Europe India Trip: Day 24-25 : Leaving Norway & entering Sweden : Oslo - Kristinehamn - Stockholm [ May 6-7, 2023 ]
This is part of my Europe India solo motorbike trip . Please read the post for more context.
As I mentioned in my previous blog , I was staying at Nanna’s place. It turned out to be a pretty relaxing night. None of the Bunk A Biker hosts responded to my requests but one of the hosts in Airbnb offered me a discounted price & I booked the place for around 300 SEK (Swedesh Krones). The place was Karaby Gard in Kristinehamn, around 50 kms ahead of Karlstad, where I was earlier trying to find an accommodation.
Nanna made me a coffee in the morning & after writing the blog post, I left Nanna’s place around 1 PM.
I decided to fill petrol at a shell petrol pump in Oslo city itself which was kind of on the way. Atiq on a cycle with his son noticed my bike parked & then had a longish conversation with me. He told me about local motorcycle group & also called over one of his friend Mustafa who was closeby. Atiq & Mustafa are natively from Pakistan but born & raised in Oslo itself. Atiq also ended up posting about me in the Norway motorcycle group (cant put the link here as it is a private group). Atiq also sponsored my coffee at the petrol pump :).
I asked Atiq if he knows anyone in Stockholm who can provide an overnight bike parking space as from my research, I figured motorbike parking isnt free in Stockholm. Atiq suggested to post in the same group, which I did. But could not get any contact in Stockholm. I left the petrol pump at around 3 PM for Kristinehamn.
The ride towards Sweden was decent with 90 kmph speed limit. I think at places it became 100 as well where there were two lanes on the road. I soon crossed into Sweden. I was hoping for border check but none happened. I stopped by to take a pic.
Sweden roads had a distinct red color lane. Also Sweden was more green than Norway. The blue colour lakes were a nice characteristic. I stopped at one to take picture.
I realized my foot are freezing so decided to wear the shoe cover that Kurt helped me buy in Oslo. They turned out to be lot better than my cheap plasticy chinese shoe cover that I had bought in India.
I looked up for a coffee shop on the way & selected Angles Coffee for its super high review. The shop was in Grums town Sweden. I stopped at the location but could not see the coffee shop. I parked my bike, walked a bit, saw a shop that has coffee & went in. It was run by Ahmed & he start to speak in Urdu/Hindi when I asked him for coffee. We had a long conversation. Ahmed told me that he changed the cafe to a Indian restaurant with name Indian Street Kitchen. The coffee he made was pretty good for 50 SEKs. I was tempted to try some Indian food too but I wasnt hungry & dint want to splurge. So I controlled my urge, thanked Ahmed bhai & moved on.
I messaged Charollete, my host at Karaby Gard in Kristinehamn that I am late & she immediately responded that I dont need to worry as she lives close by. I reached the place by like 9 PM with some daylight still there. Charolette came out from my motorbike noise & greeted me. I parked the motorbike next to the guesthouse & went in. The room was super nice & big for the price I paid for sure. Charolette was kind enough to let me use the washing machine for free & also provided me detergent free of cost when I asked for it.
I remember spending the night seeing the nice city view with dusk light at the horizon, drinking beer that I had bought somewhere on the way & talking to my wife. I could not find any host in Stockholm on Bunk A Biker. But the hostels were cheap at around 200 SEK price. I called Crafoord Hostel & asked them if they had a motorbike parking place. The person on the phone said there is paid parking nearby & it costs like 2.5 SEK per hour, which is cheap. I figured I should be able to find something. Little did I know that help in form of Tomasz will appear to me on the way :).
Charlotte had shown me the washing machine in the bathroom & I asked for the price to which she said, I could use it for free. I also got detergent for free from her when I asked for it. I decided to wash my biking trousers & the inners that I wear during biking. I slept off pretty late that night as far as I remember.
I was up the next day by like 8. I packed my stuff & then went to the kitchen to make myself coffee. I met Lene there. She was with her two kids in a room in ground floor. She told me about things like I could bake my own bread & explained the entire process. I had my own bread so I dint try, but I did pick up 2 eggs from the fridge & made myself bread omlet. Lene & I had a longish conversation & she mentioned about her wish to go to Australia & see her close friend who has moved there. She also told me this cheap coffee hack in Sweden. You can get coffee for 10 SEK from Coop & the coffee is usually good. I tried that later in Stockholm & she was right :).
I also spoke with Anna, who was working at the guesthouse & was nice enough to introduce herself. Anna was very excited about my motorbike trip & also took picture of me with the bike when I was leaving :). Unfortunately I could not meet Charollet while leaving so I dont have picture with her.
I started to ride towards Crafoord Place Hostel in Stockholm. I stopped by at Aaborg for a coffee & I met Linus in the cafe next to the petrol station. I think I spent the most money at this place among all my petrol bunk cafe stops. I bought a vegan bagel, then a chicken hotdog, a beer & a yoghurt drink :-D, mostly like one by one. Linus & I had conversation & when he got to know about my long bike tour, he ended up offering the coffee for free, which I did not hesitate to take :) .
I took quite a long break as Linus & I spoke for some time with breaks (when a customer came in). Plus I also bought lot of things one after another.
I then left the place around 6 PM. I stopped at 7 PM at another place mostly because I was feeling a bit drowsy. Plus I needed to fill petrol (I had come like 250 kms from Oslo). I was at a McDonald next to petrol station trying to find a free parking space next to the hostel in Stockholm & I saw someone riding a red color ST 1300 Pan European & parked next to me.
He then came to me & asked me about the ride & then we got into conversation. I figured his name is Tomasz & he is from Poland & stays in Stockholm. I asked him for an overnight bike parking place & he suggested I can park at his place. Not only that, he suggested me to drop me off to the hostel afterwards. Well, as usual, I was super elated with the free help & I decided to take it :). I asked Tomasz to go ahead as I need to fill petrol & then I will see him at his place. Tomasz gave me his whatsapp number & the location where I need to come on Google Map, before he left.
I reached Tomasz place by like 8:30 PM & he was waiting for me. I parked the bike & then Tomasz quickly pulled out his car & then we set out for the hostel. Tomasz dropped me to the place & I requested him for a pic, which he obliged .
I went into the hostel. It was a bit of navigation but Crafoord folks have been pretty extensive with marking so that you dont get lost. It was mentioned in the email that I would find an envelop with my name on a board & I did find it. It was a nice personal touch seeing my name on the board & I took a pic of it.
Crafoord hostel was a nice silent hostel with great view (it is located at the 8th floor of the building). I ended up meeting a French cyclist who was on a Europe circuit, stayed in Turkey for a few months & worked there to make some money as he had run out of it during the tour & now in the north before heading to west & then south back to France. More about him in the next blog.
I remember cooking myself soup & bread in the night & chatting with Monder from Tunisia. Monder has been roaming around in Europe & was settled in Sweden & Latvia. I also looked up free walking tour the next day & found a viking tour that happens in the afternoon. It was full but it has the start cordinates & I decided to gate crash :).
I also checked ferries to Finland & the cheapest was Kapellskar (100 kms north of Stockholm) to Turku (Finland) for 44 Euros. It departs at 7:15 AM in the morning. I found a camping place in Kapellskar & they had messaging on Google Map so I dropped them a word if they would have a dorm bed for 200 SEK. The next day I got a response that they were fully booked. I decided to extend my stay in Crafoord hostel & decided to leave early morning (like 4 AM) the day after to catch the ferry. Little did I know that I would actually end up staying at Kapellskar Camping. More about it in my next blog.