Switzerland Trip – Part 4: Interlaken & Jungfrau (20-21 July 2006)
Well, this is the place that everyone says I should go. Pretty hyped up, I’ll say. Interlaken is located between 2 lakes, Thunnersee to the west and Brienzersee to the east, hence the name. Town area is at Interlaken West, but the place I’m staying, which is more convenient for me, is Interlaken Ost (translate: East). Stayed at this place called Funny Farm, room looked like a bombed out WW2 building with only ONE power socket for the whole room and you had to get out of the building and re-enter from another side just to get to the WC. Trashy… and to think I decided to spend 2 nights there thanks to the hype. But then again, it was the cheapest of all (CHF22 per night). It had a bar which does a Happy Half-Hour from 2200 to 2230, and an extreme sports agency. Not surprisingly, almost everyone else who stayed at Funny Farm was there for the extreme sports. Quite out of place for me. I took a walk around town instead and found that Interlaken is nothing special, just an excessive amount of tourist and souvenir shops.
Thunnersee
Arriving at Interlaken Ost
The train station
Like I said, nothing much downtown, but still a nice place to walk for a while
Met this guy called Bob. 82 years old, Englishman, fought in WW2, and he does bungee jumping every single day… yes, EVERY SINGLE DAY! Saturday was his 60th jump. I thought it was interesting that he does this kind of crazy stuff at his age, someone who really shows a passion for living his life to the fullest and traveling the world. Much better than many other young people who just go clubbing and get on drugs. In a short video that the agency made, kind of like a tribute to him, Bob’s message to everyone was that, get out of the clubs and go do something worthwhile with your life.
So I had a late night, not very good idea in retrospect. Woke up the next morning for a quick breakfast, then walked back to Interlaken Ost to catch a train to Kleine Scheidegg. My Swiss pass allowed for free travel to Grindelwald and Wengen, so I had to buy a ticket from there on. CHF78!!! Geez…
Anyway, the itinerary on my ticket said Wengen for my journey up, then Grindelwald on my way down. OK, was planning something like that anyway, up one way and down the other. The train pulled out from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunn, where another change of trains (cogwheel train) was needed to go directly to Kleine Scheidegg, but I stopped at Wengen to look around this small mountain town. Very beautiful and peaceful, I’d say. I’d love to try staying here for a night or two.
A typical Swiss mountain house
Confusing toilets...
Like I said, a place I don't mind staying in
Got back to the train station and then up again to Kleine Scheidegg. From here, there’s already a splendid view of the 3 peaks, Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. Here, there’s the last change of trains to the Jungfraubahn, which brings you all the way up to the Jungfraujoch, highest train station in the world at 3471m asl and the Top of Europe! Not surprising that there’s snow here in summer, the temperature outside is only 5 degrees C… in the hot sun!
Kleine Scheidegg
Almost there...
The Jungfraubahn
One of the stops up, Eismeer, where the glaciers start
The top of Europe
There’re a few things to do here. First of all, there’s the Sphinx Observatory, about 120m above the Jungfraujoch, from here, a splendid view of the 3 peaks and the glacier awaits. Then there’s the Monk’s Hut, a small hut about 45min away (at least the signs say so), the Ice Palace, the Plateau and some snow activities like snowboarding, skiing and husky rides.
First, I went up to the Sphinx Observatory. Quite a sight to behold, and out came the cheap penne salad I bought from Coop (another budget supermarket) in the morning. Time for lunch (it was already 1pm)! Topped it off with the last of the chocolates, 2 apples and some water. Not bad for a picnic at the Top of Europe! Haha!
The Sphinx Obeservatory
Looks better when I'm not blocking it, right? Or maybe it's just my touch
You can see the glacier just a little to my right
The top of Europe
Now if you notice, certain parts of the platform are suspended over nothing
Enjoyed the scenery a little, then I decided to walk out to the Monk’s Hut. Not very smart though, it took me close to an hour just to make it out there, not to mention that I’ve got the wrong shoes. Don’t forget, this is snow we’re talking about here. Huffing and panting and stopping many times along the way (no thanks to the thin, cold air and the call home while I was walking), I finally made it to the hut. Nothing really special there except for a flying Swiss flag and a restaurant (no idea how they operate there even), but the view’s quite good. I realized I had climbed an additional 120m or so in altitude, because the hut is slightly higher than the Sphinx.
Looks like a lot of people, right?
Not many make it far
After much huffing and puffing, the hut's in the background
Rested a little, and then walked back again. Walking back is sooooooo much easier because it’s all downslope. Got back in like… 15min? Haha! You see the difference. Reached the entrance and I found I had red vision. Possibly due to snow blindness, lack of oxygen or both, so I sat down for a while. Just imagine, white lights in the cavern corridor looked pink/magenta to me. Didn’t help that my shoes were soaked thoroughly too.
Now that that’s done with, time to tie up the loose ends. Went over to the Ice Palace, a cavern made entirely of ice, even the floor! Quite a number of beautiful sculptures there and it was interesting to slide around a little on the icy floor. At the end is the entrance to the plateau. On the plateau, you get to see the other side that the Sphinx doesn’t show, not to mention the long way down the side of the cliff.
The Ice Palace, everything's ice
Even a frozen sign
For the tourists to take pictures
Up to the plateau with the glacier again
A view of the Jungfraujoch
Can't miss the train station's sign
All that completed, time to go back down to Kleine Scheidegg. I thought of stopping over at Gindelwald, but it was late, I was exhausted and hungry, so forget it. Went back to Interlaken Ost only to get caught in the rain, so I grabbed some warm food at the Coop restaurant and waited for the rain to stop. Got back to the hostel, dumped my stuff then went on to the Internet café to clear my mail. No Happy Half-Hour for me tonight, had to sleep! My train to Luzern was at 0708, so I needed to get up somewhere around 0600. Besides, I can’t wait to get out of that Funny Farm.
Photobucket: Interlaken & Jungfrau
Thunnersee
Arriving at Interlaken Ost
The train station
Like I said, nothing much downtown, but still a nice place to walk for a while
Met this guy called Bob. 82 years old, Englishman, fought in WW2, and he does bungee jumping every single day… yes, EVERY SINGLE DAY! Saturday was his 60th jump. I thought it was interesting that he does this kind of crazy stuff at his age, someone who really shows a passion for living his life to the fullest and traveling the world. Much better than many other young people who just go clubbing and get on drugs. In a short video that the agency made, kind of like a tribute to him, Bob’s message to everyone was that, get out of the clubs and go do something worthwhile with your life.
So I had a late night, not very good idea in retrospect. Woke up the next morning for a quick breakfast, then walked back to Interlaken Ost to catch a train to Kleine Scheidegg. My Swiss pass allowed for free travel to Grindelwald and Wengen, so I had to buy a ticket from there on. CHF78!!! Geez…
Anyway, the itinerary on my ticket said Wengen for my journey up, then Grindelwald on my way down. OK, was planning something like that anyway, up one way and down the other. The train pulled out from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunn, where another change of trains (cogwheel train) was needed to go directly to Kleine Scheidegg, but I stopped at Wengen to look around this small mountain town. Very beautiful and peaceful, I’d say. I’d love to try staying here for a night or two.
A typical Swiss mountain house
Confusing toilets...
Like I said, a place I don't mind staying in
Got back to the train station and then up again to Kleine Scheidegg. From here, there’s already a splendid view of the 3 peaks, Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. Here, there’s the last change of trains to the Jungfraubahn, which brings you all the way up to the Jungfraujoch, highest train station in the world at 3471m asl and the Top of Europe! Not surprising that there’s snow here in summer, the temperature outside is only 5 degrees C… in the hot sun!
Kleine Scheidegg
Almost there...
The Jungfraubahn
One of the stops up, Eismeer, where the glaciers start
The top of Europe
There’re a few things to do here. First of all, there’s the Sphinx Observatory, about 120m above the Jungfraujoch, from here, a splendid view of the 3 peaks and the glacier awaits. Then there’s the Monk’s Hut, a small hut about 45min away (at least the signs say so), the Ice Palace, the Plateau and some snow activities like snowboarding, skiing and husky rides.
First, I went up to the Sphinx Observatory. Quite a sight to behold, and out came the cheap penne salad I bought from Coop (another budget supermarket) in the morning. Time for lunch (it was already 1pm)! Topped it off with the last of the chocolates, 2 apples and some water. Not bad for a picnic at the Top of Europe! Haha!
The Sphinx Obeservatory
Looks better when I'm not blocking it, right? Or maybe it's just my touch
You can see the glacier just a little to my right
The top of Europe
Now if you notice, certain parts of the platform are suspended over nothing
Enjoyed the scenery a little, then I decided to walk out to the Monk’s Hut. Not very smart though, it took me close to an hour just to make it out there, not to mention that I’ve got the wrong shoes. Don’t forget, this is snow we’re talking about here. Huffing and panting and stopping many times along the way (no thanks to the thin, cold air and the call home while I was walking), I finally made it to the hut. Nothing really special there except for a flying Swiss flag and a restaurant (no idea how they operate there even), but the view’s quite good. I realized I had climbed an additional 120m or so in altitude, because the hut is slightly higher than the Sphinx.
Looks like a lot of people, right?
Not many make it far
After much huffing and puffing, the hut's in the background
Rested a little, and then walked back again. Walking back is sooooooo much easier because it’s all downslope. Got back in like… 15min? Haha! You see the difference. Reached the entrance and I found I had red vision. Possibly due to snow blindness, lack of oxygen or both, so I sat down for a while. Just imagine, white lights in the cavern corridor looked pink/magenta to me. Didn’t help that my shoes were soaked thoroughly too.
Now that that’s done with, time to tie up the loose ends. Went over to the Ice Palace, a cavern made entirely of ice, even the floor! Quite a number of beautiful sculptures there and it was interesting to slide around a little on the icy floor. At the end is the entrance to the plateau. On the plateau, you get to see the other side that the Sphinx doesn’t show, not to mention the long way down the side of the cliff.
The Ice Palace, everything's ice
Even a frozen sign
For the tourists to take pictures
Up to the plateau with the glacier again
A view of the Jungfraujoch
Can't miss the train station's sign
All that completed, time to go back down to Kleine Scheidegg. I thought of stopping over at Gindelwald, but it was late, I was exhausted and hungry, so forget it. Went back to Interlaken Ost only to get caught in the rain, so I grabbed some warm food at the Coop restaurant and waited for the rain to stop. Got back to the hostel, dumped my stuff then went on to the Internet café to clear my mail. No Happy Half-Hour for me tonight, had to sleep! My train to Luzern was at 0708, so I needed to get up somewhere around 0600. Besides, I can’t wait to get out of that Funny Farm.
Photobucket: Interlaken & Jungfrau
posted by Chiu Weng | 2:18 AM
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