Well, getting food poisoning right in the middle of the trip wasn't exactly what I had planned for, but luckily this morning I was feeling a lot better.
Before leaving the cabin area we went to wash some of our cookware in the kitchen/cooking area in a separate building that was shared between all the campers. It became clear that the area catered to Russian tourists.
We got all our gear cleaned and packed up for the days journey into Southern Karjala. Again the sun was shining and the temperatures were going up.
A quick visit to the beach and then it was off in a south eastern direction. The exciting part was the amount of gravel riding we would get to do. The majority of our route would be dirt of gravel roads leading us toward the border and then straight down it.
Then in the middle of nowhere we came across a neat view point. On our way up the hill to this tower a moose ran across the road and down the hill in front of us, at least that's what Olli told me, I was too busy looking down and missed it. Once we got to the top, it had a pretty good view of the surrounding lakes and farms. It was also a good time to shed our long sleeve shirts, since it had started to warm up even more.
Then we made it into Southern Karjala, but there was no sign welcoming us there. There was however a sign welcoming people into Northern Karjala, so we took a photo with that one instead.
Although we didn't find a coffee shop, we ended up finding a place to cook lunch and take a break. There was no way we weren't going to stop at a place Virtsalammen Laavu (Urine pond's lean to), and take a view of Virtsalampi (Urine pond). Now I can say I ate lunch at Urine pond.
Even though the lunch spot was called Urine pond, I didn't get any food poisoning on this day. And then after lunch we continued our gravel path toward Parikkala.
Our water supply was getting low, and we had a plan to stop at one of the lakes along the way to filter some water. The trouble was, all paths that led to the water were actually someones driveway, so we decided to stop at one house where we saw a man outside working. He had loud old Finnish music playing from the house while he worked on building a shed in his yard, but he had no fresh water for us to refill our bottles with, I guess his well had become contaminated, so he instructed us to visit the next house.
Next door we found a house and a museum for the old area store, and luckily there was a woman working in the yard of the house. She had bottled water that she gave us, and offered a free tour of the museum even though it was closed.
After our museum tour we reached the infamous frontier zone that I had been waiting for. I guess I expected something a little more than just some signs, but then again, I really had no idea what to expect. Either way I was really excited to finally see this area.
This is my favorite kind of riding. I love getting out on long gravel routes and exploring the back country. This day ended up being my favorite route of the trip, because of that.
Our chosen camp spot for the evening was a place near Parikkala called Siikalahti (whitefish bay). Siikalahti is considered Finlands best bird watching area. We found that there was an area to cook and a designated tent area right along the path to the wetland area. It was the perfect opportunity to finally use the tents we had been carrying.
After setting up camp and eating dinner we went to have a look at what the bird watching path had to offer. We had already seen many people going down the path with HUGE camera lenses, so it must be good. There was bird life all over, as well as, mammals swimming around in the water.
Thanks to the large amount of bird life around us, two things happened. The first is we listened to birds sing all night, and the second is we listened to people walking around all night looking at the birds. It's super creepy, and it's hard to sleep when you keep hearing people moving around and talking loudly about whether or not we were supposed to be camping there.
Before leaving the cabin area we went to wash some of our cookware in the kitchen/cooking area in a separate building that was shared between all the campers. It became clear that the area catered to Russian tourists.
We got all our gear cleaned and packed up for the days journey into Southern Karjala. Again the sun was shining and the temperatures were going up.
A quick visit to the beach and then it was off in a south eastern direction. The exciting part was the amount of gravel riding we would get to do. The majority of our route would be dirt of gravel roads leading us toward the border and then straight down it.
Then in the middle of nowhere we came across a neat view point. On our way up the hill to this tower a moose ran across the road and down the hill in front of us, at least that's what Olli told me, I was too busy looking down and missed it. Once we got to the top, it had a pretty good view of the surrounding lakes and farms. It was also a good time to shed our long sleeve shirts, since it had started to warm up even more.
Then we made it into Southern Karjala, but there was no sign welcoming us there. There was however a sign welcoming people into Northern Karjala, so we took a photo with that one instead.
This was just outside of a place called Uukuniemi just next to a small grocery store. We decided to ask a local guy directions to a coffee shop so we could get a coffee and maybe some sort of cake. It was around 1 p.m. and the guy we decided to ask turned out to be drunk already. He instructed us to go back the way we came, because it was better than continuing forward. Needless to say we didn't listen to him, but we also didn't find a coffee shop.
Although we didn't find a coffee shop, we ended up finding a place to cook lunch and take a break. There was no way we weren't going to stop at a place Virtsalammen Laavu (Urine pond's lean to), and take a view of Virtsalampi (Urine pond). Now I can say I ate lunch at Urine pond.
Even though the lunch spot was called Urine pond, I didn't get any food poisoning on this day. And then after lunch we continued our gravel path toward Parikkala.
Our water supply was getting low, and we had a plan to stop at one of the lakes along the way to filter some water. The trouble was, all paths that led to the water were actually someones driveway, so we decided to stop at one house where we saw a man outside working. He had loud old Finnish music playing from the house while he worked on building a shed in his yard, but he had no fresh water for us to refill our bottles with, I guess his well had become contaminated, so he instructed us to visit the next house.
Next door we found a house and a museum for the old area store, and luckily there was a woman working in the yard of the house. She had bottled water that she gave us, and offered a free tour of the museum even though it was closed.
After our museum tour we reached the infamous frontier zone that I had been waiting for. I guess I expected something a little more than just some signs, but then again, I really had no idea what to expect. Either way I was really excited to finally see this area.
This is my favorite kind of riding. I love getting out on long gravel routes and exploring the back country. This day ended up being my favorite route of the trip, because of that.
Our chosen camp spot for the evening was a place near Parikkala called Siikalahti (whitefish bay). Siikalahti is considered Finlands best bird watching area. We found that there was an area to cook and a designated tent area right along the path to the wetland area. It was the perfect opportunity to finally use the tents we had been carrying.
After setting up camp and eating dinner we went to have a look at what the bird watching path had to offer. We had already seen many people going down the path with HUGE camera lenses, so it must be good. There was bird life all over, as well as, mammals swimming around in the water.
Thanks to the large amount of bird life around us, two things happened. The first is we listened to birds sing all night, and the second is we listened to people walking around all night looking at the birds. It's super creepy, and it's hard to sleep when you keep hearing people moving around and talking loudly about whether or not we were supposed to be camping there.
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