ICT Tag 15 to 17 Kesälahti Simpele Lappeenranta

Sunday, June 2:

133 km, 780 altitude meters, the morning is rainy, it will be sunny in the evening

It's already raining when we start. We arrive in Värtsilä soaked, but there is no coffee. The villages are quite deserted and appear somewhat bleak. The landscape is completely different here with large agricultural areas. At the border station, we have to ride on the busier 70 for a few kilometers. After that, we continue into the familiar peaceful Karelian forests. There are some farms and pastures with cows before Kitee! We still have a good distance to Kesälahti, which we tackle with plenty of determination. We don't find any opportunity to stay overnight before that. We settle down on a beautiful site but in a rather shabby cottage and once again enjoy a dinner in the "restaurant".

Monday, June 3:

91 km, 930 altitude meters, sunny all day

It is partially reminiscent of home regions in terms of landscapes, green meadows surrounded by forests, small farms and towns with road signs, plus tractors on the roads. There are also more roads again, so we get slightly lost twice. But then we immerse ourselves once again into the Karelian forests, riding on poorly maintained forest roads with constant ups and downs in the border area to Russia. We are happy when we reach Parikkala and treat ourselves to coffee and cake there. On the heavily trafficked 6, we reach a cultural highlight of our journey so far, the sculpture park of Veljö Rönkkönen, located in a small forest area between the main road and the railway line. It is typically Finnish, always open without anyone being there. In this enchanting garden, you can find over 500 artworks, 200 of which are self-portraits of the artist in various yoga positions.

Now it's not far to Simpele, where we stay in a guest house.

Tuesday, June 4:

104 km, 1050 altitude meters, slightly cloudy at around 20 degrees

In the morning, we finally meet a couple of cyclists, young Finns who are cycling around Lake Saimaa. In the afternoon in Imatra, we meet another young cyclist from Hamburg, who is traveling through Finland somewhat unplanned, starting from Helsinki. It is nice and interesting to meet people with similar goals and views.

Who knows Imatra? Think for a moment. There is a legendary race track for motorcycles there, where Giacomo Agostini won his first World Cup race on a MV Agusta. The Finns still love him for that. In the center, you can find some posters of him.

In addition, Imatra is known to tourists for the Imatrankoski waterfalls, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Finland. There is little attractiveness there, as the hydropower has been used for energy generation since 1929 and the dam is only opened occasionally for the pleasure of the spectators. Nevertheless, some tourists stand on the bridge and look at the dry, red stones.

Close to the Russian border, we cycle on lonely forest paths to Leppälä and then to Lappeenranta, a place name like music. We find accommodation at a guesthouse near the Saimaa Canal.