Switzerland - Lauterbrunnen

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LAUTERBRUNEN - SWITZERLAND

I’ll admit right away that this is a country I have most wanted to visit, and I’m annoyed at myself that I didn’t do it justice in exploring more of it due to time restraints and having to come back to something called ‘work’ soon. But what I did see I absolutely adored and wish to return one day to soak up its natural beauty and sights.

I left the sun of Italy bright and early, back to travelling all on my own again (which I love) and realised I slightly underestimated the length and time it would take to get to my next destination - Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. I had chosen Lauterbrunnen due to its gorgeous mountain scenery, adrenaline sports, eternal snow capped mountains, and backpacker friendliness in one of Europe’s most expensive countries (following my travel mantra of stay cheaply and eat/drink/explore well).

So, after 7 train changes (3 in Italy, 1 across the border, & 3 in Switzerland), 9 hours and 1 ‘Me Scuzi’ incident by an older man on an Italian train straight from the script of the movie ‘Europtrip’ - I finally made it to the Swiss Alps (just as well I like the comfy & efficient European trains and did my research or goodness knows where I would have ended up). The scenery getting here was amazing but then I arrived in Lauterbrunnen and couldn’t wipe the grin from my face with a massive waterfall right where I was staying (I’ve decided I’m more of a country girl than a city one). Lauterbrunnen in a tiny village 20 minutes from the popular Interlaken, and is the gateway to the mountainous Jungfrau region and what is known as ‘The Top of Europe’ - Europe’s highest railway, which lies 11,782 feet above sea level.

As I crossed the Swiss border I had to remind myself to switch back from the few Italian words I’d learnt to remembering my year 10 school level German (thanks Herr Simmonds of Figtree High - I remembered more than I expected given the grades you gave me). So far this has got me around Austria and Munich well so far (and with the crazy German in Croatia) despite how terrible it is (points for trying people). But I digress.....

I finally got off my last train at Lauterbrunnen and was faced with a bit of a walk to my cabin at the campsite with my backpack which appears to have put on as much weight as I have over the last 2 and a half months. A stroll though the small town of a few shops, hotels and a pub and it was immediately recognisable that this town just went through life with no real hassles and were a friendly bunch. As I was walking past the snowy mountains, the massive waterfall linked to the Trummelbach falls (which spills out 20,000 litres of water per second) came into view and led me to where I was staying pretty much underneath it. The waterfall overlooks the valley of Lauterbrunnen, and the sound of its running water was nearly as overpowering as the never ending sound of Swiss cow bells attached to the sheep grazing beneath it (which was noisier than a Federer v Hingis tennis match).

So after dumping said heavy backpack and checking into a tiny cabin all on my own (a backpackers delight), I decided to avoid the 4 ‘Contiki’ buses that were unfortunately in residence at the campsite (think consistently drunk, loud, annoying, young, BOGAN auzzies and yanks who often don’t see much of the real Europe outside their school excursion buses - ouch, bitch remark, no apologies though). So I trekked the 1km back into ‘town’ to see what the locals were up to. I tried me some Swiss cheese, nearly bought an expensive Swiss watch (but bank account said no) and Swiss Army Knife (already have one), did some window shopping and looked at the menu’s around town to think about dinner since it was getting late.

It was then that I was walking past the Police station when I saw two uniformed cops finishing up for the day outside next to their BMW marked car when I said ‘Guten Tag” and got chatting with the handsome Nils. It was end of shift and I was invited into the station for some coffee and Swiss chocolate and learnt about the local way of Policing (remind me to ask my accountant if I can write any of this off on tax). Nils was great giving me the local knowledge of the Jungfrau region (we got there with his good English and my terrible German) and his hopes to become a mountain rescue cop since that’s all they really do there (there’s only 4 of them, and they have to commandeer the trains up the mountain in an emergency since no car access). However after an hour or two, his detective girlfriend in Interlaken was texting him to say his dinner was getting cold.

So, not wanting to cause a domestic I soon left the cosy station and went in search of the dinner, and wasn’t disappointed with the local specialty of pork bratwurst in onion gravy and potato rosti (Swiss version of bangers and mash and it was fantastic). And because I had a stunning view outside and didn’t get lost on my hectic travel journey, I rewarded myself with an awesome dessert of apple rings fried in a cinnamon doughnut batter thing with vanilla sauce and marinated strawberries (I may travel like a backpacker but I certainly don’t eat like one!). But I was sure knackered after a long day and was getting cold so I uploaded you guys a blog and got ready for my next big day.

Tuesday, and man these early starts are killing me like they do at home (this is no holiday). I opted to catch a train before 7am to get me up the 11,000 odd feet of Jungfraujoch mountain region as you often get the best view early and to avoid the tourists. And on the 2 hour train journey up the mountain I met fellow solo traveller Lauren from the Central Coast of NSW, who had never seen snow before and was soon quite shocked (1; Because of the amazing scenery and 2; she was seriously under-dressed and had not experienced a wind chill factor). A few photo stops along the way to change trains, and we made it. We first explored the ice caves for funny photos and had the whole area to ourselves prior to the scrum of Japanese tourists.

Next it was up to the top plateaux for Laurens first touch of snow and compulsory snow ball fight (of course I won) and having the whole mountain top to ourselves for a while - before the pack of Japanese tourists found their way there. A trip up to the top viewing point of the Sphinx to appreciate the freezing wind chill factor on the eternal snow cap and look at the mountains of France, Italy and Austria in the distance, before a hot chocolate at the Glacier Bar and a few runs on the Toboggan (as travel insurance didn’t let me ski....and given my clumsiness I would have broken something). I was going to hike down 2 hours/2 train stops on the way down the mountain however given the still swollen Bradley ankle I decided take the train all the way to Interlaken to see if I could fit in a bungee jump (don’t stress Mum, there was not enough time to do so - bugger).

Interlaken was more the happening touristy place where people come to paraglide and do hikes with the trendy aid of walking poles (it seems you’re not normal hiking without them these days). But what I couldn’t get over was the overwhelming presence of Indian tourists/people around the place, which made Lauren and I hungry for some butter chicken and cheese naan so we located an Indian restaurant for just that and found out that the Indian popularity is due to the filming of Bollywood movies in the Alps area and the tourism associated with it. Noice, unusual, different.

After a spot of shopping, we took the train back to Lauterbrunnen and it was time to just chill out for a while before a storm came through, listen to the cow bells, and quickly check out the bomb-shelter bar before turning in for an easy night.

As you can see from what I’ve driveled on about, I absolutely adored the tiny bit of Switzerland I experienced and have already lined up some mates from Europe to join me hiking and skiing on my return to this gorgeous country. But, of course the next day I was off on another mammoth train journey and some top scenery.

Next stop - PARIS

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Photos

Peek a boo
Ice cave time

Dinner with a view
Local food and wine with an awesome view of the waterfall

Clever
gotta love Ice Age

My new friend Nils
A nice local cop

Up the top....
all on my own

Wengen
A stop on the long journey up top

Train stop over
First stop in Switzerland

Comments

[Heather]

I LOVED your Lauterbrunnen post and photos! I have been thinking about featuring the city on my blog's "destination of the week," so I was even happier to see some firsthand feedback of it! My blog is looking for travel reviews, photos, etc, to share. If you have the time, check it out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com, or email me at [e-mail]. If there's anything you'd like to contribute, especially about Lauterbrunnen, we'd love to post it! Continued fun on your travels! Heather :)