Saturday, July 01, 2006
Switzerland
Okay, Switzerland. I had heard of several people staying at the Mountain Hostel, including Rick Steve's son and others, so I had to check it out. I took a train into Interlaken (ost), nestled between to very gorgeous lakes, and from there took a train to a smaller town called Lauterbrunnen (sp?), followed by a bus ride through a spectacular canyon surrounded by mountains (THE Swiss Alps!) covered in glaciers and dripping with scores of waterfalls. To get to the hostel, which is Gimmelwald, you actually have to take a gondola ride up another few hundred meters - there is no train or bus up here! I met a great girl on the train, Sarah, and we decided to skip paying the 8 francs for the tram and make the hour hike straight up the canyon wall instead. We also thought it would be a good idea to send our backpacks up with someone so as not to have to carry them up. Well, we made the hike, which was just gorgeous, but it took us about 4 hours to find our bags when we reached Gimmelwald - we had no idea where the people who took our bags were staying! A true bonding experience for sure.
Anyway, like I said before, this hostel is by far the best hostel I've stayed at so far. I've already extended my stay to 4 nights and 5 days, and will probably be tempted to make it longer... It is right on the edge of the top of the most beautiful canyon surrounded by the alps on every side. Not only that, but there is a hot tub heated by a wood stove, a bar, pool table, and a bunch of really great people. I quickly made friends with Sebastian from Bath, England who has stayed here a total of 8 weeks over the last year or so!
Forget what I said about skydiving, I'll save that for New Zealand! The hiking here is the best I've seen in the world! A few days ago Sarah and I hiked up to the base of the Jungfrau, the "highest point in Europe" (which is really just the highest train station) but decided against paying the 80 francs to get to the top to see a bunch of clouds. Yesterday, however, we hiked 4 hours from the hostel up to the top of Shilthorn, with probably one of the best views I have seen in my life. We got an uninterrupted view of not only the Jungfrau, but the surrounding peaks and valleys for 360 degrees. If you have seen the James Bond, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", it was filmed there in 1968 (where they blow up the restaurant at the top).
Today, we are planning on taking it easy and just visiting a few waterfalls, but tomorrow we are going to hike up the "sharks fin" where there are supposed to be some of the best views in the region.
After that, it's off to a jazz festival down by another lake in Switzerland, then Munich perhaps if I can find a hostel, then... Austria? Czech Republic? I guess I'll figure it out when I get there :)