Ah...the Swiss Alps. - Part Two.

Aaaand we're back!

My first week or so in Switzerland was spent checking things like the Jungfraujoch off my list and going on hikes every single day. The two best ones would have to be the one hiking up the mountain from Kandersteg to Oeschinenschee - a stunning little lake nestled in the mountains - and the hike to Bachalpsee Lake:

There are simply no words for how happy scenery like that made me. Beautiful rolling hills in every direction, stupendous peaks so close I could just about reach out and touch them, and a myriad of colourful flowers adding splashes of colour to every surface with a drop of water.

It was magnificent. All of it.

My next stop was to be the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald. As you may have noticed, I generally steer clear of naming the names of establishments. Most of the time, they're adequate, but nothing special and may as well remain anonymous. Not so with the Mountain Hostel. First, let's talk about Gimmelwald. It's a tiny little farming community perched on the ledges of the Alps. The only way to get in or out is via a cable cars. The only store has no staff. They open it every morning, and trust people to pay the prices and not rob the place. And it works. The hostel itself was a breath of fresh air. To be honest, I've grown disillusioned with hostels: Generally speaking, they're filled with people who stick to themselves and tap away on laptops, tablets and mobile phones wherever there's WiFi, like a bunch of moths around a flickering light.

Not so with the Mountain Hostel. Yes, there was WiFi. But...the atmosphere was different. People...talked. I know, this shouldn't be a big deal. But it is. Not only did they talk, they shared stories. They told jokes. They listened to music. They cooked massive batches of food, which they then shared with others. They went on hikes together and invited perfect strangers like me to join them. They played cards. It was magnificent. I was only there for three nights, but it felt like a month-long hug from humanity. There was a mother with a shy daughter of 30, who was starting to come out of her shell. There was the 40-something American couple who were always eager to have a conversation over coffee. There were the three guys from Ireland who would not go 10 seconds without cracking a joke or five. There were the three guys from America who ran through the mountains for fun. This place was full of people with all sorts of awesome personalities. No one was drunk, no one was stupid, no one acted like he or she was better than anyone else. It was simply a chill place to relax among some of the most magnificent scenery this planet has. Easily the best atmosphere I've ever experienced in a hostel. There were only two flies in the ointment: 1: Pay showers. Come on, Mountain Hostel! and 2: Horrible weather.

I was there for three days and for three days, every single day, I'd get up, have breakfast with people who told me that they checked the weather and it would go thusly: Showers giving way to clouds by mid-day with brilliant sunshine beginning in the early afternoon. Each day, I packed my bag full of camera gear and food and set off into the mountains. And, inevitably, each day I would come back 6-8 hours later, soaked to the bones. Not only did the weather not get better as the day wore on, it got worse. Every. Single. Day. Morning showers would put their big boy pants on and turn into torrential downpours, often sprinkled with liberal amounts of thunder and lightning.

Photo break: What were supposed to be stunning mountains overlooking pristine valleys turned into...clouds. And more clouds. On top of clouds. Overlooking clouds.

Now, I love thunder and lightning. But being alone, roughly 3,500-4,000 metres up on a plateau after 4 hours of hiking in the rain, and getting stuck in a lightning storm ain't all that fun. I may not be the tallest dude around, but when I'm the ONLY dude around and the next tallest thing is a knee-high shrub, then I start thinking "Hey...maybe it's time I got off this damn mountain!"

Each day, the trails I traversed up the mountain turned into rivers on my way down, my shoes being replaced by small rubber lakes. I would return to the hostel, where people - who were smart enough to never leave the comforts of 4 solid walls and a roof - sat around tables lined with hot drinks and gave me "I'm sorry, man" looks. I peeled the soaking wet layers off me, and hoped for a better tomorrow.

Predictably, as soon as I left, the weather did a 180, and rewarded the people I left behind with perfect, endless sunshine; effectively giving me the cosmic middle finger. Thankfully, my last night there was a beautiful, clear night, where I randomly (quite by chance) caught the International Space Station pass overhead. It was about as good as it gets.

Also, since this post is rather light on pictures (don't worry...LOTS of pics coming in Part Three), here's a random one. I have NO idea what it's about, but I think it's something about legalizing a certain type of sausage in Switzerland. It seemed to be a massive issue, with smaller posters like this littering gas stations, while massive posters adorned the walls of train stations, tunnels and other establishments:

That's it for today...tune in next time for even more pictures and stories from Switzerland and one of my all-time favourite tiny countries: Liechtenstein!!

Thanks for reading,
T

Ah...the Swiss Alps! - Part One.

It has been a year since my last blog entry, which is nothing short of shameful...I apologize. Especially because in that time, I've been to Japan half a dozen times, Europe, Canada, Taiwan twice and countless places in Korea. Let's start catching up...with Switzerland.

DISCLAIMER: I've started selling my photos as both prints and phone cases. I am very flattered by the attention my blog - at around 15,000 hits right now, with zero advertising - and my photos - my Flickr is at around 250,000 hits - have been getting. Photography is a hobby for me, but, sadly, it's not a cheap one. If you like my photos, please take a look at the links provided and support me by buying a print or phone case! :)

Now...onto the fun stuff:

I love mountains, lakes, peaks, and all that silly, beautiful nonsense. My favourite place in Canada is the Rockies...nothing but great memories there. I've been wanting to check out the Alps in Switzerland for many, many moons...and last summer, I finally had the chance. After a wonderful flight on Aeroflot airlines (onto which the fine Russian getleman next to me smuggled a gigantic bottle of vodka and two big bags of Snickers snack size chocolates, inhaling all of this in about 43 minutes - yes, I actually timed him), I landed in Dusseldorf Germany, which posed the first obstacle of my trip: No sooner was his bottle empty and his belly full than he passed out so thoroughly that I had to jump over him to get out of my seat.

I spent the night at the airport (I actually enjoy spending a night now and again sleeping on the floor, using my backpack as a pillow, drifting off to the sounds of flight announcements and waking up to the wonderful chaos that is an international airport), and the next morning I was off on my adventure.

First, I went to Luxembourg, since I absolutely love small countries. I originally had planned for three days here, but after a full day of wandering (about 14 hours), I realized I had seen much of the worthwhile attractions. It was a beautiful place, but, when I told the kind woman at the hostel's front desk that I was moving on a few days before I planned to do so, she just smiled and nodded, telling me that a lot of people do the same. Luxembourg:

The next day, with two extra days to play with, I decided to make one more stop before entering Switzerland. Enter Strasbourg, France.

This city was rather interesting. On the one hand, it was beautiful and old and dripping with history and culture. On the other hand, gangs of ne'er-do-wells roamed the streets with big dogs, scowling at everyone and everything in their path, daring anyone to look at them the wrong way. Certainly not something I've ever seen in Asia.

Undaunted, I did my best to see this fine city. I walked the streets and found little gems everywhere:

The city - even though it is in France - has an Old French Quarter, which includes a river and a small reservoir-type thing. It is one of the most beautiful and quiet little places in the city:

Cobble-stoned streets winding their way through a maze of quaint restaurants, cafes and apartments...it's as good as it gets:

After a couple of days in Strasbourg, I headed south, Basel. Here, I alighted the train just long enough to buy myself a 15-day Swiss Pass, allowing me unrestricted and free access to all trains and buses, and significant discounts on cable cars. By the time I was done, I had taken about $2,100 worth of transportation with my pass that cost me roughly one-third as much. Money well spent.

In general, I love trains...but taking them through the Alps is a whole new experience:

My first real stop in Switzerland was the city of Biel/Bienne, on the northern tip of Lake Biel. As is evidenced by the very name of the city, Switzerland has an interesting linguistic make-up and history. A bunch of languages - including French, German, and Italian - make up the local dialects. For such a small country, there's an incredible variety in their communications. Sadly, Biel/Bienne itself was a little boring, visually unappealing - by Switzerland's standards - and a little annoying, as it was some sort of a holiday the night I spent there, and drunken hordes were shouting and launching countless fireworks 'till well into the night. I did, however, take a train down to Neuchatel to spend a few hours away from Biel/Bienne, and that was a truly magical experience.

Neuchatel is a supremely beautiful town with lots of life and charm. It is situated on the shores of Lake Neuchatel, with the Alps in the background. I lay there on the beach, taking in the sights, listening to the waves, and reading my book for a long time. Then, I went for a walk about town and the waterfront at sunset.

After a couple of days in the area, I headed to the town I thought I would use as my home base for about two weeks: Interlaken. Situated between the majestic lakes of Thun and Brienz, a hop and a skip away from the famous Lauterbrunnen Valley, Interlaken seemed like a paradise on earth. Sadly, my stay was to be cut short. My first hostel was a massive party place, where the bass from the nightclub below us kept me up until just before sunrise. When I went down to the lobby, attempting to use the computer to look for other hostels, I was accosted by a drunken, aggressive manager - backed up by a handful of "bouncers," and narrowly escaped a completely unprovoked beating. The next morning, I told the guy at the front desk that I would be checking out early and demanded the remainder of my money back. He asked why, and I recounted my rather scary story from the night before. He laughed and said "Oh yeah...he does that when he's drunk." Charming. The next day, I checked into a much quieter hostel on the other side of town, right next to a brothel.

In the meantime, I made my way up to Jungfraujoch, Europe's highest train station. From there, I hiked around the mountain at an elevation of around 4,000 metres. It was nothing short of breath-taking. Every step of the way, I was greeted with a fiercely blue sky, incredible mountains, sunshine, fresh air, and beautiful snow under my feet. I can not say enough great things about being on top of Europe. Then, just when I thought things couldn't get any more surreally incredible: A plane landed next to me. On top of a mountain. On the snow. How cool is that?

-=- Shameless plug: This photo is available for purchase as a print or a phone case here: On Top Of The World -=-While I took the train up the mountain, I decided to hike back down, passing some stunning scenery along the way. One of my rarely-advertised life goals is to go to as many of the Gran Turismo tracks as possible. Well..here's one...the famous Eiger North Face (or Eiger Nordwand) with a couple of other famous peaks; Jungfrau and Monch:

Another beautiful - and classic - scene from the mountain...train on its way up the mountain, near Kleine Scheidegg:

-=- Shameless plug: This photo is available for purchase as a print or a phone case here: Train In The Swiss Alps -=-

Upon descending the mountain, I went back to Interlaken and had a pretty rough night. My feet were giving me all sorts of trouble, as my new hiking shoes hadn't been properly broken in, resulting in massive to-to-middle-of-foot blisters on both feet:

Thankfully, I travel prepared, and some ointment and liberal use of bandages made the problem bearable for a few days, then it disappeared altogether. Lesson learned...always properly break in shoes before travelling. When I travel, I walk/hike for anywhere from 14-18 hours a day...proper footwear is of vital importance.

I'll leave Part 1 here, I think. I'll be back again soon with Part 2...of who knows how many!

I hope you're all having a great day...see you soon! :D
T