The municipal hostels are as a whole very well operated, even if the often strict rules of conduct are unwritten, and order is self-regulated without the warden's presence. That makes the violation of one rule the more peculiar, night after night, all through the night, with rarely an attempt to stop the violation, with no consequences, no repercussions, not even a raised eyebrow. The rule is "Quiet, please."
In most sleeping halls, "Quiet Please", with lights-out schedule and other household rules, is posted prominently for everyone to see. And everyone abides by the rule: No talking - in person or by telephone, no use of electronic devices without earphones. Nothing that makes noise. Yet this violation is repeated night after night, loudly, all through the night, unabashedly, with no consequences. The violation is snoring.
Though the average person's snore is about as loud as a normal conversation and only slightly quieter than a vacuum cleaner (measured in decibel), and though about half the population (and walkers on the Camino) snore, this night-time disturbance is widely unmentioned on the Camino. It is rarely talked about. When discussed it is in a whisper. The snorer is never part of the conversation. No Camino guidebook I have read mentions it. Snoring is an über-sensitive subject and no author will touch it. Camino web sites and blogs write about it reluctantly and with carefully weighed words. It is as if the snorers in the Camino spirit of compassion, tolerance, and courtesy have gained sacred status. Untouchable.
Though the average person's snore is about as loud as a normal conversation and only slightly quieter than a vacuum cleaner (measured in decibel), and though about half the population (and walkers on the Camino) snore, this night-time disturbance is widely unmentioned on the Camino. It is rarely talked about. When discussed it is in a whisper. The snorer is never part of the conversation. No Camino guidebook I have read mentions it. Snoring is an über-sensitive subject and no author will touch it. Camino web sites and blogs write about it reluctantly and with carefully weighed words. It is as if the snorers in the Camino spirit of compassion, tolerance, and courtesy have gained sacred status. Untouchable.
What makes snoring a problem in a public environment is that most snorers do not know that they snore, and those who do know are too embarrassed to admit it. So mentioning it to a snorer is bad in most situations, and waking him up to tell him can have dramatic consequences. The few hostel wardens I talked with, and who admitted snoring is a problem, will not do anything to stop it. Maybe they see the risk of a lawsuit with charges of "inappropriate touching", "physical abuse" and "discrimination" too great to wake up the snorer.
Curiously, the compassion, tolerance, and courtesy preached on the Camino seem one-sided with all the attention on the snorer "who can't help it" (though most snorers can help it, starting with fewer alcoholic drinks), almost as if snoring has become a right. While lying awake (and not plotting the perfect murder) the non-snorer wonders what happened to the right to a quiet sleeping environment! Do not expect the snorer who knows (or even suspects) that he or she snores to find a bed in a private room in a private hostel. A one-night random meeting with other Camino walkers in the municipal hostel, an early morning escape under the cover of darkness, makes the snorer's intrusion risk free and without penalty.
Later in the morning, the sleepless non-snorers will stumble out on the Camino, like zombies, wondering why the "Quiet, Please" sign does not apply to snorers.
Use earplugs, I hear someone say. Except that they reduce the noise by only about half, can be quite painful for some users, and will not block the noise that penetrates through one's jawbone. I used two types of earplugs but had to stop because they were ineffective and caused earache, lasting for a week after I stopped. You probably snore yourself, I hear another say. As a matter of fact, I do not.
With no change or solution in sight (despite all kinds of remedies and ways to stop snoring that snorers will not use or consider) and so long as the snorers are untouchable, my advice to non-snorers, for whom others' snoring is a problem, is to avoid the municipal hostels with their large sleeping halls, and stay only in private hostels or hostals (small hotels) with private rooms.
Curiously, the compassion, tolerance, and courtesy preached on the Camino seem one-sided with all the attention on the snorer "who can't help it" (though most snorers can help it, starting with fewer alcoholic drinks), almost as if snoring has become a right. While lying awake (and not plotting the perfect murder) the non-snorer wonders what happened to the right to a quiet sleeping environment! Do not expect the snorer who knows (or even suspects) that he or she snores to find a bed in a private room in a private hostel. A one-night random meeting with other Camino walkers in the municipal hostel, an early morning escape under the cover of darkness, makes the snorer's intrusion risk free and without penalty.
Later in the morning, the sleepless non-snorers will stumble out on the Camino, like zombies, wondering why the "Quiet, Please" sign does not apply to snorers.
Use earplugs, I hear someone say. Except that they reduce the noise by only about half, can be quite painful for some users, and will not block the noise that penetrates through one's jawbone. I used two types of earplugs but had to stop because they were ineffective and caused earache, lasting for a week after I stopped. You probably snore yourself, I hear another say. As a matter of fact, I do not.
With no change or solution in sight (despite all kinds of remedies and ways to stop snoring that snorers will not use or consider) and so long as the snorers are untouchable, my advice to non-snorers, for whom others' snoring is a problem, is to avoid the municipal hostels with their large sleeping halls, and stay only in private hostels or hostals (small hotels) with private rooms.
