The quest for fire

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The day begins with the search for coffee. After I bought some lighter fluid yesterday, thinking I could use it for my cooker and the stuff just wouldn't burn, we're unable to make coffee in the morning. Thinking we'll find some in the next town, we cycle to Mi?dzyrzecz. This turns out not to be quite as easy as we'd imagined: apparently, cafes are not usual in Poland at all. We ask a local, who points us to a block of flats, but decide to try our luck in the centre, but no cafe in sight. So we turn to our second need: fuel.

I walk into a shop, asking for "spiritus", the German word for burning alcohol. Classic mistake, in Polish "spiritus" is drinking alcohol and the shopkeeper now thinks I'm a raging alcoholic in search of the first drop of the day. Perfect. After some confusion, I manage to explain what I need and he points me to an outdoor store somewhere. While we go looking for the store (and coffee on the side), we notice a touring cyclist who uses the same book we are using - a German! We strike up a conversation, he follows us for a while, until we come by a petrol station. I think fuel, stop, find coffee instead. The other cyclist, before heading off, gives us some of his burning alcohol and we now have both needs met: fuel for us and the cooker!

After the coffee break, we head North-East along a straight road towards Dresdenko. The road is quite poor in places, sometimes patched so badly that wet asphalt gets stuck to the tyres. Once, I hit a pothole and my left rear pannier drops off the rack, dragging on the ground. I stop quickly, put it back on. Clip-on systems clearly have advantages over straps...

In a small village, we take a break, then head on to Dresdenko, where we stop for beer, a salad, and a few coffees. Continuing on, we pass farmland in a (relatively) densely populated area, it's hard to find a spot to pitch the tent. Finally, we decide to go down the access road of a farm and pitch the tent in a small piece of woodland off the road. We're quite close to the farm and they seem to be having a party tonight with regular traffic down the access road. Hoping for the best, we go to sleep.

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Photos

Taking a break
Taking a break after the stressful stretch of road to Dresdenko.

Not the best spot, but...
Here we pitch our tent for the second night. A bit down, I find the sceleton of a cow that found its end here. Well, it will do for the night...