Sweden was the most hectic part of the tour. Unfortunately we were running out of time and therefore had to rush through the country. After arriving at the harbour in Umeå, we managed to get a lift to the town by two young ladies who worked on the ferry. About 20 minutes later, Andi, Paula and me (Team Germany) were sitting in a comfortable Landrover directly to Stockholm. Originally, we wanted to spent the night around Sundsvall but covering the 640 km to the capital at once was even better. I was really happy, but that didn’t persist long… Arriving at the central train station in Stockholm, I noticed that I left my camera, mobile phone and passport at the fuel station “Tönnebro”, which is about 220 km north of the city. Our Iraqi driver was very helpful and found out their phone number but no one answered the phone and my mood was of course completely down…
The next problem was, that we didn’t have a place to stay in Stockholm and last-minute attempts to find a host on Couchsurfing were fruitless. Luuk, who waited for us in Stockholm already, suggested to sleep on a small island called Långholmen, which is near the city centre. Since nobody really had an alternative plan, we agreed to meet up there. Eline, Kayo and Kübra arrived around midnight. We run around the island for another 2 hours, trying to find the spot with the fewest drug addicts. Finally, we slept on a big stone hill with a fantastic view over the city with its many coloured lights.
During a “crisis-meeting" in the next morning inside McDonalds, we decided to leave Stockholm at the same day towards Gothenburg, where we had a host. Only Kübra and Luuk wanted to stay another night to catch their plane home at the next day. It was very sad that we didn’t really see anything of Stockholm but leaving seemed like the most logical thing to do. I will definitely come back there another time…
And now the sheer madness: Although I was already getting used to the thought of not having my camera anymore, I tried to call the fuel station in Tönnebro a last time. And I was successful! A friendly female voice told me that they found it together with my phone and my passport inside the camera bag. Not believing my own luck, I immediately decided to hitchhike back north. Eline offered to join me, which made me even more happy ;-). Shortly after, we were having our first lift towards Tönnebro, listening to the ear-battering base of 50 Cents “Candy shop”. It took another 4 rides until I finally had my camera back.
During a “crisis-meeting" in the next morning inside McDonalds, we decided to leave Stockholm at the same day towards Gothenburg, where we had a host. Only Kübra and Luuk wanted to stay another night to catch their plane home at the next day. It was very sad that we didn’t really see anything of Stockholm but leaving seemed like the most logical thing to do. I will definitely come back there another time…
And now the sheer madness: Although I was already getting used to the thought of not having my camera anymore, I tried to call the fuel station in Tönnebro a last time. And I was successful! A friendly female voice told me that they found it together with my phone and my passport inside the camera bag. Not believing my own luck, I immediately decided to hitchhike back north. Eline offered to join me, which made me even more happy ;-). Shortly after, we were having our first lift towards Tönnebro, listening to the ear-battering base of 50 Cents “Candy shop”. It took another 4 rides until I finally had my camera back.
There was a little note in the front pocket showing the name and phone number of the guy who found it and brought it to the counter. His name was Rolf Helmersson (one of the great man of our times!) I called him and said: “Tack en miljon”. After a refreshing swim and a few tuna sandwiches, Eline and me quickly found a ride all the way back to Stockholm, where we spent the night camping between a fuel station and a construction site. For some, this might sound like an unpleasant, wasted day. But truth is that we had a lot of fun with all the different drivers and people we met on the way!
In the next morning, we set off to Gothenburg, which took us about 6-7 hours. My highlight was one driver, called Thomas, who worked 60 km away from Gothenburg in an IT company. He called his colleagues and asked if anyone could take us the rest of the way. Finally, he called his boss, who agreed to give us a ride. We went to the company “Pulsen” in Borås, where we waited at the reception until the boss finished work. We found out that he was a direct neighbour with our host in Gothenburg and he dropped us at the front door. What a pleasant coincidence! We stayed one night at Pontus place, who is a friend of our popular Australian travel mate Shane. It was amazing to reunite with all the others and to take a shower again. We had a delicious barbecue and one or two (or ten) rounds of beer pong. Pontus was a really cool guy and I hope I will see him again one day.
In the next morning, we set off to Gothenburg, which took us about 6-7 hours. My highlight was one driver, called Thomas, who worked 60 km away from Gothenburg in an IT company. He called his colleagues and asked if anyone could take us the rest of the way. Finally, he called his boss, who agreed to give us a ride. We went to the company “Pulsen” in Borås, where we waited at the reception until the boss finished work. We found out that he was a direct neighbour with our host in Gothenburg and he dropped us at the front door. What a pleasant coincidence! We stayed one night at Pontus place, who is a friend of our popular Australian travel mate Shane. It was amazing to reunite with all the others and to take a shower again. We had a delicious barbecue and one or two (or ten) rounds of beer pong. Pontus was a really cool guy and I hope I will see him again one day.
The next day we were planing to hitchhike to Denmark. It was raining the first time since the beginning of our trip. It became the most difficult day of the whole tour for me, because Paula and I were very unlucky with our rides. Well, we met a lot of nice people but the places they dropped us off were not ideal to hitchhike further. We had to walk quite a lot. The day was so long, that we even ate some of Paulas "emergency Knoppers"...
The story I memorise most is the Bosnian group that picked us up. They were extremely concerned and wanted to know why we were hitchhiking and if we have enough to eat. At the end they wanted to give us 100 Swedish Krones for food. When we refused to take the money, they became angry and felt offended… so we took the money and bought fries, bananas and chocolate at the next petrol station.
When we arrived in Copenhagen, it was already very late. The others were just watching the third movie. But hey... At least we arrived! That’s what hitchhiking is about, sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not. And all the conversations with the many drivers were definitely worth doing it!
That was Sweden, next post will be Denmark…
Take it easy, Phil
The story I memorise most is the Bosnian group that picked us up. They were extremely concerned and wanted to know why we were hitchhiking and if we have enough to eat. At the end they wanted to give us 100 Swedish Krones for food. When we refused to take the money, they became angry and felt offended… so we took the money and bought fries, bananas and chocolate at the next petrol station.
When we arrived in Copenhagen, it was already very late. The others were just watching the third movie. But hey... At least we arrived! That’s what hitchhiking is about, sometimes you are lucky and sometimes not. And all the conversations with the many drivers were definitely worth doing it!
That was Sweden, next post will be Denmark…
Take it easy, Phil