Cycling from Haparanda to Kukkola | Nordic Road Trip 2022 [Extra]

Our Nordic Road Trip had reached Haparanda. The last evening we had explored what Haparanda and Tornio had to offer. It was especially interesting how easy it is to cross the border between Sweden and Finland on foot. So on the morning that we were continuing our trip even further north I woke up early. I usually sleep until late but for once I woke up way before everybody else. One of the benefits with being this far north in the summer, the sun is up quite early. So, with the bike already prepared from the day before I decided to head out for some cycling. My initial target was to explore more of Tornio, but this is the story of how that changed to me cycling to Kukkola.

Leaving Haparanda for Tornio

I set off in the direction of the Finnish border. Yes, it was just a few hundred meters away, but I wanted to take the last possibility cross it again before we continued through Sweden. I was soon cycling through the center of Tornio seeing some of the sights that I had already seen the day before. What was new was that I continued a bit further north and cycled passed the watertower and the church. The northerly route did, however soon take me back towards the Swedish border and I was soon passing by the old border markings.

Back in Sweden with a Decision to Be Made

I was back in Sweden and had arrived at the intersection with Road 99, a road that follows the eastern shore of the Torne River. My big internal question at this time was if I should turn south to get back to Haparanda or if I should continue north and see how far I wanted to know. Trying to text Susann to see if they were already awake rendered no reply. So I decided to head north. Afterall, if they were awake and wanted to continue they could always pick me up along the road. Would I be cycling to Kukkola?

The road was quite easy to cycle, with very few hills or other elevation changes. It was from time to time possible to see the mighty river, but it was mostly forests and farmland along the road.

Cycling to Kukkola

I did eventually reach Kukkola and its impressive rapids. I had by now cycled around 19 kilometers and was quite happy with some rest. The sun was shining and the view really is spectacular. Imagine there on the other side is Finland. This is a village where river fishing has been one of the main livelihoods. Today it is a popular tourist destination at a spot where the Torne River shows some of its force. No, this is probably not were you would go swimming. But just enjoying the view of the river was enough for me. After all, I didn’t have too much time as the others might already be waiting.

Back to Haparanda

I still had quite some distance to get back to Haparanda as well. Still no reply to my text message from Susann, but I was quite sure that they must be awake by now. So I continued straight back to the town and was greeted by a group enjoying their morning coffee. So my return was with quite good timing as we were able to prepare for the day and let our road trip continue. My cicling to Kukkola and back had taken one hour and fifty minutes. The distance was around 34 kilometers, but then I didn’t go straight to Kukkola. I was very pleased with myself for this solo adventure.

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