Finland so far...

Total distance: 1823 km
Kustavi - Turku - Tampere - Jyväskylä

When we disembarked the ferry in Kustavi on the mainland Finland a huge amount of cars and caravans passed us on the road. The situation changed some kilometers later. Not far away from the coast everybody had to take a cable ferry to cross one of the many lakes. The cable ferry was as usual announced one km before. Shortly after the long car and caravan queue started. All of them that had passed us before were waiting in this queue. We very much enjoyed rolling down to the cable ferry, leaving all motorized vehicles on our right. You could literally see the drivers' jealousy. If they could, they would have removed two of their tyres and rolled with us.

Turku in the Southwest was our first stop where we stayed for two days. On our way to Turku we were lost somewhere in the North of Turku. A half-naked Finnish cyclist stopped and offered his help. He wore only shorts. As we already explained some posts ago, the Swedes and Finns must have thicker skins. On that day it was about 25°C but the wind made it even cooler. We couldn't imagine riding without a T-shirt. The Finns are very friendly and helpful. Whenever we seem lost, somebody shows up and tries to help. The half-naked Finn even made a detour on his way home in order to show us the right way. Very nice!

At the tourist information we have got maps and some other tourist guides. One of the tourist guides advertised a restaurant called 'Red Hot Chillies'. We both love hot spicy food and couldn't resist. The name was too promising. Food was ok. The menu offered a mix of US, Tex Mex, Indian and Asian dishes. We had burritos ... well, we know someone who cooks better Mexican food :-)

In Turku we also took advantage of the washing machine that was at the camping site. After 4 weeks of cycling we felt it was time for fresh clothes. By then we had hand-washed all our clothes many times, but that is just not the same. Machine-washed, fresh clothes, what a luxury!

From Turku we made it in three days to the next big city, Tampere. The motorway sign showed 160 km for the distance Turku - Tampere. We have learnt that you have to add about a third of the car-distance to get the bicycle-distance. So for us cyclists the way was 230 km at the end of three days. We took a day off in Tampere. The 230 km were tiring and it was hard to move our legs. Tampere was an interesting city. There were old, industrial, red-brick buildings and very modern houses. Both different styles did not contradict at all, but somehow formed a good mix. One interesting piece of information that we found in one of the tourist guides was the amount of daylight in Tampere. Midsummer has more than 19 h of daylight (it never gets completely dark though - very fascinating!) and 'midwinter' has a little bit more than 5 h of daylight. Can you imagine? 5 h only!

When we left Tampere, we thought our legs would be full of power again. But this wasn't the case. One day was definitely not enough. After only 5 km it was time for the first break. We have been lucky with the weather here in Finland: no rain but the temperature got higher and higher. While Sweden in June had between 18°C and 25°C, Finland in July reaches about 32°C.

With Tampere we have entered the lake-land. There are so many lakes here. The number of lakes is crazy. If we find access to a lake, we take advantage and go for a bath. During the last 4 years in France we got used to sea water. The first time we jumped into the lake water, we immediately noticed that the water was not salty any more!

Many lakes and forests have a big disadvantage: mosquitoes. Apart from missing water supply, they are the real problem for free camping in Finland. Romantic free camping looks like this: you arrive at a spot where to pitch your tent. While you are pitching your tent, you notice the mosquitoes.So you put on long trousers, socks, jumper, scarf and beanie. You start sweating, jump into the tent, get rid of your clothes and sweat even more because it's hotter inside. A warm meal after a tiring day? Do you want to get bitten outside? No, so you eat bread and wait until it cools down. When you wake up, it's about the same. Dressing up, packing and leaving the place that is by that time full of mosquitoes again. Mosquitoes annoy you in the evening, but flies annoy you during the day. It's not as bad as on the Great Ocean Road in Australia but nearly. Did you know that flies can keep up with a bicycle that is 25 km/h fast? So there is no chance to escape from them. Only way out are steep descents. However the next fly crowd awaits you at the end of the descent. Now we do know how the poor cows and horses must feel.

Karl Fazer chocolate! We got addicted to his chocolate. Well, I did already know this Finnish sweets. My Finnish colleagues from Helsinki brought this chocolate whenever they came on a business trip to France. Me and my colleagues in the office could not stop eating them. Karl Fazer chocolate, better than the purple cow Milka chocolate! One Finnish thing that we'll definitely miss in the future.

We arrived in Jyväskylä today. Again it was about 230 km in three days. These three days were even more painful than the last ones. We cycled many dirt roads and many hills. If you think that Finland is flat, you'll make a big mistake! It's definitely not! Think about it, why are there so many lakes in Finland? Our camping site is even right next to a mountain bike downhill park. What a pity that the bikes we have with us are not suitable for some downhill fun ;-)

We are taking two days off now before we'll pedal further. Actually that is perfect timing. Firstly, it is raining here. Secondly, the camping site has a TV. We are going to watch the FIFA 2010 semi-final Germany - Spain. "Schlaaaaaaaaaaaaaand!" Germany vs. The Netherlands would be a cool final.

As we've been a bit lazy with posting these last weeks, here a collection of photos from Finland so far...

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