47th day Bad Bramstedt to Travemunde

Distance: 92km
Total: 4650km

Woke up in my little hut excited to finally have the possibly last cycling day for the trip. Weather was sunny and only my shoes and socks, that were wet were uncomfortable to wear. Cycling pants went to 'steering wheel' for first 25km to dry.

Made my way to Bad Sepelberg along the road 206's side 'velobahn' and after on smaller roads to Lubeck as 206 became autobahn. Had a short break for some additional breakfast in Lubeck and also drove through the old city. Didn't want to waste too much time as had no idea, when the ferry to Finland is gonna leave - and thanks to German policy with Wi-Fi, its practically impossible to reach internet from Germany easily.

Cycled towards Travemunde, and on the way there was bus parked along the street and apparently had to take it to just get under the short tunnel - bus was free though. Went all way to centrum of Travemunde only to find out I need to go back couple kilometers for the right terminal. The terminal for scandinavian traffic was a big building with offices, small restaurant and 'traveler's shop'. The Finnlines office would open at 19.00, so had to wait to know is there room in the ship and if there is, buy the ticket.

From here on started to meet quite few finnish people, and had couple chats with them. The ticket office opened at 19.00 and got my salty price ticket for me and bicycle for 185€ (155+30), which is pretty high compared to say flying. Heard the reason is the monopoly of Finnlines on the rouse, but next year Viking line going to open a competing route so the prices might come down somewhat.

The gates to loading waiting area opened at 20.30 and got access to ship around midnight - so all in all the day was mostly waiting, if would have known the timetables could have spent more time in Lubeck or so. Anyways as don't have cabin just bitter one of seating areas with sleeping pad and sleeping bag and went in sleeping mode - ship is supposed to sail at 03.00.

44th day Marrum to Midwolda

Distance: 124km
Total: 4255km

Morning was extremely humid, and a look outside of tent revealed thick fog everywhere. Had to pack pretty wet tent as no way for it to dry in that humid fog. Started the day driving along the dyke to northeast, straight on headwind, which was pretty strong - so the endless fog must be coming from the sea then.

Made my way to Lauwersoog and both headwind and fog persisted, there was a lot sheep fenced on the dyke and the road was pretty messy at times because of the sheep. Was not much landscapes seen most of the day because of the fog. It also became rather heavy driving as humidity was waaay up and temperature had also risen over +25°C - everything just was little wet and air heavy to breath.

In Middelstum things changed; I was having a break on outskirts of the town - enjoying something horrible I bought from Aldi store - suddenly it started to come darker, car lights really showed up over distance etc, wondered whats going on here, first gusts made me decide I might not want to be here on the open with some stuff out for a break. As I was closing last panniers, big drops started to land, 10 seconds and the shower was on full throttle, 30 seconds later I might swell have had a swim with all clothes on. Hurried under some tree cover, which didn't do good job at stopping rain, and pulled on the 'rain' coat - which was totally soaked soon also, but kept me bit warmer.

The thunderstorm was a turn point on weather though; temperature dropped and after the rain was gone all of the fog was gone. It made really good driving weather, as wind was gone also - only bad side wet roads and wet me.

Finding a campsite wasn't hard - first one was called 'Kleine Finland' so had to check it out, unfortunately there was nobody on reception and it seemed pretty empty apart from some people in cabins. Second campsite had just note - gone vacation, back 3rd of august. 3rd campsite was open and taking people - although reception was empty, but provided a phone number to summon someone to reception.

Tomorrow more to east - hope the winds are more favorable.

43rd day Amsterdam to Marrum

Distance: 164km
Total: 4131km

Day started on crowded campsite - few were awake at 7.30am, when I woke up. It was cloudy and it also threw few drops down. Dunno why, but none of campsite's toilets had any toilet paper, so had to use my own. Maybe the guy sleeping on toilet floor ate it all.

Managed out of Amsterdam pretty easily and on road next to channel got nice pull help from 5 pro looking cyclists - it was educational experience to drive in a group. Did about 13km with them on steady 30km/h speed. After my wind cover was gone felt the rest of day the headwind slowing me down, but had decided to make some kilometers - so kept cycling.

The 30km long dyke drive middle of water was specially hard as the wind had some force against me, also the high humidity made sure the skin stayed wet whole day attaching all sand on the skin surface. Seems like my knees start to hurt first when doing couple hours of hard cycling.

Ate a pizza in Harlingen, first pizza for a quite a while, but after eating the knees didn't first really agree with driving, but got better when warmed up. Its kind of funny to watch towards the sea over farmland and see the never ending wall in horizon to keep the sea away.

As a total opposite to the Amsterdam's mass camping site, tonight's site is one of those mini camping sites. Got actually tour to toilets, showers and tent places by the host. You don't really need to ask which type I like more - mini camping was also cheaper.

42nd day Katwijk to Amsterdam

Distance: 62km
Total: 3967km

Another cloudy morning - did my morning routines as normal and as I was coming out from morning wash, noticed that its raining outside. Ugh - and Ieft my tent and few other things to dry on open. Continued on LF-1b cycling route along the coast till Haarlem and then took bicycle roads to Amsterdam. Hitted the campsite that my German friend had recommended by 1pm.

So next off to town - after setting up the camp. On route to ferry to cross the waterway to the centrum, went to buy something to drink from a shop on the way. Inside the shop everything was in Russian - okay guess Amsterdam has sizeable Russian speaking population.

Centrum was pretty crowded, and indeed there was a lot bicycles - sometimes going on fast speeds with bells ringing, cars weren't as numerous in the centrum. There indeed was plenty of channels and boat traffic on them around the city. Most of the centrum was pretty narrow walking streets with a lot people and different kinds of storefronts. Red lights district was also found, but had little activity such early. Coffee shops were all over and certain sweet smell was pretty common, also they have IT on everything; ice cream, lollipops, cookies... Also diversity of people from all over the world is presented here pretty well.

Back on the campsite the blue lighted toilets/showers really worked to make you like a zombie - maybe the veins were harder to find also. Campsite looks like pretty much tents only and has a lot guests - mostly the younger sort. No wonder as its just couple kilometers from centrum including a free ferry over the larger waterway.

Let's see if it ever comes quiet here... spanish sound a noisy bunch.

41st day Burgh-haamstede to Katwijk

Distance: 127km
Total: 3905km

It rained! It actually rained a bit during the night, it been a while since last time in Linz. It was pretty coldish morning with temperature probably bit under +20°C, drove to first village/town centrum and bought some breakfast from Spar - muesli yoghurt and bread. It was cloudy, so it didn't really get warmer than +25°C until later when it cleared up.

Coast of the Netherlands seems to be sand dunes mostly with rest covered with concrete on vast dock areas. And at this time of the year the coast is really full of people - heard many Germans migrate here for the summer and empirical evidence supports also this claim.

Made quite big 'useless' trip towards Rotterdam, which gave me at least 20km extra loop eastwards. Took ferry over Rotterdam waterway, which had plenty of big container ships sailing along it - and which answers lack of bridge over it. After crossing the waterway and cycling north, it seems that landscape has become more urban as there's no longer fields, but everything is covered by housing with more intense and higher housing in centrums. Haag was basically big area of intense housing with some bigger churches and taller buildings in the nexus.

Not much pictures were taken as the battery overheating problem surprised me early and it had eaten all battery before I was able to boot it. This also affected the flow of the day as had no idea how much the clock is, thus camped up much earlier than usually.

The movement north can also be noticed by much longer days (light time) than earlier. Maybe I'll manage Amsterdam tomorrow...

40th day Wichelen to Burgh-haamstede

Distance: 138km
Total: 3778km

It was good night concerning the temperature, but the urban noise of surroundings started to bother the sleep towards the morning. Thanks to my friend again for the breakfast, its good start for the day to start cycling with something in stomach. The weather forecast said it was gonna be another +34°C day, so tried to get close to the seaside before all morning's coolness is gone. This got me on 65km before the noon and it indeed felt good to get some sea wind, specially when driving on the sand dunes.

Entered the Netherlands just after 35km and the amount of bicycle ways and signs was just stunning. Practically every road had bicycle lanes or separate smooth cycling road. Took a ferry from Breskens to Vlissingen, which was pretty quick ride. After the ferry took more scenic cycling route along the coast, but it was just so full of other cyclists that moving was pretty difficult, also the route wasn't very straight. After while decided to take smoother cycling route more in inland - not only that there IS cycling route, there's several to pick from, so hilarious comparing to cycling route situation of eastern European countries. This jungle of cycling routes also gets you bit 'lost' as there's just so much signs and information when several routes meet - usually in village centers.

Just before finding my mini campsite, crossed the long water barricades between the islands to control the water levels. Tomorrow towards Amsterdam, unlikely though that I'll reach it tomorrow - which is kind of annoying if I'm to take break day there.

39th day Ninove to Wichelen

Distance: 30km
Total: 3640km

Night was extremely warm and humid, felt like everything is so sticky and bit wet. In the morning the tent indeed was totally wet from the humidity and there was loads of snails on tent - big snails. Left earlier than usual, but it was incredibly hot early on.

I had an agreement with friend to meet on Wichelen train station on call and the plan worked. Its great to meet someone in person who you known over internet for years and kinda get face behind the voice. Due to timetable and other reasons (like my slightly crawling homesickness), the visit would be a short one. But we managed to go see Brugge and the coast. To see sea again since Latvia was kind of relaxing to just see the sea horizon with all vastness - going to see more sea on the coming week. Brugge and the stew gave good sample of Belgian culture - shame it was +35°C, so buying the famous Belgian chocolate wasn't really an option.

In the evening just camped on the yard with the tent as it was much cooler outside than inside. Thanks for the possibility to meet you dude - and there's a lot places to hike in Finland (hint hint).