First things first. Even though I say 'Island hopping' in the title, I rode to just two Islands.
I was staying at a friend's parents' house in Helsinki. My friend was going to be out of town for a couple of days. I did not do much planning before the trip and I found out at the tourist information center in Helsinki that you could bike from an island to another in the Turku Archipelago. Piqued by the idea of island hopping, that too on a bicycle, I decided to go visit Turku, Finland's original capital and then ride a bike to the islands (of course, you would need to take a ferry when you get to the water).
So with a vague plan, I left to Turku from Helsinki by train on the wednesday morning. The idea was to go to Turku and then decide on the final itinerary. Turku is around a 2 hour ride from Helsinki by train. Once I got to Turku, the first thing to do was to get a map of the town and find the tourist information center. The Tourist Info Center was a good 10-15 min walk away. These walks are always interesting, as they give you the first glimpse of the city and if you spend more time walking, you discover more of characteristics of it. I have been told that since it was almost the end of summer then, not all ferries operated. That meant very limited choice of routes for island hopping. After considering the time and my physical abilities, I just decided to go to Nagu and Korpo. It was around 57 kms to Nagu from Turku and around 27 kms to Korpo from Nagu. I have done a bit of cycling here in Redmond and once did a 50 mile ride to a friend's house(25 miles each way) in the same day, with a good 4-5 hr break in between. So at a relaxed pace, I thought I could go to Nagu that day and go to Korpo the next day. You could rent a bike from the Info center, but I had to walk back to the railway station to keep my huge backpack in a locker. So, I packed just the essentials - a change of clothes, my camera and phone and headed to the Info center to rent a bike.
The rate was 20 Euros per day, a little expensive but I did not have the time or patience to go and find a cheaper place to rent a bike. After I paid for the bike I was taken to a room in the back where I could pick it. Seems like I lose the little common sense I have when on my trips. I should have checked the bike before I paid for it. The bike was, what we would call in India, a girl's bicycle. It was red and short and when I rode it for trial, I found out that it did not have a back wheel brake on the handle. You have to pedal backwards to brake it, as I soon discovered. It was already past 1pm in the afternoon and I was told to go to the Tourist Info Center in Pargas/Parainen to book any accommodation in Nagu. So, I chose to suck it up and ride this not very comfortable bike. It at least had some gears, that was a win. So, equipped with a map to the Islands, I started on my bicycle trip.
So, on the bicycle trip, I walked almost a km and a half to get out of the main city to avoid riding this bike on the sidewalks. Once I started riding the bike, it started to drizzle a bit and I thought I would be fine. It was around 25km to Parainen and I was told that it was almost flat and a straight easy enough route to follow. So I had hoped to get there in an hour and a half. The ride was chilly at the start cause of the wind. After around 10 mins of biking, the rain started to pick up. Though it wasn't pouring down, it was a steady enough rain to get my Jeans wet. I was cold and wet after 20 mins in to the trip. At this point I wasn't sure about the route and had stopped at a supermarket to ask for directions. There was a guy I talked to, who told me on which road to take and I started again. Five minutes after this, I seemed to be in a residential area and still kinda unsure, I kept on biking only to hear someone calling at me. I found out that it was the same person who I had asked for directions earlier and I realized that, with my awesome navigation skills, I managed to get onto the wrong route. The person had seen me passing by his house and called out to correct me. I could not believe my luck and thanked the man profusely and was now back on the (right) road. The bike lane was a narrow gravel road, separated from the main road and ran parallel to it. It was on the right side of the road at the start but I realized that it wasn't the case for long. It kept switching sides a lot, with the underpasses to get to the other side. Also, even though the main road was almost very flat, the bike lane wasn't at a good number of places. By the time I got to Parainen, I was completely cold and wet. It took me two hours to get there. Luckily though I found the Tourist Information Center and it wasn't closed yet.
I locked the bike and went into the building. I told the lady at the center that I was looking to book some accommodation at Nagu. She wasn't sure if there would be anything available as it was off season then. She offered me a seat, but I did not sit down. I was dripping wet and did not want to get the chair wet too. I was just glad to be out of rain and as warm as I can be with wet clothes on. She looked up a few places and after 2-3 calls, found me a place where I could stay for the night in Nagu. She wrote down the name and phone number of the hotel on a post it of which I took a pic with my phone, just to be on the safe side. I was asked when I would reach Nagu and I gave them a safe estimate of 6pm, as it was already around 3:30 then. The lady gave me the map of Nagu and the directions to get to the hotel. So, with accommodation taken care of, I was ready to get back on the way to Nagu.
As I got out of the Info center and I realized that I was missing my bike keys. I cursed myself and went in again to see if I forgot the keys there. Luckily, that is what I did. The lady when she realized that, started laughing and said 'Now I understand why you took the pic of the stick it note'. I was laughing too, at that. With my bike keys found, now I started again.
The rain seemed to be getting lighter and I was very glad about it. I was lazy enough to not get a pair of contacts before my trip again and I had paid well for that mistake. With the constant rain until then, I had to take my glasses off and wipe them with a single hand onto my Jeans, almost every other minute, to be able to see anything at all. Also, on top of this, I had the habit of pedaling backwards instead of just stopping pedaling, when I try to coast on my bike and because of this, the bike would suddenly stop(remember the weird braking system of the bike?). All this gave me enough reasons to swear out loud a lot on the trip. But, even with all this, the trip was very enjoyable as it offered some great views. The views weren't grand like in Norway, but I thought these had their own serene beauty to them. When you travel slowly, you are forced to watch/observe things you would miss otherwise, just because you're moving too fast. I just had more time to appreciate the surroundings I was in, when traveling on a bike. Anyway, the rain stopped eventually and I reached a point where I had to take the ferry to get across the water. I saw a ferry in the water and it seemed to have just left. By then anyway, I was really very damn hungry & thirsty and also needed to pee really badly. Unfortunately, the shop I found there was closed but found a restroom near by. But it was so cold, dark and smelled so bad that I decided to take a leak in the near by bush.
By the time I was got back, I saw that cars were lining up in rows waiting for the ferry. Soon a ferry came from the other direction and after waiting for all the cars to go first, I boarded it with the bike. I really loved views from the water of the surrounding islands and was very glad of the short break I got from biking. As we reached the other end and once all the cars left the ferry, I was the last one to get off of it. To my much delight, the small coffee shop on this side was open. I went in and found an old man inside. I got a coffee and also an apple strudel they had. The coffee wasn't that great but I was so very glad to just have some hot drink and so was the case with the strudel. Never in my life, had a coffee and a snack had felt more deserved than then. So with some renewed energy I continued to Nagu.
I wasn't worried about the vehicles on the road until then but now there wasn't a separate lane all the times. I tried to be cautious and traveled on to the very right edge of the road. Also, I noticed that almost every car/vehicle that passed by, traveled to the middle of the single laned road when they saw me and I was very thankful for that. With my awesome navigational skills I can't remember how many times I got lost on the road. I once took a way that goes to the bottom of a bridge that came by, when I supposed to take the other one which would let me cross it. In hindsight that seemed so obvious, but then I was just cold and hungry. Almost after 10-20 mins since I left the coffee place, I came on to branched roads and a sign that read Nagu pointed to the narrower road instead of the wider one I was one. Now I was very confused. I saw cars passing by now and then, but I could not stop and ask them for directions. So, I decided to take my chance and follow the very obvious sign and take the smaller road. After probably biking for a km or so, I happened to see a person getting out of a car, in front of what seemed to be a huge garage/shed. I yelled for the person to wait and went to her and asked if this was the correct way to Nagu. The old lady did not speak any English but understood me and said that this wasn't the correct way to Nagu. I thanked the lady and started biking back to the point where the roads were branched. Even though I was cursing that I had to bike around 2kms in waste, I was very glad that I at least knew the right way now. It was funny how I was thinking about just getting to Nagu. I was cold and tired and did not have a place to stay at night if I did not get to Nagu in time. It was not a life threatening situation or anything, but as tired as I was then, having some place to stay at night versus possibly spending a night in the woods/by the road made it almost like one. Somehow I even laughed at the situation I was in before I found the lady, thinking all this. So, I got back on to the right road after getting lost yet again. After finally biking km by km, trying my best to stay out of the few vehicles that were on the road I finally got to Nagu. I found a shop near a gas station and asked for the directions to the hotel and by luck, I was at the hotel just in time by 6pm.
Even with the little bumps I had on the way, I absolutely LOVED the trip to Nagu. Like I had said earlier, you are made to watch and observe stuff, you would miss otherwise, when you are traveling slowly. I passed by a few bridges and each gave me some beautiful views of the water. I also remember passing by a mining town/area. The roads were not busy, and even almost empty except for the occasional vehicles that passed by, after Parainen. The ride from Parainen to Nagu, was especially very beautiful. The road went along lots of fields and I passed by sheds/farmhouses etc. With almost no one in sight, I had the road and the place to myself. After being on the Scandinavian trip for 2 and half weeks, the sudden silence and serenity was an unexpected, pleasant and welcoming surprise. I enjoyed the whole experience and would not want to change anything in it.
Once I got to the hotel, I knocked on the door praying that someone would be there to let me in. Sure enough a middle aged man opened the door and after paying up and completing other formalities I was shown to my room. The hotel was run by the man and a lady who seemed to be his wife. It was a bed and breakfast place, so the lady had put some breakfast for me in the fridge. When asked what was the check out time, I was told that I was the only person in the hotel and could leave whenever I want. The owner suggested a restaurant that might be still open and so after taking a nice hot shower and changing into warm clothes I headed out for dinner. I found a restaurant not faraway, ordered a pizza and coke and ate the whole pizza. Except for me and another table, the restaurant was totally empty. Talk about being at Nagu out of season. But I really enjoyed this peace and quiet. I headed back to my hotel room, watched some FRIENDS that was on tv and went to bed! :)
I was staying at a friend's parents' house in Helsinki. My friend was going to be out of town for a couple of days. I did not do much planning before the trip and I found out at the tourist information center in Helsinki that you could bike from an island to another in the Turku Archipelago. Piqued by the idea of island hopping, that too on a bicycle, I decided to go visit Turku, Finland's original capital and then ride a bike to the islands (of course, you would need to take a ferry when you get to the water).
So with a vague plan, I left to Turku from Helsinki by train on the wednesday morning. The idea was to go to Turku and then decide on the final itinerary. Turku is around a 2 hour ride from Helsinki by train. Once I got to Turku, the first thing to do was to get a map of the town and find the tourist information center. The Tourist Info Center was a good 10-15 min walk away. These walks are always interesting, as they give you the first glimpse of the city and if you spend more time walking, you discover more of characteristics of it. I have been told that since it was almost the end of summer then, not all ferries operated. That meant very limited choice of routes for island hopping. After considering the time and my physical abilities, I just decided to go to Nagu and Korpo. It was around 57 kms to Nagu from Turku and around 27 kms to Korpo from Nagu. I have done a bit of cycling here in Redmond and once did a 50 mile ride to a friend's house(25 miles each way) in the same day, with a good 4-5 hr break in between. So at a relaxed pace, I thought I could go to Nagu that day and go to Korpo the next day. You could rent a bike from the Info center, but I had to walk back to the railway station to keep my huge backpack in a locker. So, I packed just the essentials - a change of clothes, my camera and phone and headed to the Info center to rent a bike.
The rate was 20 Euros per day, a little expensive but I did not have the time or patience to go and find a cheaper place to rent a bike. After I paid for the bike I was taken to a room in the back where I could pick it. Seems like I lose the little common sense I have when on my trips. I should have checked the bike before I paid for it. The bike was, what we would call in India, a girl's bicycle. It was red and short and when I rode it for trial, I found out that it did not have a back wheel brake on the handle. You have to pedal backwards to brake it, as I soon discovered. It was already past 1pm in the afternoon and I was told to go to the Tourist Info Center in Pargas/Parainen to book any accommodation in Nagu. So, I chose to suck it up and ride this not very comfortable bike. It at least had some gears, that was a win. So, equipped with a map to the Islands, I started on my bicycle trip.
So, on the bicycle trip, I walked almost a km and a half to get out of the main city to avoid riding this bike on the sidewalks. Once I started riding the bike, it started to drizzle a bit and I thought I would be fine. It was around 25km to Parainen and I was told that it was almost flat and a straight easy enough route to follow. So I had hoped to get there in an hour and a half. The ride was chilly at the start cause of the wind. After around 10 mins of biking, the rain started to pick up. Though it wasn't pouring down, it was a steady enough rain to get my Jeans wet. I was cold and wet after 20 mins in to the trip. At this point I wasn't sure about the route and had stopped at a supermarket to ask for directions. There was a guy I talked to, who told me on which road to take and I started again. Five minutes after this, I seemed to be in a residential area and still kinda unsure, I kept on biking only to hear someone calling at me. I found out that it was the same person who I had asked for directions earlier and I realized that, with my awesome navigation skills, I managed to get onto the wrong route. The person had seen me passing by his house and called out to correct me. I could not believe my luck and thanked the man profusely and was now back on the (right) road. The bike lane was a narrow gravel road, separated from the main road and ran parallel to it. It was on the right side of the road at the start but I realized that it wasn't the case for long. It kept switching sides a lot, with the underpasses to get to the other side. Also, even though the main road was almost very flat, the bike lane wasn't at a good number of places. By the time I got to Parainen, I was completely cold and wet. It took me two hours to get there. Luckily though I found the Tourist Information Center and it wasn't closed yet.
As I got out of the Info center and I realized that I was missing my bike keys. I cursed myself and went in again to see if I forgot the keys there. Luckily, that is what I did. The lady when she realized that, started laughing and said 'Now I understand why you took the pic of the stick it note'. I was laughing too, at that. With my bike keys found, now I started again.
The rain seemed to be getting lighter and I was very glad about it. I was lazy enough to not get a pair of contacts before my trip again and I had paid well for that mistake. With the constant rain until then, I had to take my glasses off and wipe them with a single hand onto my Jeans, almost every other minute, to be able to see anything at all. Also, on top of this, I had the habit of pedaling backwards instead of just stopping pedaling, when I try to coast on my bike and because of this, the bike would suddenly stop(remember the weird braking system of the bike?). All this gave me enough reasons to swear out loud a lot on the trip. But, even with all this, the trip was very enjoyable as it offered some great views. The views weren't grand like in Norway, but I thought these had their own serene beauty to them. When you travel slowly, you are forced to watch/observe things you would miss otherwise, just because you're moving too fast. I just had more time to appreciate the surroundings I was in, when traveling on a bike. Anyway, the rain stopped eventually and I reached a point where I had to take the ferry to get across the water. I saw a ferry in the water and it seemed to have just left. By then anyway, I was really very damn hungry & thirsty and also needed to pee really badly. Unfortunately, the shop I found there was closed but found a restroom near by. But it was so cold, dark and smelled so bad that I decided to take a leak in the near by bush.
By the time I was got back, I saw that cars were lining up in rows waiting for the ferry. Soon a ferry came from the other direction and after waiting for all the cars to go first, I boarded it with the bike. I really loved views from the water of the surrounding islands and was very glad of the short break I got from biking. As we reached the other end and once all the cars left the ferry, I was the last one to get off of it. To my much delight, the small coffee shop on this side was open. I went in and found an old man inside. I got a coffee and also an apple strudel they had. The coffee wasn't that great but I was so very glad to just have some hot drink and so was the case with the strudel. Never in my life, had a coffee and a snack had felt more deserved than then. So with some renewed energy I continued to Nagu.
I wasn't worried about the vehicles on the road until then but now there wasn't a separate lane all the times. I tried to be cautious and traveled on to the very right edge of the road. Also, I noticed that almost every car/vehicle that passed by, traveled to the middle of the single laned road when they saw me and I was very thankful for that. With my awesome navigational skills I can't remember how many times I got lost on the road. I once took a way that goes to the bottom of a bridge that came by, when I supposed to take the other one which would let me cross it. In hindsight that seemed so obvious, but then I was just cold and hungry. Almost after 10-20 mins since I left the coffee place, I came on to branched roads and a sign that read Nagu pointed to the narrower road instead of the wider one I was one. Now I was very confused. I saw cars passing by now and then, but I could not stop and ask them for directions. So, I decided to take my chance and follow the very obvious sign and take the smaller road. After probably biking for a km or so, I happened to see a person getting out of a car, in front of what seemed to be a huge garage/shed. I yelled for the person to wait and went to her and asked if this was the correct way to Nagu. The old lady did not speak any English but understood me and said that this wasn't the correct way to Nagu. I thanked the lady and started biking back to the point where the roads were branched. Even though I was cursing that I had to bike around 2kms in waste, I was very glad that I at least knew the right way now. It was funny how I was thinking about just getting to Nagu. I was cold and tired and did not have a place to stay at night if I did not get to Nagu in time. It was not a life threatening situation or anything, but as tired as I was then, having some place to stay at night versus possibly spending a night in the woods/by the road made it almost like one. Somehow I even laughed at the situation I was in before I found the lady, thinking all this. So, I got back on to the right road after getting lost yet again. After finally biking km by km, trying my best to stay out of the few vehicles that were on the road I finally got to Nagu. I found a shop near a gas station and asked for the directions to the hotel and by luck, I was at the hotel just in time by 6pm.
Even with the little bumps I had on the way, I absolutely LOVED the trip to Nagu. Like I had said earlier, you are made to watch and observe stuff, you would miss otherwise, when you are traveling slowly. I passed by a few bridges and each gave me some beautiful views of the water. I also remember passing by a mining town/area. The roads were not busy, and even almost empty except for the occasional vehicles that passed by, after Parainen. The ride from Parainen to Nagu, was especially very beautiful. The road went along lots of fields and I passed by sheds/farmhouses etc. With almost no one in sight, I had the road and the place to myself. After being on the Scandinavian trip for 2 and half weeks, the sudden silence and serenity was an unexpected, pleasant and welcoming surprise. I enjoyed the whole experience and would not want to change anything in it.Once I got to the hotel, I knocked on the door praying that someone would be there to let me in. Sure enough a middle aged man opened the door and after paying up and completing other formalities I was shown to my room. The hotel was run by the man and a lady who seemed to be his wife. It was a bed and breakfast place, so the lady had put some breakfast for me in the fridge. When asked what was the check out time, I was told that I was the only person in the hotel and could leave whenever I want. The owner suggested a restaurant that might be still open and so after taking a nice hot shower and changing into warm clothes I headed out for dinner. I found a restaurant not faraway, ordered a pizza and coke and ate the whole pizza. Except for me and another table, the restaurant was totally empty. Talk about being at Nagu out of season. But I really enjoyed this peace and quiet. I headed back to my hotel room, watched some FRIENDS that was on tv and went to bed! :)
hurshaaaaa... U rock... Anatawa iwa.. :P
ReplyDeleteHaha, thanks Sidwa. It took me a few secs to get what you were saying here in Japanese, lol. :D
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThat was amazing... I am sure you must have had a very very good time... And biking is a good idea in a new place... I never though of it before... :)
ReplyDelete