Switzerland Trip – Part 3: Zermatt, Gornegrat and the Matterhorn (19-20 July 2006)
Welcome to Zermatt! There are many mountain resorts all over the world, especially in Switzerland, but only ONE has the Matterhorn! Yes, this IS Zermatt. Coming up via the Glacier Express (or any other Matterhorn-Gotthard-Bahn train), there’s a splendid view of the Matterhorn. Got off the train at slightly past 6pm (Swiss precision). Initially, Zermatt didn’t seem very interesting. I even planned on cutting short my 25-hour stay into leaving right the next morning. But I still had to walk around to look at the place, so off I went.
Everywhere you go, you definitely can see the Matterhorn, unless its obstructed by some building. Zermatt is really a small time, with only a few streets. This isn’t too bad though, because Zermatt is car-free. Instead, you see smaller electric vehicles that move around, which is quite a nice touch.
A glimpse of the Matterhorn is easy to find
A house near the train station, you can see the electric vehicles
In and around Zermatt
Wandered around for a little, then found some dinner at the town festival that they had that night. Lots of souvenir shops, not cheap too. I also encountered my first Swiss McDonalds, haha! Went in and came straight out after looking at the menu. CHF10 for a meal? That’s like SGD12!!! Just for a meal!!! I rather eat wursts!!!
But still, Zermatt’s a very pleasant place to walk around, although that’s just about it. I thought of saving the money for the Gornegrat Bahn, which brings you up to the Gornegrat, 3089m above sea level (asl), but I caught a glimpse of the map and I saw that you can see a glacier from up there, so I changed my mind. Had a little bit of altitude-sickness (it’s about 1500m asl), so I ended up sleeping for 10 hours that night. Woke up the next morning to get the Gornegrat Bahn ticket (half-price for Swiss Pass holders, CHF36) and up we go.
The Gornegrat Bahn
It’s really not bad, going all the way up the side of the mountain. Due to the steep climb, the Gornegrat Bahn uses a cogwheel engine, just like the Glacier Express. It helps in pulling the train up the steep slopes. Almost all the time, the huge Matterhorn is in your view and non-stop gasps came from the passengers. Windows were pulled down and cameras were snapping away. The only gripe I had: I was sitting on the wrong side of the train!!!
Then we reached the top, after stopping at a few stations along the way. The Gornegrat railway station at the top (3089m asl) had a magnificent view, but a short walk up to the peak lead to a mouth-dropping panorama. Imagine the Matterhorn to your left and the glacier to your right… Well, no need to, just look at the pictures!
At the top
Poor St. Bernards for the tourists to take photos with
The Matterhorn
The glacier
And the mountain opposite
A view of the observatory on top
Somehow, the Matterhorn didn’t seem as impressive up there. Maybe it’s because the height difference is only 1000+m, as compared to 3000m from Zermatt. Sat down at the top and made a call to Jiayun, then had a nice breakfast of Swiss chocolates! You know, the box I bought at Chur? Haha! Not bad eh? Swiss chocolates and Swiss mountains, what could be more Swiss?
It's a nice morning
Especially to feel the presence of God's creation
1 with the star
Stayed around, walked a little, then went down to the observation building and bought my first Swiss Army knife (you can’t walk away from Switzerland without one, but at least I bought mine on top of a mountain). Not too bad, they had the latest engraving machine (engraving is free in most shops here) which uses a laptop, compared to many other shops which either use manual engraving or some Commodore-style antique computer.
Then it was down to Zermatt again, and this time, I made sure I sat on the right side of the train (the left side when going down, the right side when coming up).
I told you the view on this side was better
That’s about it, I guess. Got on the train down to Brig, changed to a train heading for Spiez and another change to get to Interlaken.
Photobucket: Zermatt, Gornegrat and the Matterhorn
Everywhere you go, you definitely can see the Matterhorn, unless its obstructed by some building. Zermatt is really a small time, with only a few streets. This isn’t too bad though, because Zermatt is car-free. Instead, you see smaller electric vehicles that move around, which is quite a nice touch.
A glimpse of the Matterhorn is easy to find
A house near the train station, you can see the electric vehicles
In and around Zermatt
Wandered around for a little, then found some dinner at the town festival that they had that night. Lots of souvenir shops, not cheap too. I also encountered my first Swiss McDonalds, haha! Went in and came straight out after looking at the menu. CHF10 for a meal? That’s like SGD12!!! Just for a meal!!! I rather eat wursts!!!
But still, Zermatt’s a very pleasant place to walk around, although that’s just about it. I thought of saving the money for the Gornegrat Bahn, which brings you up to the Gornegrat, 3089m above sea level (asl), but I caught a glimpse of the map and I saw that you can see a glacier from up there, so I changed my mind. Had a little bit of altitude-sickness (it’s about 1500m asl), so I ended up sleeping for 10 hours that night. Woke up the next morning to get the Gornegrat Bahn ticket (half-price for Swiss Pass holders, CHF36) and up we go.
The Gornegrat Bahn
It’s really not bad, going all the way up the side of the mountain. Due to the steep climb, the Gornegrat Bahn uses a cogwheel engine, just like the Glacier Express. It helps in pulling the train up the steep slopes. Almost all the time, the huge Matterhorn is in your view and non-stop gasps came from the passengers. Windows were pulled down and cameras were snapping away. The only gripe I had: I was sitting on the wrong side of the train!!!
Then we reached the top, after stopping at a few stations along the way. The Gornegrat railway station at the top (3089m asl) had a magnificent view, but a short walk up to the peak lead to a mouth-dropping panorama. Imagine the Matterhorn to your left and the glacier to your right… Well, no need to, just look at the pictures!
At the top
Poor St. Bernards for the tourists to take photos with
The Matterhorn
The glacier
And the mountain opposite
A view of the observatory on top
Somehow, the Matterhorn didn’t seem as impressive up there. Maybe it’s because the height difference is only 1000+m, as compared to 3000m from Zermatt. Sat down at the top and made a call to Jiayun, then had a nice breakfast of Swiss chocolates! You know, the box I bought at Chur? Haha! Not bad eh? Swiss chocolates and Swiss mountains, what could be more Swiss?
It's a nice morning
Especially to feel the presence of God's creation
1 with the star
Stayed around, walked a little, then went down to the observation building and bought my first Swiss Army knife (you can’t walk away from Switzerland without one, but at least I bought mine on top of a mountain). Not too bad, they had the latest engraving machine (engraving is free in most shops here) which uses a laptop, compared to many other shops which either use manual engraving or some Commodore-style antique computer.
Then it was down to Zermatt again, and this time, I made sure I sat on the right side of the train (the left side when going down, the right side when coming up).
I told you the view on this side was better
That’s about it, I guess. Got on the train down to Brig, changed to a train heading for Spiez and another change to get to Interlaken.
Photobucket: Zermatt, Gornegrat and the Matterhorn
posted by Chiu Weng | 2:17 AM
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