I now continued to exchange emails with Chicho regarding his suggestions, tips and answers to some of our questions regarding the plan I shared with him.  Chicho convinced us, based on his experience, that we would be better off arranging the hotels and meals ourselves during the walk for several reasons.  Aside from the savings on agency fees for the meal and hotel reservations, the walk becomes less restrictive since we do not have to adhere to the dates we were to arrive at the next town; there were plenty of hotels along the way especially during the month of September, when the students are back to school; and lastly,  we capture the essence of the pilgrimage by travelling and arranging the final accommodations and meals “on the fly”.