I haven't been able to get to a computer as often so you're all getting the condensed version of the past week. I've been super tired too, I barely got any sleep in Switerland thanks to paper thin walls and heavy snorers. Damn you snorers! Thank god I get my own room in Asia or I'd never sleep!
Anyway, Day 34
Julie and I wanted to hike hardcore so we talked to a girl in our room who suggested a popular route that isn't too busy. We took the bus up to Lauterbrunnen which is this little town about 20 min up the hill from Interlaken. There were all these crazy Asian tourists (seriously there were SO MANY AzNs, what's up with that?) and old German people... we managed to just jump on without a ticket and because of the mass chaos, I don't think the driver cared.
Everyone else was going to take the bus up but we took the trail towards Schlesberg (sp?) and stopped at Trummelbach Falls on the way which is a collection of caves and glacier waterfalls. Here's a quote about them: "Trummelback alone drains the enormous glacier walls of the Elger, Monch, and Jungfrau with up to a spectacular 20,000 liters of water per second." You can see a picture here: Trummelbach Falls
or here: More Falls
It felt like a ride at Disneyland with the low walled caves, the slippery walls and constant rushing water. I think I fell in love with Switzerland that day, it's like seeing nature at its finest.
After wandering the caves for about half an hour, we continued the trek to Schleschelberg (that's so wrong) to take the Gondola up to Gimmelwald. I don't have the exact measurements on how high we were, but we eventually go up above 12,000 feet! We wandered around Gimmelwald a bit as it is TINY. Staying at the hostel there would be wonderful though because you wake up and there's a fat Swiss Alp in your face. Covered in snow. Check it: http://www.gimmelwald.com/
The hike up to the next town was practically straight up. We could've zigzagged but we found the dirt trail to be that much more challenging so of course we had to be all hardcore and shit. The altitude was apparent as it felt more difficult to breathe the further along we went. It was like someone was pressing on my lungs. Murren was a super cute town though, very touristy, it's all chalets and hotels and hostels. There were a ton of Brits there for some reason but we wandered around for a bit before heading back to Lauterbrunnen.
It took much longer time to get back to Lauterbrunnen than we thought. They have these yellow signs everywhere that tell you which direction to go and there are a billion trails. Well we somehow took the long one I think and eventually came to a fork in the road. They both lead to the same place. One was a dirt trail practically straight downhill while the other one was a paved, zigzagged road. Julie looked at me and said, "Which one do you think Kurt would take?" Of course we both knew the more hardcore downhill one so that was the way we went. It was a bit sketch in parts but it finally brought us back into town. Seriously, we had been hiking for about 2 1/2 hours since Murren and were dog tired. Plus we only had this tiny little water bottle that we kept filling up for the two of us. But on the trail there weren't very many water fountains (in town, they are everywhere and they are the best tasting water you've ever tasted, better than bottled water).
The bus arrived not long after we did at the station. Julie said she was feeling a bit off so she went to get some air. I saw her walking around, thought she was just tired from the hike. All of a sudden, I saw her start to sit down and all of a sudden just looked like she was about to pass out. A whole group of us converged on her and she just looked pale. It was quite scary... although she never passed out completely. The bus driver called an ambulance and the doctor came right away and took us to his medical clinic. I've never been in an ambulance before!
The doctor was super nice, turns out he got his high school diploma from Harbor High in Santa Cruz... see, the more people you meet, the smaller the world gets. He was convinced we had overexerted ourselves and didn't eat right. Julie thinks it was the altitude. He gave her some glucose and we just kinda chilled till she felt good enough to leave. We took a taxi because I didn't think the bus would be too good for her even though it was quite an expensive ride. I put her to bed as soon as we got back, then went to find Dan who had arrived that day and probably were wondering where we were. I found him sitting with some frat like dude who we quickly escaped from to visit with Julie before settling down.
I left for a bit to get some dinner because I hadn't eaten since Murren and was feeling lightheaded myself. Luckily the Thai place next door was still open and after I was waiting for my food, I heard someone say "KFOG and Alice" which I recognized as two SF radio stations. I ended up talking to these three people who were from Lafeyette and I forget where the girl was from. Her fiance had just proposed to her in France, how cute. They had met at Croghans in Walnut Creek! So funny. They were really sweet kids though, especially the girl Lauren (who is my age!). She was telling me about Thailand because hopefully I am going at the end of next year. We all watched the VMAs on the big screen while commentating with two Swiss guys (the restaurant owner and some local), it was very amusing. I think I lost her email but hopefully she'll get in contact with me. Yay new friends!
Some old lady was staying in our room that night and she smelled. And snored really loud. And she was always REALLY passed out by like 9pm. But I liked the hostel a lot, it was like summer camp. Regardless of the paper thin walls and the push button showers (at least they were clean and hot and pressureized), the people who relatively cool. Too many American frat boy types but if you waded through that, there were also some chill peeps. Some of my favorites were the guys from Florida (yeah, cool Floridians!) and the couple from SB. There were also some sleazy Canadians.. as sleazy as Canadians can really get (as in, not really).
Day 35
Julie was feeling a bit better the next day but we decided to take a relatively chill day anyway. We wanted to go out on the lake but due to the floods, no boats were allowed out there. Instead this girl at reception told us about this place where you could go swim in the lake and there was a roap swing and stuff for 4 francs. Her directions were WHACK though and we ended up walking around for so long before we found something we thought she might be talking about. I hadn't planned on hiking that day! It ended up being free though and they had one of those giant blow up things that had a trampoline, a slide and balance beam to run across that reminded me on MXE on Spike TV (you know with the crazy Japanese game shows at they're dubbed over in English.. I love that show). Julie took a nap in the shade while Dan and I swam over there. The water was really awesome, fresh water which I am not used to. I am used to the water tasting to like salt or chlorine when I am swimming. It was cold but not freezing, refreshing really. As we were out there, a group of Swiss boys showed up with an adult with what I assume was a boy scout troop or summer day camp. They didn't speak English and we don't speak German but it was still fun. Everytime someone would try to run across the balance beam, we would all run around on the thing to try and make them fall off.
We left shortly after they did and headed back to the hostel. I really don't remember much, I was still tired from the all day hike. I think Dan and I had dinner in town and walked back to the hostel where I ate a bunch of Ben and Jerry's. The bar was still closed because of the flooding (it was in the basement) so we just bought some beers instead and played hearts with the Florida boys. Before heading to bed, we met a guy and girl who go to UCSB but he's studying in Bologna for the next year. They were like total stoners but really nice and could've talked all night except for that no noise after 10pm law in Switzerland. Such conservative people! But I love them nonetheless.
Day 36
On Wednesday, we had wanted to paragliding and we waited to make sure Julie was feeling better. At breakfast (I actually got some bacon and eggs since the bread only breakfast wasn't cutting it for me) we started talking to one of the guys who works there, he's from Montana but lived in Tahoe for awhile. He's been traveling for a year and just settled down in Interlaken, what a dream job! Apparently it's supposed to be amazing in the winter as well and they all do snow sports 3-4 times a week!
We ran errands after that... bought swiss army knives (sorry, just for me), booked train tickets, etc before going to the place next door to book our paragliding. It was about 150 francs which was the cheapest place we could find in town. They picked us up around 4:30 in this ramshackle van and took us into town to get ready to go.
If you don't know what paragliding is, it's like parasailing without the boat. Here's a picture: http://www.ucanfly2.biz/Paragliding.JPG (seriously, that's what we looked like). And here's the company we went with: www.twinparagliding.com
We drove up to this mountain that's about 2500m high and on the way up, one of the pilots Robi explained the basics to us but nothing really prepares you. He seemed quite knowledgeable (and older) so I kinda hoped he would be my pilot. We got to choose our own and as they were setting up the chutes, I ended up with him! And we were the first to go! YIKES! There I was with all my gear strapped on, my helmet on top, and my camera strapped to one of the hooks. Before I knew it, Robi told me to start jogging, I felt a tug, then he said to start running and within seconds, our feet had left the ground. The parachute took us higher and higher and higher... we flew above the trees and it wasn't scary at all. The thing about paragliding is that there isn't really any free fall because of the parachute so it's quite chill just floating there. Don't get me wrong though, there were times when you realize, "holy shit, it's just me, this dude and a parachute thousands of feet in the air." Following one of the other pilots, Robi saw an updraft and took immediate advantage of it and suddenly, we were the highest up above everyone! Serious flying with the birds mentality. We flew in circles, chatted, took pictures and enjoyed the scenery which included the Swiss Alps, Lake Berineze and the town of Interlaken. Awesome.
We flew for about 20 minutes which they say is longer than average. Robi let me steer for a bit which is a bit unnverving but very cool at the same time. I guess I got too good at the turns because at one point Robi said, "Whoa, you're getting quite good at those turns, you're starting to scare even me!" Ha ha. At the end, we did a bunch of corkscrews and you could feel the Gs pushing against you, it was so fun! The landing was much softer than I anticipated. Julie and Dan were both already on the ground when I landed so hopefully there will be some good pictures.
We were the last flight of the day so the pilots invited us out for a beer which they treated us to, what nice people! They were totally comfortable, speaking mostly in German to each other but occasionally breaking back into English to learn more about us. It was interesting to hear them talk about their homes lives and to realize that paragliding is their profession! Robi's been doing it for 14 years now and we were his 6th flight of the day! I can't even imagine.
Back to the hostel again... had some dinner at the Thai place and the bar was finally open that night! Julie had to get up early for sunrise so I headed down there with the Floridians (who had gone canyoning AND paragliding that day, crazy kids). The scene was VERY weird, it was about 97% dudes and mostly frat dudes at that. The Floridians left really soon after that and I chatted with a few Canadians (two of who I thought were gay.. but apparently are not). One tried to get me to go to Venice and I was like um, I gotta go. No, seriously, Candians are always really nice and kinda dorky. The dudes I mean. There was a funny British dude too that couldn't sit still, Interlaken attracts some interesting people.
Everyone was kind of doing their own thing so I said goodnight to Dan and headed upstairs as I had a train to catch in the morning. I was sad to be leaving as I usually am but I knew than 4 nights was a good amount of time to appreciate a city.
Day 37
The next morning Julie said goodbye to me at 6:15am to try and catch sunrise in Spiez before she headed back to Barcelona. Julie's been such an awesome companion on this trip, I was sad to see her go as I won't see her for awhile. But she's moving back to the States, maybe even to San Francisco in October! We shall be reunited.
I headed down to breakfast and actually ended up seeing one of the Floridians so we chatted before it was time for me to leave for my train. I ran into Dan on the way and wished him happy travels, he was going with the boys to Cinque Terra which is definitely on my itinerary for next time round.
My train to Basel was cancelled which was annoying but I just took the later train. The Swiss are so nice! I got the least attitude from them on the trains. Surprisingly, the Germans were probably the next nicest. This was my first go round on the trains without making reservations and I have to say it was quite easy. They are also less busy on the trains so it's much more chill, I always felt safe. I had to change trains one more time in Koln but then that took me straight into Amsterdam. On the train, I heard some Americans talking before we got off the train and one of them was like, "I bet it just smells like weed as soon as I got off the train." I don't think he was kidding. Needless to say, I avoided that group.
Getting into Amsterdam at night is a little bit intimidating with it's tawdry lights, it's sketchy street dealers, and sparking canals. I felt relatively safe but there's kind of this overall sleazy feeling to the whole city since everything is legal here. I like it though. My hostel is defintely the most dodgy that I've stayed in and it's on the edge of the red light district. A guy was passed out on a top bunk when I got in there, obviously having eaten too much space cake or mushrooms. There was another dude and then the British couple who are really nice and like to talk. They said the passed out guy had taken mushrooms earlier and was sitting in a chair laughing for hours. Oh, Amsterdam.
I walked around the city to get a feel for it and it's quite interesting I have to say. Walked by a few red windows, some coffeeshops, and the whole atmosphere here is unlike anywhere else that I've been.
I was quite tired from the past few days so I just headed back and talked to the British kids for a couple hours about world and US politics. It's nice to talk to meet people who realize that many Americans despise their government. I think it's been a learning experience for both me and them. They are in bewilderment at how we do things, but hey, so am I.
Day 38
Got up early this morning to see the Rijksmuseum which houses a bunch of Rembrandt paintings and things pertaining to Dutch history. Right after that, I went over to the Van Gogh museum which I loved with it's bright colors and 200 Van Goghs. I would look at some of these paintings and be like, wow, I could hang that in my house. Except it's worth more than any house I'd ever live in! I let myself buy some posters here because I've only got one more city to travel to.
Had lunch at an Indonesian place after that because I've heard the food here is amazing. It was quite good as I've never had it before. Kind of a cross between Chinese and Thai. It was a tiny whole in the wall suggested in Lonely Planet, and one of the few that's worked out for me!
After a short nap, I booked my ticket to London (723am train, AHHHH!) and now going to head to the Anne Frank house (closes at 9pm) and maybe stopping at a coffeeshop on the way home. I've seen what I need to see here but I would still like to come back, particularly with friends for another 3 days. Then I'd rent a bike and explore more the parks and stuff. Till then, I'll say goodbye to Amsterdam. And hellooooooo London! Back to the UK where I left my heart, we'll see if I still can find it and bring it home with me.
Till tomorrow or whenever I get to a CPU next, adios! And a huge thank you to those that responded to the email, finally I know some of you guys are alive!
P.S. You know what I am terrified to do when I get home? Drive. I know I haven't forgotten how but it's kinda scary after walking everywhere for the past 6 weeks. And using a cell phone! Scary.
No comments:
Post a Comment