It’s already quite late at the point of writing this and I have yet to cook, so please excuse the possibly somewhat short post.
The day started off on a really good note, I woke up before my alarm already feeling energized, so I just got up, packed my stuff ate breakfast and headed on the road. I think I never hit the road before eight in the morning yet, so it was a new experience. Good thing I did though. The heat got nearly unbearable quite quickly, so I was happy to have covered the first 40km before being cooked. That still left me with 75 more kilometers being fried. At least the roads were flat. Yes, you heard right, for the first time they were truly flat through and through. It made for quite easy riding but it showed me a new problem. Progress seems incredibly slow when your scenery doesn’t change and the road just keeps stretching out into the horizon. I found myself feeling stuck and the 115km today felt longer than any other stretch I made so far. The heat definitely contributed to that though.
But like all things, this leg today came to an end as well, with Oulu greeting me. What a city. I spend around 100km in complete wilderness today, not seeing any human soul but the odd old, rather grumpy farmer. And now I enter this city and get hit with what feels like Paris during fashion week. Everyone looks like a model, gorgeous and dressed in the most stunning ways. It really was quite a surprising and amusing change.
I found shelter at a camp ground just outside the city next to the beach. It’s a really big one with loads of people but it makes sense with how gorgeous it is and the beach right next to it. That’s exactly where I wanted to head to as well after setting up camp and showering. Since the spot was perfect for it, I decided to take out the hammock for the first time and leave the tent stowed away. So far it proved to be an absolutely brilliant idea, it feels like a cozy dream. Anyway, I went to the beach and decided to not go to the main area. It was super overcrowded and even though I by now knew that Finnish people very extremely lax when it comes to Corona, I was still a bit shocked. Instead I found a nice shaded spot a bit away from the main beach where I sat, wrote my journal, texted friends and snacked away. From there I went for a walk, calling a friend and then family. All around good times!
- Route: Säräisniemi – Mökkikylä – Muhos – Oulu
- Distance covered: 115.49km
- Total distance covered: 1556.45km
My bed for the night 
The Gulf of Botnia 
The beach 
A bit less crowded here
Raphael's Travel Blog 