Day 3 – Bungge to Gangvik

It’s pouring with rain this morning so I was forced to delay my departure until almost 1000. So not going to make massive mileage today. In fact I did about 115KM, I say “about” because my computer was playing up again and didn’t start working until my bike fell over :)

Had breakfast and chatted with the owner. Told me that the vandrahem is only 7 years old and prior to being a vandrahem it had been an air force base for female observers. It explained the barrack like layout of the rooms and buildings along with the weird but oh so familiar road layout.

The riding today was just wonderful. The rain stopped and the sun tried to come out from time to time. Stopped off at the church at Gothem to look at the paintings. This is the largest church on the island and dates back to the medieval times. The inside had many original paintings from the 14th century.

Most of today’s riding is on forest roads which were a bit rough so it wasn’t surprising that I burst an inner tube just before lunch. Met my first cyclists though they were no more than day trippers. They had a motor home nearby and were just pottering about. Actually had the whole conversation in Swedish, they were from Norway and were very impressed :)

Over lunch (chicken pasta in a cafe that was a converted old school) I looked over the maps. Finding somewhere to stay could be a problem as it looked like places are still not open for the season yet. In the end I rang Gangvide Farm and they confirmed I could stay for the night.

When I arrived I was met by the farmer who was extremely friendly. He showed me where I was going to stay and initially I thought he was pulling my leg because he took me to the barn and pointed to a pile of hay. Then I saw the ladder and realised there was a room which was very cosy

I was then given a guided tour of the farm and it was explained that they had recently quit growing potatoes and now ran a tourist place with cabins. He had done a great job and some converting some of the old buildings into various purposes such as a cinema, jazz club etc. He also gave me a glass of home brew ale very much like mead and then showed me his collection of American cars. A very enjoyable evening.