Watch the route up to day 18
Watch the route from day 19 to 24
Today it was a very relaxing day. Even because most of the job was done by a ferry. Yesterday I went to sleep in the woods close to the harbour to be on time to catch the morning ferryboat from Koli to Lieksa. It's a one and half hour journey through the islands of the central part of Lake Pielinen. With such a fantastic weather, all the summer cottages at the lakeside were full of people taking sun bathes and swimming in the warm waters of the lake.
Once arrived in Lieksa I went to downtown to refuel which, being by bicycle, means go to the food shop. Really, all the time I see the price of the fuel for cars I feel much better not to have to use it!
Lieksa has a huge outdoor museum, Pielisen museo, resembling an old typical Karelian village. However I didn't want to stop there, the temperature was too high just to walk under the sun. Better to get some wind cycling!
I didn't go a long way though. I had some sort-of-working stuff to do, pictures to upload, camera battery to recharge, shower to take, so I stopped at Vuonislahti, just on the lakeside, at a nice hostel, although I ended up camping as it was cheaper. The hostel had also an exhibition of Feresi, the typical Karelian garb. I was in the middle with the typical garb of a 21
th century cycling tourist who just had a shower. And I look a little bit taller than the others 🙂
Tomorrow I'm heading even farther east, let's hope the wind will support the long stage. However, better to pack well all the stuff, according to the weather forecast it seems that some thundershowers should be arriving.
Day 24 – Tour de Finlande 2010: Koli – Vuonislahti
Trip distance: 30 km (plus 1 h 40 m by ferryboat)
Actual trip time: 1 h 50 m
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vabbè … col ferry però non vale! 🙂
Ed io pensavo che fosse caldo in Italia … ma anche lì non si scherza