The Public Access in Sweden: Right and wrong in the Countryside

The other day in the course Nordic Culture, the teacher gave us the rules you have to respect while enjoying the countryside. The information was here

I really like what they have. In Spain, there is no free camping and you're not allowed to light fires. I had the chance to feel and see the countryside during my Road Trip.


In Sweden, the Right of Public Access allows you to roam about freely or to go camping in the countryside. You are entitled to enjoy the fragrance of the flowercovered meadows, the singing birds and the peaceful silence of the deep forest. But please...

DON´T DISTURB AND DESTROY! If you keep the following rules in mind you will be sure of keeping on the right side of Swedish laws and customs.

Respect peoples privacy!
You are perfectly entitled to walk, jog, cycle, ride or ski across other people´s land - provided you do not cause any damage to crops, forest plantations or fences. But you are not entitled to cross or stay on a private plot without permission - that would be a violation of privacy.

The plot, which is not always hedged or fenced in, is the area closest to a dwelling house. The people who live there are entlitled to do so in peace. This, after all, is their private area.

Camping

You are allowed to pitch your tent for a day or two on land which is not used for farming, and which is not close to a dwelling. The closer to houses you wish to camp, the more likely you are to cause a disturbance, and the greater the need to ask the landowner for permission. How long you can keep your tent pitched in one and the same place depends on the circumstances. It would not be very wise or considerate, for instance, to pitch your tent even for only one night in the immediate vicinity of a private plot of land.

No motor vehicles off-road

You are not permitted to drive a car, motorbike, moped or any other motor vehicle off-road, or on roads that are closed to public motor traffic. Roads of this kind may be marked with signs "Ej motorfordon" (No motor vehicles) or "Enskild väg" (Private road). You may, however, often park on the roadside, but remember to leave your car and caravan so that they not cause an obstruction or endanger other road users. If you go horseback-riding across other people´s land you must be particularly careful not to inadvertently cause damage of any kind. Do not ride, and be extra careful when cycling along marked exercise tracks and haiking trails, or anywhere else where you are likely to cause a nuisance. You are entitled to cross fenced-in areas provided you do not damage the fence, but make sure that you close all gates properly to prevent cattle from straying. It goes without saying that you may not climb over a fence into a private plot of land.


Lightning fires

You are allowed to light a camp fire only if there is no risk of the fire spreading. The lighting of fires may be generally prohibited during periods of drought. Be sure to put your fire out properly before you break camp. If the fire should spread, you may be held liable for damages. Never light a fire on bare rocks as they will crack and split, resulting in ugly irreparable scars.



Fishing - but no hunting You are entitled to fish with a rod or other hand tackle along the coast and in the lakes Vänern, Vättern, Mälaren, Hjälmaren and Storsjön (in Jämtland). That does not apply to salmon fishing on the coast of Norrland however. In other waters, and if you want to fish with nets and similar tackle, you will have to buy a license. Always find out what regulations are in force in the particular place where you want to go fishing. Never throw fishing lines and hooks away out of doors - they could be lethal traps for animals. Hunting is not allowed. Needless to say, you are not permitted to take any species of bird´s eggs. Avoid disturbing nests and young animals.

Swimming and boating

You are permitted to swim, tie up your boat for a day or two, or go ashore everywhere, except close to dwellings or where entry has been prohibited by an authority, for instance in a bird or seal sanctuary. How long you may stay ashore will depend on the situation. The same rules apply here as for camping. Driving your motorboat or rowing, sailing, paddling on somebody else´s water is permitted. Bear in mind, however, that there may be certain restrictions, such as speed limits, no entry or no water-skiing. If you use a motorboat you must show extra consideration.

Take your litter with you

If you have been camping or picknicking in the woods or elsewhere in the countryside you must tidy up afterwards. Never put your rubbish bags down beside a full garbage can or rubbish sack as wild animals are likely to tear them to pieces and pull the rubbish out. Bottles, cans and bottle tops can also injure both people and animals, while plastic bags can cause extreme suffering to animals and livestock if ingested.


Personal water crafts

Personal water craft - jet skis, water scooters, etc. - can disturb humans and animals, cause harm to plants and wildlife and spread infectious animal diseases. Personal water craft may therefore only be driven in areas specially designated by the County Administration Board. For further information on these areas, contact the County Administration Board (Länsstyrelsen).


Picking flowers and berries You are not allowed to take twigs, branches, bark, leaves, acorns, nuts or resin from growing trees. This is regarded as damage or theft. And of course you may not cut down growing trees, bushes or shrubs. You are entitled to pick wild berries and flowers, mushrooms and to take fallen branches and dry twigs from the ground. However, certain flowers, which are so rare that they are at risk of extinction, are protected by law and may not be picked. The country council Tourist Office can tell you which plants are protected in the area where you are staying.

Bringing cats and dogs into Sweden

To ensure that rabies, distemper and leptospiros are not brought in with the animal, your dog or cat must be vaccinated against these diseases. At the border checkpoint you must present a bill of health issued by a veterinarian, and your animal must be ID-marked. For further information, contact the National Board of Agriculture, 551 82 Jönköping, Sweden, tel. + 46 36 15 50 00. From 1 March-20 August you must keep your dog under very strict control. Even at other times of the year dogs must be kept under such control so that they cannot injure or frighten wild animals.

Enjoy Yourselves in the Swedish countryside!

Road trip: 5 days and more than 1500 kms

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I've just arrived from the nordic culture trip (coastline) and now, another one. Maybe it will be my last trip here in Sweden (but who knows...). As I continue without my camera, I depend on the others to get the photos and to upload to the blog.

This trip will be a little bit different from others I've done. We'll rent a car and we'll visite the south of Sweden, starting and ending in Linköping. We'll be in cities such as Göteborg, Lund, Malmoe, Copenhague, Kalmar, Oland, Karlstrona, Kristianstadk, natural parks of Store Mosse and Söderåsens, the nature reserve of Kinnekulle and another load of cities.

The car will be useful for sleeping, as well as the tend. We'll camp near close to lakes and the sea, so therefore we'll have easily access to natural showers.

Long live the free-camp in Sweden!

Soccer in the forest

Every sunday, we play football in the forest. It is located just near to our student neighbourhood. I can remember those days in August, when we played with that bright sun.

But a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then; now, we play under whatever climate conditions. Have a look at these pictures to see the forest in January. They are from today!

I only took these because I was the goalkeeper and they were complaining (it is difficult to both be a goalkeeper and have a camera). And now, they are asking for the pictures.

Rydcon 4

Twice a year Aron, my corridormate, organizes a gamer-party for spend a whole weekend playing not just computer games, but others like poker, pentagon or 4-in-line.



He had already ask me to use my room as a game room for playing the boardgame Catan, but at the end less people than he expected came to the corridor. So, hopefully, they did not use my room!!

Everymorning, when I wake up, I used to see some of the freaks sleeping in the sofa, in chairs... .

For ending, I've upload a video of a normal hour during the Rydcon event. Enjoy!

Dinner for the thai people

This post is about the dinner we did long time ago (in October).Last 13th october we had an intercultural dinner, but this time we were the ones who had to cook for the other. My corridormates Carmen and Hubsi, and me cooked the food for the thai people. But there were not only Thai, also Chinese, French, Germany and Japonese people.

We established a Swedish buffet: all the food in the desks of the living room and therefore the people can get the food, but eating stand up.


At the beginning, we did not know if we were going to have enough food for everybody. Hubsi did a German soup, Carmen chicken in the oven and also a delicious salmon with potatoes and me ham, Spanish meet in sauce and the maxican nachos. Surprisingly the first dish in being eaten was the nachos and not the cured ham as I expected -even it left. They don't appreciate the spanish food!!

Despite of being the entruster of the dinner (Hubsi, Carmen and me), the asiatic people also brought some dishes. Suddenly, asiatic people started coming to the living room, everyone with a dish and, of course, the desks were totally occupied. And we were before worried about having or not enough food for everybody!


Here I attach the video with the explanation of the different dishes . When I said to them that the nachos were going to be really spicy for them, they nearly wrested my eyes. Because is very known for all of us the spicy food of these people. Yet, at least that dinner, they were considerate with us, they only brought one spicy dish! But it was truly spicy!!

It was the birthday of one of the Thais, so we sang "Happy Birthday", everyone in his own language, and, as Oli said, it sounded like a crying cat.

How are the Thai people? They are more polite and more considerate than western people, and also shier but they have always a smile for you. They are happy and grateful. As Tanabut says (my Thai corridormate), Thailand is the smile of the world.

What a dirty corridor mate!

[Yes, the catfood is mouldy]

The dirtiest people in everycorridor tend to be swedish. They always put their stuff in shared places, without cleaning, they never put the garbage out, neither clean the microwave nor the desk. But the thing that I'll write down is the worst!

The good new is that the unfriendly Hendrik has already moved away. He was the one who never said hello to you, the same one that was always running through the corridor to arrive to his room without talking with anybody. As Jose said, it was so normal in his corridor. It seems that almost all the swedish are like Hendrik. But anyway, this is better than having four nigerians fixing bikes in the kitchen (it was happened the first week) as other corridors.

Ok, it's time to continue with the post. The moving of Hendrik is the reason now for getting a new fridge. My old one did not have enough space to put all my food inside, it was really small. Now I have to shared the bigger one with Jonas, the dirties person of the corridor. Although my last fridge were small, it was much cleaner than the new.

After having the one, everytime that I opened the fridge, a very disgusting gust of smell crashed directly into my face. I needed some days to guest what was the causant.

Jonas bought a cat, Goodle, and used to let him to run away and to come home whenever the cat wantedd. Godle, by itself, was able to return alone. Sometimes, I received calls of people telling me that they had seen the animal in their corridors. After one week of freedom, Godle did not return anymore. But come on, if you give him the chance of eating the mously foodcat and the cookies with hot milk and katbullar that Godle ate in his adventures in other corridors, is very easy to guest that he wasn't going to come home anymore.


This is a picture of Aron, who was the brave corrridormate who put the mously can out.



And now, this is the appearance of Jonas' stuff, and I can ensure that is the cleanest picture of it. And we cleaned the whole-kitchen 2 weeks ago!!





Do you have dirty corridor mates as Jonas? ¿Have you had other dirty-experiencies like this or even worst?