Day 34 & 35a. Saariselka to Helsinki FI. 1216 km

I had one of the best night’s sleep for a while at Saariselka's, Laaninov Hotel.   Perhaps it was not using the sleeping bag, but probably was the hamburger and the beer.   This was the third best hamburger that I have had, after Iran and Colombia.  

Breakfast was smoked fish as well as pink salmon and a white fresh water salmon.   The cook didn’t know what it was called in English.   Pure decadence.

For the ride it was the usual sun, drizzle, cloud, rain, sun, more rain, etc.   On and off with the rain suit.   I am getting good at that.

I was riding the E75 through the centre of Finland.   It’s a very nice road to ride, with a good mix of scenery and freeway.   Most enjoyable.

I decided to look for a hotel around 7 pm, but the place I found had no internet.   I wanted to lookup the ferry services out of Helsinki.   I’d hoped for a ferry to Rostock, Germany.   A 36 hour ferry ride should be fun.

The next hotel was way too expensive for me, and as I was near the freeway, I thought that there would be a string of “Motel 6” types of accommodation along the way.   Well I was wrong.   So, since it was a nice clear night with no rain, I rode on some more.

After about 10 minutes, guess what?   It rained.   Never mind, just ride on.   The rain cleared after about 20 minutes and by then it was about 11 pm.

I fuelled up again and had a coffee and saw that Helsinki was only another 264 kms away.   Let’s ride until I get tired, and I can always sleep next to the bike again.   I rode into Helsinki at about 3:30 am, and surprisingly, not tired.

There was little to no traffic in town, and it was light again by then, so I just rode around.   I remembered some of the buildings from when we were here in 2006.   That was a good pick-me-up.   I was going to stay at Rastila Campground again, but decided to check the ferry times instead, since getting around was so easy.

I found the Rostock Ferry Terminal eventually.   It’s hard to ask for help, when there is no-one about.   Not that real men ask for directions!

The ferry leaves at 6:30 pm, so I have found a real nice supermarket with a couch and free internet, so here I type.

It’s interesting that on my first night and my last night in Scandinavia, I have not gone to bed.
I hope you enjoy the photos.   (Sorry for the typos and grammar errors.   I’m getting tired now.)

LN2N2012