Ok it has to be said, Switzerland scenery is stunning! We drove from Lake Maggiore to Interlaken over a mountain pass that just got more amazing with every turn. There was plenty of snow still about – bit of a change from the heat of Italy!
Was a beautiful day so we saw numerous waterfalls, hanging glaciers and stunning craggy mountains. The scenery would have to compare favourably even with the road into Milford Sound.
The road itself turned back on itself up and down the pass – and had numerous tunnels including one that went under a waterfall.
We are staying at a camp near Lauterbrunnen, a small village near the Eiger Mountain. It’s in a valley that has 9 major waterfalls. Both sides of the valley are steep cliffs, with mountains behind. We’ve been fortunate to find a small camping ground (Breithorn) for about $40 NZD per night – one right next to the village is about double that.
We’ve decided Switzerland is expensive but not too bad if you shop around. Also the expensive camp had a couple of Kontiki buses parked there, so we were pleased to avoid that... We’re staying right next to a swift little river, we’re one of only two campervans in the camp; the rest are caravans and tents. When we got here we went for a bike ride back towards the village and found a waterfall you could walk right under.
Today’s exploit was to catch a gondola up to the top of one of the cliffs behind the village, walk along the top and catch another gondola down again. The walk along the top is called the ‘mountain view walk’ and it was quite an understatement. I’m so glad we caught the gondola up because there was plenty more up after that but the views were incredible. The three mountains are the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. We’re not sure why the Eiger is the most famous one, it’s possibly something to do with its steepness and therefore challenge to climbers.
There were also cows grazing on the pastures as we walked, each one wearing a bell – they made quite a racket between them that we could hear from a distance away. Gus is introducing himself to one of the locals here.
And I couldn’t resist this photo of ‘supercow’ with the mountains as a backdrop.
At the end of the walk we had lunch at a restaurant – still up in the hills, the Swiss are so civilised in that way! Then I caught the gondola almost back to camp but Gus decided to walk/run back down – a beggar for punishment (he’d already been for a run in the morning too). I didn’t feel the need for the extra exercise and I’m quite shattered enough as it is. The gondolas were quite different to any I’ve been on; instead of having room for a family inside, and there being lots of ‘carriages’ going at the same time; they can fit about 30 people and only one goes up and down at a time. They have a timetable on the wall and stick to it to the minute, Swiss precision timing.
Today we went first to see the Trummelbach Falls. This is a series of ten waterfalls inside the mountain. You reach it by going up in a lift into the mountain – very like the reverse of going down into the Welsh mine. Once there you walk up and down stairs to see thunderous waterfalls that come down from the snowmelt of the three large mountains we saw yesterday. The noise is so incredible you can’t possibly hear another person talking over it. I found it quite frightening with the movement of that force of water. I had visions of the NZ headline – “Tragedy in Switzerland, 2 New Zealanders killed when mountain caves collapse”. (These thoughts never occurred to Gus – he has no imagination!). Anyway apart from that wee niggly naggly fear, it was an incredible spectacle and well worth seeing.
We then drove across Switzerland to Davos and tonight are staying with my ex-brother in law and his wife – Alfred & Heike. We have our own room with an ensuite and an amazing mountain view, complete with beautiful wee villages of course. We are being incredibly well looked after and looking forward to staying here for a few days and exploring the area.
We went for a lovely walk through a nearby gorge – the walk was along a disused road so made for easy walking. At the end of it we caught a train back to the beginning, something you can’t usually do after a walk in the bush in NZ! Along the way we saw Salamanders and Edelweiss and large snails. Apparently the Salamanders only come out after rain (which we had plenty of in the night) and only live in the Alps so we were lucky to see them. We also visited an alpine village which has been there since medieval times – Alfred and Heike pointed out the path they originally would have taken out of the valley with their donkeys to trade with neighbouring areas. It looked very precipitous and I’m glad it’s not still the main route!
We are quite taken with the way they stack their wood here – every piece placed perfectly so that the ends are perfectly flat and there is very little gap between them – very tidy! I gather it also helps with insulation of the house. I’m not sure whether this still applies or if they just like everything neat and tidy...
There is a lot of traditional farming here still. The hay is cut with a large mower; then raked by hand. After this it’s thrown or blown directly into the barns without being baled. The cattle spend the summer up in the mountains. Each farmer may only have 6 cattle each but between them they employ ‘Senn’ – people to milk and generally care for the animals up in the mountains. Two Senn may care for about 60 cattle at a time. In the meantime, in the low country, they make hay and also keep goats.
We had two very active days – the first day we went to see the silver mines. The guide only spoke Swiss German but luckily we had our own personal interpreter. Alfred does a bit of tour guiding too, so we were very well catered to and we learnt a bit of history of the area – the silver mines were not overly successful – they mostly ended up getting zinc and lead from them. The second day we went trekking up to the alp village behind Alfred and Heike’s house, over 2000 metres up. There we were able to see the cheese-making process and meet the two Senn that I mentioned earlier.
We also got to see Marmots – these are large rodents, very cute, a little bit like Meerkats in the way that they stand up on their hind legs to keep a lookout. The flowers on the alps also have to be seen to be believed – there is such an incredible variety. It seems as though life bursts forth here in the summer because the season is so short. All the flowers, marmots, frogs etc are rushing to do their thing before the next snows arrive. We picked wild mushrooms of a great variety - apparently all edible...
We were also able to eat wild strawberries on all our walks - they're very small but the flavour is so intense they make up for their small size. I've put our small drink bottle lid into the photo for a comparison.
All in all we've loved Switzerland - thank you Alfred & Heike - now off to Austria.
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