Day 8 - Off to Salen in Dalarna county

Salen Kirke - but there could have been another one I missed!!

now do you know??  :)

Lunch break at the short cut I resisted taking.....  hmm  looks a bit loose!

Cute little shelter - often beside lakes and parking areas

River getting a bit serious in size now

Just out of Salen - very peaceful now

heading into town

Dear Maggie!

The 7:an - my room that small window at the end - before it fell off its hinges!

looks serious - but went somewhere else - thankfully

Surely that's one serious storm somewhere!

I wasn’t looking forward to the 20km ride out of the National Park – I know there was more down than up, but the up was first.  But it must have been the great buffet breakfast that got me going, because I made it to top of the climb without stopping!!  Then it was just a gentle ride down to the highway (max 50) and then we turned south to Särna, which was only another 4km away. 

I thought I could have a coffee so dropped into a service station and also bought a map of Sverige.  Do I need another one?  Yes, cos the other 2 are in still Australia – Doh!!!  So what are my options?  I wasn’t that keen to continue along Route 70 as it’s the main road in this region so the traffic was pretty constant.  Mr Google and his maps had showed me there was an option, but it didn’t show anything in the line of towns or accommodation, so I was resigned to riding with traffic.

But what’s this on the map??  Sälen?  Well, I remember Matias went with the Jakkus at the beginning of 2013 – yep it was winter then, but there was accommodation for the snow skiing, so surely there would be some for summer too.  And on Highway 311, a much smaller road, but still sealed…  so let’s do that!

I went into a small souvenir shop – I have been looking for one of those Sami bracelets and yep, there were some there, so I found one that fitted just right.  She also had some hand-painted Dalahest, but also the Rooster, so I thought I would have one of those too.  Apparently, the locals aren’t painting roosters anymore (they’ve gone for a more kitch moose and things like letter racks) and she only had 3 left of the size I chose… so now she has only 2…

She confirmed that the road to Sälen was much quieter and after an early climb, it was supposed to be quite a nice drive (riding it could be another story).  So sold!!  Away we went.  I tried to ignore that it was another 70km ahead, but after yesterday’s restful day, I was up for a bit of a challenge.

And it was a very pleasant ride – yep, a slow up at the beginning with only a couple of hills later on, generally rolling along through pine forest after pine forest.  Lakes glistening in the sunshine through the pine trunks to large rivers rippling along, looking quite serious with their dark water.

Along the way there were a few little towns and various options of B&B as I got closer to Sälen, but I had decided that I would push on.  I needed a couple of stops along the way of course – and that kanelbullar was devoured just at the right time.  It was a nice ride but I was quite happy to see the sign for Sälen and at around 4:30 we rolled into town.  I rode past a little B&B and thought that looks interesting.  But I rode on – when I got into the centre and nothing else looked tempting, I turned back and knocked on the door.  “please come in – yes we do have a room – and you are the only one tonight….  So Velkommen!!”  indeed!  There’s a little café downstairs and they serve lunches and afternoon tea, but were closed for now. 

Maggie was parked out the back under cover because it really looked like rain – thick big blue-black clouds and occasional rumble of thunder, but it just faded away with only a couple of drops…  I had a nice long shower and washed my clothes, then walked over to the servo to buy a haloumi burger and chips…  yep.  Sounds nice and healthy to me!!

I got a bit of a surprise when I got back to my room though!  I had opened the window, just a tad and as there was a bit of ribbon on the catch I tied so it would open too far.  On my return to the room, there was the window – blown out and hanging just by one screw in the top hinge.  Although the storm came to nothing, there must have been a gust of wind when I was in the shop!  Being a double window too, meant it was really heavy, but I struggled with it and got it, sort of, back into the window frame as best I could!  I dragged out my occy-strap and hooked it up with that!  Now I am hoping that it doesn’t pour with rain, or get a bit blusterous and I freeze in my little bed tonight!  (I survived quite well actually and lived to tell the tale!  the cafe girl said that a carpenter had told her this would happen, but that the landlord had just ignored her - she apologised for the stress, but was generally happy because now the landlord Would have to do something....)

But no wifi – so maybe that means I will get to bed early tonight – or not!!

So off to Mora tomorrow – better check that map first J