Between heaven and earth
Trip Start
May 30, 2010
1
24
31
Trip End
Jul 14, 2010
Where I stayed
Jungfrau Region, Swiss Alps, Switzerland
Monday, June 28, 2010
This time when I arrived around 3PM it was sunny and Interlaken was beautiful! The vibrant flowers on the typical dark wooden Swiss houses were such strong contrast. The mountains were no longer obscured by the cloud and now I could easily see the peak of Swiss Alps – Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. The two lakes east and west of Interlaken were green in colour, like jade. Riding along the lake and I watched the warm sunlight lighting up the mountains, and the lake were light blue-green in colour and with the blue sky. I think in the afternoon, I have ridden around 30KM in total, since I cycled around Interlaken inside out, and then around the east lake, Brienzersee, and then to the neighbouring town, then back to Interlaken, then to the west lake, Thunersee. Oh I did not want to stop riding, the views along the way, the smell of the late spring Swiss Alps, the sound of water from the little creeks and waterfalls, it was purely bliss. To think 8 hours ago I was still in Paris was a bit unreal for me, and I was so glad I left Paris early for this break away from my routine tourist job :P
I had dinner at my old hostel, Balmer's Herbage since it’s cheap and talked to a lot of backpackers staying there and we all shared our crazy experiences during our trip and my haircut experience got most of the attention haha. Someone even thought it was way cooler than skydiving. (I disagree here, but I respect that, since I’ve done both, which made me "cooler-er" :P) I went straight back to my hostel and slept, preparing for a big day at Jungfraujoch.
On Monday 29th of June, I took the excursion to the top of Europe – Jungfrauhoch, it was probably one of the most amazing experiences I have had so far, alongside with Skydiving and canyon jumping. Jungfraujoch is the highest peak of the Swiss Alps in Jungfrau region south of Interlaken. The scenic cog-wheel train ride took 2 hours and 45 minutes until reaching the station complex inside Jungfraujoch, which is located at around 3400 meters above sea level.
The first thing I noticed was that the air was really thin up there and secondly it was very cold. Considering a warm 28-degree day down the mountain at Interlaken, the temperature on Jungfrau was around -1 degree. After 5 minutes of walking I reached the elevator that takes us to the Sphinx Observatory, and the second it reached the top, I was speechless, bright light suddenly pierced through the glass cage of the elevator, almost blinding. I quickly walked to the outside, and it was just unreal. You have to be there, to fully appreciate what’s in front of you and around you. I have never in my life seen anything so grand and serene. The blue sky, Jungfrau and Monch, the cloud below us, the snow, and the sun, now brighter than ever, without sunglasses it was impossible to see the surroundings as the snow reflects and sunlight, it was uncompromisingly harsh. Guess what came to me when I was on top of Jungfrau? Making phonecalls. Yes, there is still reception at 11113 feet above sea level, and I must say no one expected my phonecall:P I felt so great because it was like I brought them straight to the mountain with me by my phone. Next time I should do a skype video call :P I hope by the time of my return, they would have wifi installed there XD
After having some instant noodles on the highest restaurant in Europe, I decided to hike around the glacial trek. There was this flying-fox transporting you from the base of the sphinx to around 100 meters towards the glacier. I kept walking towards the glacier after getting off the flying-fox, but the snow was really loose and thick so each step I made I was pretty much knee-deep in the snow and it was very tricky to walk around and it was tiring carrying my camera bag with the tripod. So after another 50 meters, I decided to stop and take some photos around the area. That was when I saw this huge cloud moving towards the Sphinx Observatory and I knew that if I didn’t start heading back, I’d be lost in the thick cloud/fog and this wasn’t the nicest place to get lost. So I raced back, tripped twice in the process but made it just in time! When the cloud shrouded the area it got much colder and the sun was gone. Everything was grey and I could not see anything more than 10 meters away. Scary!
I wrapped up the day chillaxing with a bottle of Swiss beer with the entire glacier in front of me. It was simply magnificent, a brand new world to me, and so alien. I was so lucky that the weather was excellent when I got back to Interlaken, many locals didn’t have the privilege to appreciate Jungfraujoch with the kind of weather like the day I went. How awesome!
Interlaken is so beautiful and with Jungfraujoch, it is easily my favourite place in Europe. For the record, it is also my happy place.
