Alpine Dreams

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Alps mountains has always been a place of wonder for me since childhood and I always wished to be there at least once in my life. Luckily I got a chance to work in UK on deputation in 2010 and soon I made up my mind to fulfill that dream.

As a part my Europen multi country tour in 2011, I got a glimpse of the Alps on my road journeys but could never go anywhere near to it. At last, I panned to head into the Alps in July 2012 as a part of trekking holidays. After practising weekend treks in Ireland for an year, I booked a week long MontBlanc Highlights tour with Exodus. It was planned for the first week of July to coincide with our company holidays and completed all the preparations in advance.

The group was supposed to meet in Geneva, Switzerland. I decided to travel two days in advance and explore Switzerland, staying in Geneva. Reached Geneva on a Thursday morning and after checking into the hotel, went out to roam around near the banks of Lake Geneva. A river cruise on the lake provided beautiful views of the city on either side of the lake. Unsurprisingly, the city was very expensive especially when it comes to eating out but it was really a good experience.

For next day, a VIP class scenic train journey was booked in Golden Pass Panoramic Train, which runs through the charming scenic Swizz villages. It was a three hours journey from Geneva to Interlaken changing trains twice. Spent an hour in Interlaken which was a quite town. As the weather was not that great, decided to leave soon after a gentle stroll on the banks of the lakes. Caught the train back to Geneva. I happened to meet a German girl in the train, who was a big fan of Indian Bollywood movies and had a chat with her for a while. Train was almost empty on the way back and at one point, I was the only person in the compartment.

Next day morning, checked out from the hotel and headed for the airport to meet the group there. It was easy to meet the guide Oliver and his dog Dillon. Soon, the rest of the group arrived, of which majority were British except a German-Dutch couple and me.

We were transferred to the Chalet in Chammonix, a small town in the French side of the Alps, overlooking Mont Blonc. After checking in, I set out to explore the town with a girl named Heather who was so friendly and gave me good company throughout the trip. Dinner was at the Chalet itself and went to bed early.

We had walks on next three days of the trip. Every morning, after the break fast, Oliver will take us in his van and will walk different portions of the Mont Blonc Circuit. Weather was kind enough to us on most of the days and thus we could really enjoyed the walks. Oliver was really great in the setting the pace of the walks so that everyone stay together while completing the walk on time. He kept us entertained with his poor jokes.

Fourth day was a free day to explore ourselves and everyone headed for their own ways. Heather and myself headed to take a train up the nearby mountain and visit an ice museum there. Had our lunch and dinner outside that day. By the fifth day, my knees had started complaining about the 7-8 hrs of walks a day. On the fourth day, the pain was so bad that I thought I nay have to stay away from the last walk but luckily could manage it and I am glad that I missed it. It was hard to say which day was the best as the scenery were totally different on each day.

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Comments

[Pradeep]

Interesting Blog , keep up the work , if do video bogging like you tube add videos and link to the your blog