Duse Udde / Säffle

Last Friday we had a holiday, since it was midsummer’s day in Sweden. The weather forecast for Göteborg was not quite good. Rain and wind was predicted. And there are no more holidays for next few months. Just the right time to get out of the house, is what myself and couple of my colleagues decided. We went to this camping site called Duse Udde(www.duseudde.se), quite close to the town Säffle and the lake Vänern. The drive was quite good. Initially we bought all the stuff required for camping like tents, sleeping bags and groceries for cooking.


We reached Säffle by around 8 in the night, and the sun was shining quite bright. Initially we were allotted a slot quite close to the lake. But we liked the area in the middle of woods, better and shifted there. It took around 10 minutes to pitch the tent. There were quite a few mosquitoes and luckily we didn’t face any issues because of that. After pitching the tent, we went for a walk around the place and had a nice time near the lake. Later, we went to the common cooking area for preparing dinner. The common area had a television set and we were able to catch the live action of Euro 2008(Croatia vs Turkey). After watching the entire match, we retired for the day. It was my first time staying inside a tent. It was quite nice. Once I got inside the sleeping bag, I didn’t find any difference. It was a nice 15 degrees Celsius and not that cold. Sometime in the middle of the night, a bird started pecking the tent from top and I had to literally shout ‘Shoo’ to shoo away the bird. I was kind of trapped inside the sleeping bag and didn’t want to get out.

Next day, we hired a cycle and went around the camp and the forests near by. Its been a very long time since I rode a bicycle. But after enjoying the ride for around 3 hours, I would say that was the best part of my trip. I am not sure if it has to do with the route, the weather, my mood, experience of riding a bicycle. But it was excellent.


After a while, we rested near the shore of the lake. There was a solitary motor boat, and the view from there was quite nice. The sun was shining brightly, and there was a gentle breeze. I think I was there close to an hour or so. We cycled for close to 20 kms that day.




Later we went to the restaurant inside the camping area for lunch. The only meal we had outside, as it was extremely expensive. After a heavy meal, we rested for a while and did some more activities like riding a Kayak (Canoe) boat, motor boat(We get to control the boat), volleyball, golf (Its very nice). By the time we reached the cooking area for dinner, the match between Russia and Netherlands had just begun. What a match it was? Arshavin is too good.
Next day, we returned to Göteborg. This was one of the most physically active trips, which I completely enjoyed. I am quite motivated now to start cycling regularly, and go on these camping trips frequently. Meanwhile the entire set of photos is available here. Please check.