We arrived to Älmhult one day earlier than we had expected which made us stay here for a total of 4 days. The rushed situation prior to our departure stressed us somewhat and these four days have been good for us. We have dealt with issues we had no time to deal with before departure and now we feel we are prepared to go for real.

I have visited my former office to say hello to former colleagues. It was nice to see them all again and they all look excited, but that was probably more due to the fact the it was a late Friday afternoon rather than me dropping by 😉 🙂

I have also met friends from Elmhult Sport Club. We went out to have a carbohydrate dinner and a few beers. They also gave us insulated drink bottles with a picture of our cycling team printed on it. It will keep our drinks warm now or cold later in the deserts. We will be proud to carry that towards Bangkok.

Our new specially designed water flasks

We have also looked after our bikes. Apart from the normal cleaning of the drive train I have changed to a new front derailleur. Not a new one to be correct, but to a second hand one that used to be on an old bike that my friend Peter has but never uses. We tried to fit it on the bike standing outside in the freezing afternoon. It didn’t really fit so today I rode the 10 km to see Master Jürgen who can fix anything on a bike.

Peter trying to attach the front derailleur

Now my bike can use the two big chainrings and since it is still a long way to go until we run in to big hills I still have lot of time to find a derailleur that will allow me to change between all three chainrings. Thanks a lot Peter for the derailleur and thanks a lot Jürgen for attaching it and adjusting it for me.

I have also paid a visit to the brand new IKEA store here in Älmhult. I didn’t buy any furniture, but I bought three plastic canisters to store food in. We won’t keep any food in them though – we will have tool and spare parts in one, cables and chargers in the other and we haven’t figured out what to keep in the third one yet.

I also bought batteries – lots of them. Both rechargable and ordinary batteries. We now hope we will have enough power to keep our feet warm for many days to come.

Warm feet guaranteed??

When I am writing these lines Wej is busy packing. We have had a couple of wonderful days here in Älmhult when we have got things done and seen lots of friends.

Wej and Amporn gossiping in front of the fire place

We have lived with our long time friends Amporn and Henrik and their children Ninah and Jonah during our time here in Älmhult. We are so happy and grateful for being able to stay in their house and a nice time together. Jonah deserves a little extra thank you, since he gave up his room for us during our stay.

Wej, Jonah and Ninah

/Joakim