Watch the route up to day 18
Watch the route from day 19 to 28
Watch the route from day 28 to 30
Good feelings also today. Leaving Mikkeli the scenery changed once again its shape as I was getting further deep in the lake area. This doesn’t mean flat roads at all, the music teacher I met yesterday outside the Mikkeli Cathedral was right: uphills and downhills in the Lake Saimaa area are comparable with the tunturi hills in Lapland, maybe even steeper, though not that high. But the nice temperature outside, soft wind (although sometimes not really “soft”), and above all the landscape made everything easier. Not a high speed today, however a reasonable distance, deep in the heart of Finnish Lakeland.
Leaving Mikkeli this morning I chose for a smaller road to get towards Puumala. Roads are very narrow here, and the main ones are very trafficked in this holiday period, so better go for a quite one, even if longer. After Anttola the scenery of lakes, islands, rocks comes up and the road becomes the
Vihreän kullan kulttuuritie (Green Gold Culture Road). And it’s a scenery comparable only with the Turku Archipelago and the Åland. Pistohiekka, just along the way, is an area with wonderful sandy beaches; today the weather was perfect, and the water incredibly warm. I decided to stop over there for a coffee, then a swim, then a pizza with a nice chat with the restaurant owner. It’s great when you are on such a long journey, because you have always something to tell, and I like to talk a lot, so it’s a perfect combination.
This time after swimming I had also the time of taking a picture of myself to show the sun tan I’ve got. I think it was back in 1996 when I took my last sun tan, meaning dark skin, as sure I got burnt every now and then. This time the problem is that I just got a tan in stripes: on the arms, on the thighs (only the part not covered by the shorts) and on the calves. I’m just laughing at myself 🙂
In the evening I managed to get to Puumala, which looks very very promising with its vertical pedestrian street. Guess I’ll tell more tomorrow.
Day 30 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Mikkeli – Puumala
Trip distance: 89 km
Actual trip time: 5 h 25 m
View Larger Map
The best in the picure is the boat behind you, which seems to have the same kind of tan in stripes.
add a couple of lines & you're wearing stockings