On the Road
Summary
Route: Helsinki -> Turku
Distance: 190 km
Duration: 3 days + 1 day in Turku
High Speed: 59 km/h
Day 1
All technical struggles with the bike have finally been resolved.
It time to start the trip, after finishing my introduction post on Steemit and getting some food, I finally start driving. The clock shows 5:30pm already but it’s Finland, the sun doesn’t go down until 10:30, so I’m good to go. The distance to my daily goal Nuuksio National Park is just a comfortable 30km.
During spring, not many people are in the Park at night time, so I just choose the central camping ground of the Park and except for me there is just two girls at the fireplace. They are really nice and we share drinks and grilled chocolate bananas. We sing some campfire songs together, while one of them is playing on a Ukulele.
Then it’s time to put up my hammock for the first night. I find two suitable trees and go to sleep. Admittedly it is still really, really cold, but I survive my first night. :D
Day 2
I befriend three local Park Scouts, leave my luggage with them, and start exploring the park on foot.
After hiking around for some hours it’s starts raining a bit, so I get myself a coffee and chat with the scouts until the rain has faded and start heading out. Direction: Somehow to the west.
It quite late already, so I am always directly facing the sun. A recurring scenario for the next days. Luckily, I have (awful looking bicycle) sunglasses. While I make a short break by the road, two other bike tourers come up two me. They are Russian and barely speak any English. But we are all heading towards Turku so we decide to team up. They had already chosen a camping location at a nearby lake. In a matter of minutes, they put up the tent and erected a cooking place on a campfire. They are clearly more experienced than me, and I can still learn a lot from them, in exchange I teach them some English.
It will rain this night, but since my new-found company happens to have a three person tent, I decided to put my tarp to test at a different time.
Day 3
This will be the first real challenge. We’re planning to go all the way to Turku which is about 120 km. I have never cycled that far in one day before. We make some breakfast and hit the road.
After some breaks we finally at the break of dawn (around 11pm) we arrive our goal a beautiful lake closeby Turku. A local recommends us a place to camp and we cook some dinner and go to bed.
Day 4
Very early in the morning the others are going to catch the ferry from Turku to Stockholm. I continue to sleep in my Hammock and enjoy the beautiful view and amazing weather.
Around noon, after doing some Yoga at the beach, I head into the lovely city of Turku.
Turku
I can stay with a relative of a friend in Turku, so I’ll spend the day in the sun exploring the city. The mood is great, everything feels alive. Since the day being one of the first really warm ones this year, everyone is outside and having a good time.
When I am about to meet up with my host for the night, I get to know a local passionate traveler and we exchange contacts. Then I meet my host for the night with his girlfriend and after finally enjoying a warm shower again, I go to sleep on an inflatable bed.
Day 5
On the next morning, I meet the local from the day before. The day is just as sunny and we go sit down by the river, watch people on water-jetpacks, exchange travel stories and she helps me plan my trip to Åland.
