An important lesson was learnt this past fortnight: the hills are NOT alive with the sound of music. Rather, the rugged mountain peaks groan with sleepless snore-filled nights, dizzying altitudes to 3000m, sunstroke, water scarcity, flaming knee joints and 1000's of vertical meters of sharp rock paths in the race against manic Germans to get to the next beer hut. Lesson number 2: When you're issued with a pre-hike powerpoint presentation entitled: "Let's Cross The Alps", take it first literally, then seriously. Three clueless girls, and one experienced hiker, began skipping through a German flower meadow, traversed peak after peak across the ENTIRE WIDTH of Austria, and ended up zombies in the stunning Italian spa town of Merano. In the spirit of adventure travel writing, I can't help listing the adversities we girls tackled so heroically.
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