We made it to Interlaken around 10 am. The ride there is stunning; the train wends its way around the lakeside, next to cottages that seem to have been there for eons. Interlaken is a relatively small city (32,000) and the crowd disembarking with us was mostly skiers, snowboarders and the odd backpacker.
After wandering for a few minutes trying to find the tourist office to ask about hiking trails, a railway staff member told us all was closed--and we realized Easter Monday was the cause for the ghost town we were seeing. All the fondue restaurants and sportswear shops were closed!
Undaunted, we took the dinky town map offered to us by the railway lady (which cut off halfway across the first bridge we had to cross) and courageously decided to follow the vague directions in the Let's Go to find the Harder Kulm trail.
Told to follow the "white-red-white" signs, we set off up the mountain. At first, it was Canadian provincial park style hiking--but this quickly escalated to knee-wobbling, side-of-mountain trails. We traded backpack-wearing duties and quickly shed some layers as we ascended the trail. finding faded trail markers ever km (it seemed) or so. Every so often, a Swiss hiker would bound past us, brandishing two ski poles as they either breezed up the rocky path or jumped past us on the way down. Either direction, they had traction like mountain goats. We, on the other hand, delicately picked our way from stone to stone. It only got slower as the snow started to appear.
Yet despite our pace, we absolutely enjoyed the hike. Every corner brought another stunning view of the neighbouring Swiss Alps, and the sense of accomplishment after navigating a particularly dodgy stretch of trail was exhilarating. Standing near the summit (we had to turn back 20 minutes from the top because the snow was knee-deep) and seeing the fog drift in from the lake at almost 1300 feet, was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had.
(Sir Jean Hillary, above ;))
When we finally reached the bottom, with minimal slippage and having discussed at length our list of Things To Do Before You Die (it felt particularly relevant at this point) we rewarded ourselves with hot drinks... nice, 4-dollar hot drinks! ;)
Bern, 25 March
Due to an unfortunate turn of events involving an outdated train schedule, we had to change our plans to meet Jo and Fran in Munich yesterday and book one night in a hostel in there. We're staying in the same one that Bryan and I did in August--easy access to the train station for our 6:45 am train tomorrow morning!
But before we took off for Munich this afternoon, we walked around Bern for a little while. I feel we didn't quite see it all, however. The city was slowly waking up after a heavy snowfall the night before, and all the places we wanted to see were a bit obscured. But I think that's an interesting way to see Bern, because buried under 10 cm of snow is how it should look. It makes all the brown-gabled Swiss homes look snug and wintery.
With the lack of tourists around, it's also more possible to look past the Toblerones and ski equipment and see a normal city operating, one that's as excited to help host the upcoming UEFA 2008 soccer tournament as they are pleased to point you in the right direction.
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