Today has been probably the most soul destroying,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37gruelling day I've ever had in my life.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41And of course I didn't prepare,
0:38:41 > 0:38:43and I think walking up to Ally Pally three times,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46you know, isn't really best preparation
0:38:46 > 0:38:47for walking the Pyrenees.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51Is that it? Do we think?
0:38:51 > 0:38:52What, where we're aiming?
0:38:52 > 0:38:56- Down there?- Yeah, shall we go for it?- Yeah.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Last to arrive, two hours after everyone else...
0:39:11 > 0:39:13- At last.- Dinner. I cannot wait.
0:39:15 > 0:39:17- We made it.- Debbie and JJ.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19And you are from?
0:39:19 > 0:39:21- From England.- From England. Welcome.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25I am feeling elated.
0:39:25 > 0:39:33Ten hours later, 30,613 steps I've taken today,
0:39:33 > 0:39:37but I didn't give in, and here I am.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40We started at nine o'clock, it's seven now, so ten hours.
0:39:40 > 0:39:42- Ten hours we've been walking. - Ten hours on the road,
0:39:42 > 0:39:44- it's pretty good going.- Yeah.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49JJ is a former Royal Marine,
0:39:49 > 0:39:52who's been forced to make a new life for himself.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55In 2011, I was injured by an improvised explosive device when I
0:39:55 > 0:39:57was serving in Afghanistan.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01He suffered life-changing injuries,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03almost losing both arms in an explosion
0:40:03 > 0:40:05which killed two close friends.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11I think my beliefs are probably more hopes than anything else.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Like, the question is, do you believe in God?
0:40:14 > 0:40:15Well...
0:40:16 > 0:40:18I don't know, but I hope he exists.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21I hope heaven exists.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Because there's people I know that I hope are there.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29Some of them ultimately sacrificed their lives
0:40:29 > 0:40:31for me to be here, you know,
0:40:31 > 0:40:32I borrowed my time off them.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Many people walk the Camino after suffering personal crises.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07This morning, Heather and Debbie meet a pilgrim
0:41:07 > 0:41:09who's coping with the death of his father.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Liam lost his dad in 2016.
0:41:13 > 0:41:19Me and my dad done the walk in 2014, but Dad ruptured a hernia,
0:41:19 > 0:41:21so we had to get an emergency flight home.
0:41:21 > 0:41:27So, we planned to come back in 2016 in September,
0:41:27 > 0:41:31but we found out that he had cancer and...
0:41:32 > 0:41:35I lost him a week before Christmas.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36Oh, I'm so sorry.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38And I nicked his boots,
0:41:38 > 0:41:44so I'm walking in his boots and I've got his pilgrim passport from 2014.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46- Fantastic.- Fantastic, yeah.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50I'm collecting his stamps and then I'm going to lay it
0:41:50 > 0:41:53at his grave for him.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56And put his boots there when I'm done.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59I've got a stone here of dad, it's got a prayer on there,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02that he wanted to drop off at Compostela.
0:42:02 > 0:42:04I'm going to say the prayer,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07and that's when I start rebuilding my life.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09Show me your ways, oh, Lord.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Teach me your paths.
0:42:11 > 0:42:12That's from Psalms.
0:42:12 > 0:42:13Yeah.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16And that will be a moving-on point.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18I lost my husband just over a year ago.
0:42:18 > 0:42:22- Oh, right.- And the way I kind of dealt with it is
0:42:22 > 0:42:27to keep really busy, and when I'm on my own is when it really hits me.
0:42:27 > 0:42:28- Yeah.- Keeping active is...
0:42:30 > 0:42:32- ..the main thing.- Yeah.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35You don't have to grieve and just curl up into a ball.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38And also, when you know you're losing someone,
0:42:38 > 0:42:40it's too hard to say the things you want to say,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42because you don't want to cry in front of them.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Yeah, exactly. You've got to stay strong.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48What do you think doing the pilgrimage, at the end of it,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51how it will help you with your grief?
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Some reason, it seems to make you a stronger person.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58You've got time to think and you can open yourself up.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01You know, I've found speaking to strangers,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04you could speak to them today and they're gone tomorrow.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06You know? And they don't judge you, as well.
0:43:06 > 0:43:07It's just so lovely.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Yeah, I can understand that.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11With your family,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13sometimes you don't want to upset them,
0:43:13 > 0:43:15because you're upset, but somebody
0:43:15 > 0:43:18that doesn't know you and you're never going to see again,
0:43:18 > 0:43:19you can bare your soul to.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21Just exactly that.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24So for you, is it spiritual, is it religious?
0:43:24 > 0:43:27What, is it just in memory of your father?
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Just trying to get a bit of comfort to fulfil what he wanted to do.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33And you doing it fulfils it for him.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Yeah. It's the only way I can honour his respect is to do it for him.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41I think it was quite a special moment to meet Liam.
0:43:41 > 0:43:46What it made me think was that that's why everyone thinks
0:43:46 > 0:43:49that the Camino Way is so special,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54because I can't think of anywhere in the world where
0:43:54 > 0:44:00someone would open up with such raw emotion so quickly.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04- You're doing brilliantly.- Thank you.
0:44:06 > 0:44:07I have to lock it away, you know?
0:44:07 > 0:44:09I know. I've been there, I know.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15He's only 27 and so I just...
0:44:16 > 0:44:21I get sad, but I'm always able to then find something
0:44:21 > 0:44:25that makes me think, "Well, you can't be sad because
0:44:25 > 0:44:29"there's somebody much worse off than you are."
0:44:37 > 0:44:40With only 15 days to complete their pilgrimage,
0:44:40 > 0:44:44the group have got up early and taken a bus to Muruzabal,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47in the province of Navarra.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51King Sancho the Great ruled Navarra in the 11th century,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and created this 150-kilometre stretch of the Camino
0:44:55 > 0:44:59to counter the Islamic influences in the rest of the country.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Its significance for our pilgrims is more straightforward.
0:45:05 > 0:45:06It's flat.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19But with the heat relentless,
0:45:19 > 0:45:21they stop for a break.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23Cafe on left.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28And Raph is ready to share his life story about his time in prison.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34I find it really difficult sleeping in single beds,
0:45:34 > 0:45:38have done ever since I spent time in a prison cell on a single bad.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40We didn't know you'd been in prison.
0:45:40 > 0:45:42What were you in prison for?
0:45:42 > 0:45:43Tell us your story!
0:45:43 > 0:45:49- Did you not know?- No.- So from the age of 19 until I was 32...
0:45:49 > 0:45:52- Oh, my gosh.- ...I was locked up for a murder
0:45:52 > 0:45:55and a series of robberies that I didn't commit,
0:45:55 > 0:45:57so I was wrongly convicted, sentenced to life,
0:45:57 > 0:45:59never to be released.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00Wow, what a story.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02- Did you feel unsafe?- No, not at all.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04I was quite tough. I didn't make any friends,
0:46:04 > 0:46:06I didn't associate with people, because
0:46:06 > 0:46:09the majority of guys that I was doing my bird with were murderers.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11They were serious offenders who were serving.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Because I was in high-security prisons,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16so they were doing ridiculous sentences.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19I'm talking 25, 30 years, life, never to be released,
0:46:19 > 0:46:21and they were killers, they were all kinds.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25I was 19 when I went in, so I became quite militant quite quickly and I
0:46:25 > 0:46:29survived because I had that aura about me.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31And they thought I was guilty.
0:46:31 > 0:46:3212 years on, in 2000,
0:46:32 > 0:46:37my conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal and I was released.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40By then, Raph had become used to being on his own.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43So you never had to share a cell.
0:46:43 > 0:46:45I never shared a cell, no.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47When I was in prison, I was in a single cell.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49A lot of it in solitary confinement.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Solitude for me was what was important,
0:46:51 > 0:46:53what got me through my time in jail.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55Did you think to yourself you'd have rather the company?
0:46:55 > 0:46:57No, I prefer solitude.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Or I thought I did, until we did that big walk yesterday.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Yesterday was quite challenging,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04because I did at least 10km on my own,
0:47:04 > 0:47:10but craved conversation to get me through the rest of it.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12Does the solitude when you're walking by yourself,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15is that kind of frightening to you?
0:47:15 > 0:47:16- What does that...- No, no, no.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19It served its purpose and it still does,
0:47:19 > 0:47:22but I just found this walk is tough, it was difficult,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24and to help me get through it
0:47:24 > 0:47:27I needed to be talking to someone so I could forget the pain
0:47:27 > 0:47:29and the suffering and the hard, steep slopes,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32so it was good just having somebody break that monotony.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35What scares you, then? Because you've been somewhere that would scare me.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39- What scares you?- I would have said, when I first came out of prison, love.
0:47:39 > 0:47:40- Friendships.- Yeah.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44People's motives. I struggled with that more than I do anything else.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49Every one of you, I've judged your motives unfairly since I met you
0:47:49 > 0:47:51because I'm a motive man.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54Everybody I've met along the Camino so far, my first question,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57"What are you doing?" I'm curious to know what their motive is and
0:47:57 > 0:48:00then I'm kind of looking them up and down and thinking, "Is it real?"
0:48:00 > 0:48:02That's the one thing I struggle with.
0:48:02 > 0:48:07- Trust.- Trust, justice, honesty are my big things.
0:48:09 > 0:48:14To think that he'd been incarcerated for 12 years
0:48:14 > 0:48:17for something that he did not do
0:48:17 > 0:48:19is unbelievable.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22It's a crazy, crazy story.
0:48:26 > 0:48:31To have your entire 20s stolen from you over something you didn't do,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34would be pretty rough.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37There's a surprising lack of bitterness from him.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39Although maybe he just hides it well.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44It sounds like it's unfinished business.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48It never would have occurred to me that the walk in the Camino would be
0:48:48 > 0:48:50any form of therapy for any of us.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55It's not impossible that that's going to happen
0:48:55 > 0:48:58over the course of the next couple of weeks on this walk.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08As the heat of the day becomes oppressive...
0:49:08 > 0:49:10It's 31 degrees.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12- I knew it was warm.- Flipping heck.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16..they seek refuge in a 12th-century church.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Santa Maria de Eunate, which is thought to have once served
0:49:20 > 0:49:22as a pilgrim funeral chapel,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25stands in the middle of nowhere.
0:49:25 > 0:49:27- Welcome to Santa Maria de Eunate. - Thank you very much.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30- Thank you.- Thanks for having us.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Curtis came here from the US to walk the Camino,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37and stayed to guide pilgrims and care for the church.
0:49:38 > 0:49:39There's people that come and they say,
0:49:39 > 0:49:41"This is a centre of sort of cosmic energy",
0:49:41 > 0:49:44and so they like to go in and stand underneath the dome in the
0:49:44 > 0:49:48church, and they swear that they can feel the cosmic energy.
0:49:48 > 0:49:52- Open them doors, then. Come on! - It may very well be,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54but I have never felt anything in there!
0:49:54 > 0:49:58There is a tradition. You would walk around the church three times in
0:49:58 > 0:50:01honour of the Blessed Trinity, say three our Fathers,
0:50:01 > 0:50:05and then enter the church to greet the Blessed Virgin
0:50:05 > 0:50:07- and pray the Salve in the church.- Yes, yes.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Some people say you have to do it barefoot.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12- Barefoot's going to hurt. - You are welcome to try it.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15- I'm having some of that.- Looks like these are smooth, though.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18- Are you going to go barefoot? - Of course I am! We're doing this,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21we're doing it properly! I'd stand back, though, if I were you!
0:50:21 > 0:50:26Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
0:50:26 > 0:50:29Thy kingdom come, thy will be done...
0:50:29 > 0:50:32- VOICEOVER:- It's not about superstition for me, it's about,
0:50:32 > 0:50:34this is what people do when they come here,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and this is what other people have done for centuries,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40and I love the idea that my footsteps have
0:50:40 > 0:50:42followed in someone else's.
0:50:42 > 0:50:44That's kind of the point of a pilgrimage for me,
0:50:44 > 0:50:45is following in others' footsteps,
0:50:45 > 0:50:47and then knowing that other people are going to
0:50:47 > 0:50:50follow on behind, as well, so we're in that shared story.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56It's a proper haunted house door, isn't it?
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Once again, Raph stays outside.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07My heart beats as I get closer to buildings like this
0:51:07 > 0:51:10because I just feel uncomfortable going into a place
0:51:10 > 0:51:13where I know people have been manipulated
0:51:13 > 0:51:16and guided in a way to control them.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18And I have an issue with people
0:51:18 > 0:51:22controlling other people for the wrong reason.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25And yet all it is is bricks and mortar.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30You can imagine when it's quiet in here...
0:51:31 > 0:51:33It is really quiet.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38Well, we all came in,
0:51:38 > 0:51:41for some reason you instantly just go quiet in a building like this.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Yeah, absolutely. Again, you see,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45that's the power of religion, isn't it?
0:51:45 > 0:51:50It makes you sort of kowtow to what you consider to be a greater force.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52You're absolutely right in terms of that part of the reason these
0:51:52 > 0:51:55buildings are like this is so that people would go, "Wow,
0:51:55 > 0:51:57"look at the awesome power of God" kind of thing.
0:51:57 > 0:51:58But also they were built as sanctuaries,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01weren't they, and places of safety. So for me, that's what I see.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03- I see...- Yes, but I see both of those
0:52:03 > 0:52:06as meaning almost the same sort of thing, you know?
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Because the power of the building gives sanctuary
0:52:09 > 0:52:12- and also creates awe.- Yeah.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28For Heather, the visit's a reminder
0:52:28 > 0:52:30of her uneasy relationship with Christianity.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35For me, walking into the church, there isn't me here.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37There isn't anything that looks like me.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40I look at the altar and it's an icon
0:52:40 > 0:52:44that bears no significance to myself.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47This makes me feel like an outsider,
0:52:47 > 0:52:52and it reminds me of when people in my family
0:52:52 > 0:52:55came over from the Caribbean, and they got to England,
0:52:55 > 0:52:59and were told that that Christian Church wasn't for them,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02and those same icons were used against them.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04And I feel sometimes in my life,
0:53:04 > 0:53:05when it comes to religion,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08those same icons have been used against me,
0:53:08 > 0:53:12and so I've have to find my Christian and my religious identity
0:53:12 > 0:53:14through a lot of racism.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27- Hello, darling.- You were in there a long time.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29I'm so sorry. I had a lot to pray about.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31I'm sure you did, thanks for doing that.
0:53:31 > 0:53:32- I said one for you.- Thank you.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35I kind of... Kind of can't do this, you know?
0:53:35 > 0:53:38What is it about churches, if you don't mind me asking, what is it?
0:53:38 > 0:53:41It's a long story. Let's have a drink and I'll tell you about it.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43- Does that mean we've got a date? - Yes.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55It struck me that there's a fear about this whole faith...
0:53:56 > 0:53:58- ..God thing.- It always happens to me.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Whenever I approach a church, my heart starts to race,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03I start to get this kind of tingle that makes me feel,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05"I don't want to go in there."
0:54:05 > 0:54:06And I know it's just a building,
0:54:06 > 0:54:08and I know the building doesn't represent
0:54:08 > 0:54:09the people that go in there,
0:54:09 > 0:54:13but I do see it as a place where they manipulate
0:54:13 > 0:54:16and controlled people, and have done and still do.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18- Yeah, sure.- And that...
0:54:19 > 0:54:20..generates this fear in me.
0:54:20 > 0:54:25Religion is all the things you're talking about. Control, extremism.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Those rules. I will subjugate you.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30Whereas faith is much more the angle I'm coming from,
0:54:30 > 0:54:33about the conversation, about the question, about the journey.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36- Are you religious?- I wouldn't describe myself as religious.
0:54:36 > 0:54:37But you're a priest!
0:54:37 > 0:54:38You have to be religious!
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Everything I know about the godly stuff is that priests are religious!
0:54:41 > 0:54:43It's semantics. It's words.
0:54:43 > 0:54:44You're destroying my faith!
0:54:44 > 0:54:48You're destroying my faith in my belief in what you...
0:54:48 > 0:54:50That's really interesting. I...
0:54:50 > 0:54:52It's really interesting that you say you're not religious.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54I would say I'm of the Christian faith,
0:54:54 > 0:54:55not of the Christian religion.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00That's why, for me, those buildings are beautiful, don't get me wrong,
0:55:00 > 0:55:01but I don't feel particularly...
0:55:03 > 0:55:04..holy when I go into that building.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07It's a building. I feel holier now, talking to you,
0:55:07 > 0:55:10because I see God reflected in you.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12Because I'm sat here having this conversation.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13- I'm godly, am I?- Course you are!
0:55:13 > 0:55:16- What do you mean by that?- I see God reflected in you,
0:55:16 > 0:55:18so when I talk to you...
0:55:19 > 0:55:22That's a faith experience for me.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24The way you describe it is beautiful,
0:55:24 > 0:55:25but I just can't get over that hurdle
0:55:25 > 0:55:29that you pick and choose what you want from your faith.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32I think the issue for you is that you are about tangibility,
0:55:32 > 0:55:33so you're about, this is a table,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35this is a glass, this is a person.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38And the idea that there would be something that isn't tangible,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41the idea that you cannot go, "Here is God",
0:55:41 > 0:55:43is so far out of your comfort zone.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45So interesting, but what was the one thing
0:55:45 > 0:55:47that got me through it in prison? Hope. Hope doesn't exist.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50That's not something that's tangible, it's just a word.
0:55:50 > 0:55:51- I could never grab hope.- Exactly.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54- So...- But I looked for it. - And I would say...
0:55:54 > 0:55:58I would say that where you say the word hope, I would say the word God.
0:56:00 > 0:56:01That God is hope.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07Kate's way of describing what got me through the many years that I was in
0:56:07 > 0:56:08prison, I would say hope.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10Hope was key to everything.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13I hope that tomorrow would be the day I got the letter
0:56:13 > 0:56:15that says something is going to happen.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17"I hope the next day this, I hope the next day that."
0:56:17 > 0:56:20The way Kate said it was God, I don't agree.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22It's just not what got me through.
0:56:22 > 0:56:25Do you know, I have to be really honest,
0:56:25 > 0:56:28when we started on this journey, I didn't really like Raph.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30I thought, "Oh, no, we've got one here."
0:56:30 > 0:56:33"We've got one here who is just going to be grumpy about me being a
0:56:33 > 0:56:35"Christian the whole way round."
0:56:35 > 0:56:38But actually, I realise now, and I should have realised then,
0:56:38 > 0:56:40that it comes from a deep fear.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44I think the poor guy's just had a really bad experience of religion,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46and I can totally get why he's angry about religion,
0:56:46 > 0:56:48because I'm angry about religion, too.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51When I hear people have done things in the name of God, I think,
0:56:51 > 0:56:53"God wants nothing to do with that stuff."
0:56:53 > 0:56:58God's not about control and manipulation and war and terror.
0:56:58 > 0:56:59God's not about any of that.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02God is as angry about all that stuff as Raph is.
0:57:02 > 0:57:03- Cheers.- Cheers, man.
0:57:04 > 0:57:05Buen Camino.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18As different as she is to other Christians
0:57:18 > 0:57:20who would try to convert you,
0:57:20 > 0:57:23there is something in me that says, "Hold on a minute,
0:57:23 > 0:57:26"she is doing it in a cleverer way,"
0:57:26 > 0:57:29so where she is now telling me my hope is a God,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31I hear what she says, but it's a clever way
0:57:31 > 0:57:34of trying to make me believe in something that I don't believe in.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51- Next time...- There's a tap with wine coming out of it.
0:57:51 > 0:57:54- There is a God!- You have given me a gift greater than the stick.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57- You've given me the gift of humility.- My father, son.
0:57:57 > 0:57:59Neil opens up...
0:57:59 > 0:58:01The social workers had their eye on us anyway.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05We were the kind of kids who'd get out and just go feral.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07..Kate is still physically struggling...
0:58:07 > 0:58:09I can't communicate how scary it feels.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11I just don't want to be here. Not that far!
0:58:11 > 0:58:13You liar! It's a sin to lie.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16..and Heather's faith is put to the test.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18Somebody asks you where you come from,
0:58:18 > 0:58:20you tell them where you come from and then they say,
0:58:20 > 0:58:22"Oh, the people that I know from that country
0:58:22 > 0:58:25"are blond and blue-eyed" and look at you with distaste.
0:58:25 > 0:58:27What's he trying to say? "Where are you REALLY from?"