Distance: 128km
Elevation: 1.160m
This morning I experienced the Swedish Knots for the first time. Somehow, my muesli was not fully veggie anymore. I woke up early, had a swim, ate slowly and carefully, packed up and was on the road by 7:30am.
The road to Jönköping and Husqvarna was still flat. I was in awe when I saw the gigantic lakefront of the Vättern, Sweden second largest lake. What a view!
Shortly after, I met the first fellow traveler on this tour. Søren from Denmark who had retired last week Friday and was now on a three months bike trip through Sweden. This had been his dream for long and now it all became true. We had a good chat and then I moved on.
From then on the landscape changed significantly. I felt like being in Switzerland all of a sudden. It was very hilly and the houses were all made from wood and all painted in red. It looked a bit like Middle earth from Lord of the Rings – really picturesque.
Around lunch time it was around 33 degrees which was really exhausting. Finally, I found a beautiful Café up on a hill called “Heaven”. And the title was about accurate.
In the afternoon, I was looking for a beach to have a swim. Despite the fact that I was actually cycling alongside the Vättern all day, the shoreline was always steep without any beaches. After some detour, I finally found my spot but it was full of mosquitoes which were biting me while I was changing – which was a bit stressful.
Meanwhile, a thunderstorm had grown and for the last 20km, I was racing against the upcoming rain. I arrived at the camp site a bit exhausted and set up my tent when it started. But it looked worse than first thought.
Also, I decided that today was washing day. I had so many insects around me all day that it made me wonder: how bad am I actually smelling?
