The map showed Interlaken to be just 20 minutes across, so we decided to walk to the Interlaken ost station at the far eastern end of town. If you remember, I never saw the Alps in its entirety yesterday due to the untimely snow and rain. But today, when I did....... it was just splendid! Miles and miles of Alpine mountains surrounded me, white, brown and green, attacking me with a deluge of colours. A winter scene in the light of mid-summer, the peaks were like nothing like anything I've ever seen, so rough, jagged,... natural. I fell in love with this place immediately! The sun was just emerging from the mountains and cast its clear light everywhere. It was just
Walking alongside the river that cut through town, I sensed something huge behind me. When I turned around, floating noiselessly downriver, was a huge ship! It was as silent as a mouse, perfection was its name! As I watched incredulously at the receding boat, my attention was drawn to two figures falling from the sky. Skydiving! After coming to what seemed to me, dangerously close to the ground, colourful parachutes were deployed and the duo made a seamless landing in a nearby field, while a trio took up their place in the sky. The helicopter which had dropped them roared away high above me.
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| The walls of the Lauterbrunnen valley |
A panoramic Berner Oberland Bahn was waiting for us on the tracks, to take us into the famed Lauterbrunnen valley. The valley is a narrow strip running approximately in the north-south direction. It is the deepest in the region when compared to height of the mountains adjoining it. The walls are not to be ever outdone! They are amazingly high and form impressive overhangs in places. When you look at them, everything you know about geology retreats and you are left alone staring in awe!
There are so many waterfalls here, originating from the glaciers above, that the area has been named 'The land of the 72 waterfalls'. The streams descending from the adjoining mountains, on reaching the rocky walls of the valley form cascades so high that they are lost in spray before the reach the floor of the valley! Of course many do make it to the to the ground, and of these, the most conspicuous one is the Staubbach falls. Falling from a height of over 300 metres, it is one of the highest in Europe and is dazzling!
The valley is just astounding in its beauty, so awe inspiring. In fact I had even more reason to love the place when I learnt that the fictitious valley of Rivendell, which appeared in my one of my most favourite books, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien was inspired by this valley. I remember trying to visualize the valley which was described so painstakingly in the book, but I had no idea I would actually see it with my own eyes!
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| The vanishing cableway! |
Murren, at 1650 metres was the first proper Alpine village I've seen. It was nice, small and quaint and reminded me instantly of Heidi, who lived in the Swiss Alps with her grandfather and ran wild on these slopes. We'll be coming back here, so I'll tell you about Murren later. From Murren to Birg was my favourite section for it gave us an astounding view of the Lauterbrunnen valley and peaks nearby. All was well, until the fog rolled in and visibility became zero. Birg is at a height of 2677 metres, and it was heavily shrouded in fog which was thicker than I've ever seen. The cableway to Schilthorn is the longest aerial cableway in the world, and it takes a total of 32 minutes to reach the summit.
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| Stretching to the horizon |
On the ride up to Schilthorn, which is at 2970 metres, we mysteriously out rode the fog, and the grandeur of Schilthorn was suddenly in view. Wow! The building was a spectacle in itself! Schilthorn is the site of the world's first revolving restaurant, Piz Gloria, which is as charming on the outside as on the inside. As I got off the cable car, the stylish and famously-common monogram: 007, greeted me everywhere. Upstairs was a big auditorium which had a screen playing the scene, from the movie 'On her majesty's secret service', which was filmed here. I was amazed at how the Piz Gloria was portrayed as the evil villain's lair, complete with a helipad! Bond, played by George Lazenby for the only time, infiltrates the building and later skis down the slope, artfully dodging a fusillade of machine gun bullets, and does his fair share of impressive 007 tricks. The shooting process here is said to have been arduous and to have taken a lot of time. (To tell you the truth, I've not seen a single James Bond movie (yet) but am a big fan of the theme music!)
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| The peaks of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau |
A cool breeze struck me as I stepped out on the viewing deck, I was dumbstruck by the scene around me. Snow capped peaks rose out of the scattered clouds, stretching out to the horizon. It was a scene right out of a fairy tale! The peaks rose above the scattered clouds as if they were afloat! The valleys were far below us now, looking more like tiny green cracks and the towns and villages were hidden by the fog. The other side of the deck had a stunning view of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau (pronounced Yungfrau), the most famous peaks in the region. There are few things that have left a deep impression in my mind and one of them was the beauty of this place, the enormity of it, making me feel very humble before it. The snow tries to play spoil sport and puts up quite a glare from the sunlight, making it hard to see. But what is beauty without hardships? I would seriously recommend Schilthorn to all visitors to Switzerland. You will never forget the experience,... ever! (and pack a pair of sunglasses too!)
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| Panaromio! |
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| The Piz Gloria |
We decided that we shouldn't miss out on the famous revolving restaurant, Piz Gloria, after coming all this way. The restaurant was almost like a carousel, the circular centre was stationary while the outer doughnut shaped platform, with the tables and chairs, revolved around it. We ordered an Indian course, with Dal makhani, rice and curries whose names I've forgotten. Overall it was pretty good and when taken in along with the 360 degree view, it was really satisfying!
We stayed there for some more time photographing and we finally decided to return to Stechelberg. The return trip was a mirror of the first one but that includes the 'awe' too, you never get bored of seeing the swiss locale. We even asked the attendant in the gondola if he ever got bored of seeing this everyday, all the time. He looked us and solemnly said "Never!".
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| On the way down from Schilthorn |
After 32 enjoyable minutes, we were back in Stechelberg. This time were going inside a mountain! The Trummelbachfalle is a series of 10 glacier waterfalls formed by a single river called the Trummelbach. This river drains an immense amount of glacier defiles produced by the Eiger, Monch and the Jungfrau all by itself and the falls can carry up to 20000 litres of water per second! Understandably, the river is quite turbulent at all times, even more so after a rain. It is the only accessible glacier water fall which is inside a mountain in Europe. The outside of the falls is a high and densely overgrown gorge.
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| The Trummelbach as it gushes out of the mountain |
A huge elevator with a glass panelled top took us at an angle to the ground and deposited us high in the gorge. We were now at the top of the falls. The water gushing out of the mountain, carves its way downhill through a series of impossible twists and turns. One of the falls is called the corkscrew falls, it reflects off subsequent walls and forms an exquisite corkscrew. Another one falls down a great height and whips up a mist and a rainbow which unfortunately make photography impossible. The galleries inside the mountain are very sparsely and just about adequately lighted, this is to increase the emphasis on the waterfalls and its natural surroundings. It is impossible to talk here, the roar of the river cancels out everything else! The river is quite coloured due to the minerals it erodes from the rocks, it carries an impressive 20,200 tons of boulder sediments a year! It is an once in a lifetime experience and one that should not be missed.
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| The magical village of Grindelwald. |
We took a post bus (which by the way is covered by the Swiss pass, details in my part-1 Swiss post) back to Lauterbrunnen. We decided to head to Grindelwald, a small municipality at a height of 1034 metres and one that is famed for its timeless beauty. To do that, we had to go to Zweilutschinen, which is halfway between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen and from there, take a train to Grindelwald. Grindelwald was an out of the world place, the high Wetterhorn peak giving an breathtaking backdrop to it. It is 'literally' an out of the world place! It was actually used as the basis for the view of the planet Alderaan in Star Wars episode 3: Revenge of the sun.
The valley was just as beautiful as the Lauterbrunnen valley. It seemed that beauty was not relative at all! Everything was equally beautiful here! We spent some time strolling down the streets and savouring the famous Swiss chocolate Lindt and looking at the everyday life of the Alpine dwellers. It was very relaxing and calming just to be in the presence of the Alps. It clears your mind as well as your lungs with fresh air and raw beauty!
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| A new-old house! |
Once back in Interlaken, we refreshed ourselves at our room and headed for the shops. I've heard that fresh air and exercise 'improves' your appetite but the case with me was that I was positively famished! We chose a Turkish grill and I ordered a large Shoarma, a Turkish delicacy to which I was introduced on my trip to Paris. I ate till I was full and even further! With my appetite contained, we started shopping for Swiss army knives for my dad and me. We first went window shopping, for quite a long time, till I chose the one I wanted. Mine would be the 'Super tinker' made by Victorinox. My dad went for something which was smaller and compact. My mother was exasperated with us taking an infinite amount of time, I felt compelled to remind her how women take enormous amounts of time shopping for clothes they don't even buy in the end! But I swallowed it, I had lots to lose today! Today I am glad that I took my time to choose it because it has proved to be very useful and suits my needs perfectly. I would recommend that you choose wisely from the hundreds that are available.
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| In-(In)terlaken |
Around 9:00 pm we took a stroll through the deserted streets. We actually had sunlight then! We found Interlaken to be a great blend of the modern era and the olden days. The architecture was splendid. Most houses were preserved as they were in the 19th century and others were brand new, but with the feautures of the old architectural styles incorporated into them. We explored many parts of the town and at around 09:30, we called it a day. It looked as if it was early dusk, the sun was just setting!
We covered a lot of ground today and walked quite a bit, but I was not in the least exhausted! I attributed it to the fresh air and the magic of Switzerland, I would even, gladly, walk 20 miles more just then!
Feeling like I used to feel when I got a new toy car, I went to sleep contented and happy, with a new Swiss knife and a day's worth of wonderful memories. We were to be travelling a lot the next day and I needed to have lots of sleep. I needn't have worried, I slept like a log!
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| The snow fences prevent an avalanche and are very important! |
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| A map of the Oberland
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| Grindelwald |
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| Rising from the clouds!- The Bernese Alps |
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| Naturally man-made! |
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| The glacier melts are visible even from this far away! |
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| Inside the mountain-Trummelbach falls |
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| The lower slopes of the Bernese Alps |
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| The gorgeous slopes of Murren-coming back to that road the next day! |
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| Galleries in the mountain-Trummelbach falls |
The Bernese Oberland is the area around the Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. It is the most famous destination in all of Switzerland. It is a vibrant countryside speckled by enchanting lakes and flanked by impressive mountains. Three famous Swiss Alp peaks provide a gorgeous background and the region has wooed people for centuries. This region is a must visit for every visitor to Switzerland.
The Bernese Oberland is the area around the Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. It is the most famous destination in all of Switzerland. It is a vibrant countryside speckled by enchanting lakes and flanked by impressive mountains. Three famous Swiss Alp peaks provide a gorgeous background and the region has wooed people for centuries. This region is a must visit for every visitor to Switzerland.
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