Storuman, Sweden

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Now that I no longer had Tanna to rely on for trip planning I had to do it myself. I got a brochure on sites along the Inlandsbanan train route and decide to stay in Storuman for four days because there were caves to explore and a music fair in town. So I made reservations with a hotel and off I went. I arrived in Storuman, walked up the hill to the hotel to check in and was told that I was placed in the annex 2 miles away, they gave me a map and off I went. It was a hot day and my pack isn't light, after a couple of wrong turns I finally got to the annex which was an old school that the hotel had bought and slightly remodeled. The key they gave me didn't work so I had to walk back and get a different one. Once I got settled, I set off for the tourist office in search of the bus that would take me too the caves. Well, the young man at the tourist office had no idea where the caves were but did spend 20 minutes on the phone to track them down for me, only to find out that they were two hours away by bus and that they wouldn,t be open for another week. The music fair was alittle more than a glorified carnival, and I saw all the sites in one day. But I did find the local library and was able to get a library card and check out a book.

My annex reminded me of the 1960 European films, long dark dimly lit hall ways, one room lead to another then to another and another, the smell of mildew and burnt food. I shared it with two painters who stayed there during the week while they worked in Storuman and all the people who ran carnival booths. A fish monger, an old Swede with his new young Chinese bride who didn't speak Swedish, then there were a hoard of Indians desperately in need of a shower. It had the makings of an Agatha Christy Mystery; and of course I would have played the part of dashingly handsome American with good intentions but not very helpful.

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