Ljungby

I took my time getting out of Hassleholm, the people were very friendly and it was 11:30 before I was on the road in earnest.
At 11 I eventually bought breakfast (honey, fil and fruit) in Netto but after waiting 10min for the inept staff to try and fix two tills, I left abandoning my purchases to the clutches of the infinite conveyor belt.

On the way to Vankiva there is a most excellent cafe/ second hand/ Loppis, the people were the friendliest I had met so far. Im not certain that the wearing of a very tight sports top and buttock cupping sports trousers is appropriate in a cafe, but there was not a peep of complaint from me though I wasn't bold enough to ask for her picture.

I had fil and a couple of sandwiches, sitting beside the open fire. The tea was saved/ given a breath of life by adding the last Lipton yellow label. The staff were openly friendly a change really from Lund, perhaps tourists get to see another face of the Sweden.

On my way out of Hassleholm I organised my accommodation tonight in Ljungby, it is a few km out of town at the nature reserve and sounded good. However (greetings Alexander) at 19:30 I found myself standing in the middle of a deserted road, the rain hammering down and as darkness approached, Im at the top of a hill shouting in German at my phone which is held high above me with the speaker phone on full in a vain attempt to maintain signal quality. As I read over this a couple of weeks later, its funny but I was exasperated with the woman on the other end, who when she did answer was not exactly helpful or even intelligent.

When I eventually and very wearily arrived at Pensionat Sjoatorp, the woman who met me Marie I think was her name, was delightful, charming and agreed to throw my clothes in the machine. She was looking after the place for her neighbor. The room was crap, with its own special smell, the beds for children or dwarves. Decorated in dreary faded 1940s colours and furniture.

For the sophisticated amongst you, neither the dwarves, dancing girls, three bears or other disassociated but possibly perverse circus performers or fairy tale characters were in this miniature lopsided room. I was far too tiered to be interested if they were, but a Danish family were in the rest of the house. Friendly and fun, even some cheeky banter - which was much appreciated.

Post shower, I took my wet sweaty and surprisingly sticky clothes down to Marie to have them washed.
Thats when I met the c**t. The unhelpful woman on the phone had arrived and started by increasing the price, 50Sek for this, 100Sek for bedding etc. I showed her the printout from the Tourist Information but was too exhausted to argue the point, so told her that I thought this was poor behavior on her part I agreed to pay. She continued to try to make her point which I was in no mood to swallow, had I an ounce more energy and were we not so far out of town, her arse would have been the resting place for my foot.
She demanded the money immediately and had an altogether vindictive and nasty approach, which in a rapidly deteriorating atmosphere and mood I didnt hesitate to tell her about. She didnt like that I had a room the night before for 250Sek and told her it was significantly better.

When I returned with cash she attempted to appease the situation by feigning some interest in me and asked me where I was from etc etc, I told her it was none of her business and insisted on my change immediately and did my best "f**k you and the horse you rode in on" routine without actually saying anything, which had her very unsure and probably a little scared, intimidation, a little cruel but deserved.

Tired from a long and stressful day, I went to bed around 21:30 just in time for the dog to start barking - I jest you not. The lovely Mare dealt with it and there was not another noise except my snoring until morning. I was happy to get away even though it was raining heavily, I had clean dry clothes on for the next two minutes anyway and was looking forward to breakfast.