Off on the train again, and today I am excited.... The ALPS!!! No idea what Switzerland has in store...
To start with an amazing train journey around a few massive glacial lakes...
To arrive in another favourite place - Meiringen. Not on a lake itself, but deeper in the mountains! As you'll see later, there is an amazing waterfall in view of my window and the whole town is surrounded (of course) by mountains. (The really really big mountains and glaciers and just there, but of course being in the valley, you cant see the, that low down with all the smaller ones in the way, but they are still stunning, and later on youll see the big ones behind)... The town is small and lovely. Relatively quiet, mainly locals I think, not too many tourists. The pace of the water in the streams and rivers is amazing me.... Little did I know what I was to discover soon to explain it. Well I knew it was from the mountains and glaciers, but still I can't believe the pace and amount of water flowing!!
Anyway I checked in to my place, which is the home of 3 Swiss dudes, all of whom were really nice (and totally totally respectful don't worry) and had diverse jobs in the local area. One at a snowboard shop and local bar, one engineering chairlifts and the main host is a videographer. He makes amazing amazing films of local scenery and sports for company's like Redbull and other big mountain brands. If I can find a link to his work, I'll add it in later.
Anyway, just after I arrived and settled in he said he was about to head up to a local gorge that he hadnt visited before to check it out (for potential filming). I of course asked to join, stoked to see anywhere around here with hills and water! - Wow this does sound suss as I retell. It's all good, I could definitely trust my instincts here. -
So onto the bus and all I have in Swiss Franc are $100 bills so I ask him to pay for now (thinking, as you do, a $1-3 bus ticket). But he hands the driver a $20 for me. And I wait and wait. Nothing back. E damn 30 min max bus trip (yes winding up a hill but still) cost 20 francs (about 24AUD) ONE WAY. Bullshit!! Ok now I'm semi prepared for how people say its expensive here and all that....
So we get to the place we're aiming to start at...
I need sustainence and this is all they had. Forcing me to eat local. Good stuff :)
(Mustard comes in a toothpaste/superglue tube here...)
And then just after the admission fee....
And into the gorge. It was mental. One of those chasm style places, where you would be terrified to be in a storm and instantly dead in a tide rise! But it was well safe from rain today, so no drama. The water was still by far the fastest and heaviest that I have seen in an enclosed space anyway which makes it so loud! You definitely couldn't raft here that's for sure, so many bends in the rock, and no doubt under the water too...
Doesn't look much, but this is hardcore gushing.... Even my super camera skills couldn't get the shutter fast enough!
At the other end a rock garden!
Climbed a bit further up, but my not-so-closed-or-secured shoes, as well as the final bus departure time but a pause on any further hiking! All good! Patrick had brought his bike so rode down (no matter how many mountain biker friends i have. im not gonna do that.) and I caught the bus. Apparently the steepest bus is Switzerland. It really wasn't that bad, but the corners were hairy as you'd expect!
Then into bed to realise how loud the waterfall is from my room! Not the one we just saw, but the next one or two down, but from the same water flow. Hence why it was so loud, this is river level. Imagine all that water before gathering even more speed and weight as it reached our level! It looks a distance away, but sounded giant!!
Oh, here is the view from my bedroom of said waterfall...
I would be scarred in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteobviously not the best lunch- i started to gag.
The bus trip - how many kilometres was it one way?