No Pictures today. A serious slog to get north. KBO!
I only slept the four hours of darkness last night. I hope my body learns to sleep in the day light, or I'm going to be wrecked a week from now. I phoned ahead and booked a single room to myself for tonight. I want a bit of privacy when I arrive tired from a day in the saddle. That said my room mates so far have been good. The last two nights a Curdish guy, escaping terrorists in Circuk (no idea on the spelling on that one Im afraid). He lost his father to the gun men, then he got out. Emotional stuff even communicated with virtualy no common language. He told me this so I made him a cup of tea! How English is that?
The Bothnian Coast is long, stretching all the way North to the Finnish border. I settled into the rythme. Its a motorcycle meditation. Be in the here and now, or get flattened by a double length timber truck. Elsa says Ohmm. Ride 2 hours. Eat, drink, refuel carefully with the rehabilitated credit card, ride 2 hours more. Do it again. To eat an elephant you take one plateful at a time. Oh for some mountain bends. The scenery is nice. Woods, forest. You hardly see the sea which is close by on my right. The big bike is making light work of the mile. My shoulders ache but the bike is getting lighter. Only 5 lb lighter, but it feels more. I think I may be growing muscles! Onward north as far as Umea, a city of young people celebrating the light summer nights. It's a little chillier here.
Another hour of planning. I wanted a day off at the research station at Abisco, in Swedish Lapland. They have a dorm bed only, for one night. That doesn't give me the convenient base for a days hiking, and I'm not up for another dorm just now (people think I'm odd just because I sleep in my jacket and have herrings in my beard). It's taken a lot of buggering about but eventually I have a private room en suite in a neighbouring hostel.
If you hadn't guessed, I'm dawdling. I like Sweden very much, and there is foul weather in the north that I need to clear before my final run for the Cape. I need to here from a man in Tromso. Arrangements got a little more complicated for next weekend. Bed. Sleep please.
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Still sounds like your having a great adventure and meeting interesting people. Had any odd food yet?
ReplyDeleteAll the time mate.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite comes out of a jar though. Senapsill. Chopped raw Herring in a mustard mayonaise. You can't eat it with your fingers. Tipping it into the lid and slurping it works well, but it gets in my beard. I'm looking out for raindeer stew.
Does the localschnapps count?