Today (Sunday) we are literally traveling all day. We took the cable car down the mountain at 8:30 this morning and are scheduled to arrive in Rome at 11:00 tonight! Right now it's about 3:15 and I think we're somewhere in southern Switzerland.
So far the scenery from the train window has made impressive seem like an understatement! We started out passing through a dazzling array of mountain lakes and hillside villages. Now the terrain is composed of rocky cliffs looming high on either side of the tracks.
While I've got the computer out to pass the time on the train, I might as well fill you all in on the events of yesterday (while taking periodic breaks to admire the view out the window). We awoke around 8:00 yesterday morning (Saturday) with the intention of taking an early morning cable car up to Schilthorn, the very precipice of the mountain. However, because of the dense fog that had descended on the mountain that morning, we were advised not to go up to the scenic overlook. Instead we decided to take the cable car up to the next village (Murren) and seek our fortunes (as well as breakfast) there.
After walking around Murren for a while, we finally found a decent looking place to eat breakfast. Turns out it was a great choice! They had a classic swiss style all you can eat buffet for only 15 francs (about half what you pay everywhere else). They had several different kinds of breads and marmalades, along with meats, cheeses, yogurt, granola, and orange juice. We easily ate enough to make eating lunch later in the day completely unnecessary (which you'll find out later, will come in handy).
Once we were finished with our breakfast, we decided to save the cost of a return cable car to Gimmelwald and hike back down ourselves. This seemed like a great idea......until we got lost. We ended up completely abandoning our first trail and heading back the way we came, eventually coming to a fork in the path with one way leading steeply up the mountain and the other way leading horizontally off the beaten path. We chose the more off-road choice of the two and quickly ended up in thick mud and knee high grass.
Not to be dismayed, we pressed on, knowing we were going in the general direction of Gimmelwald. We crossed a fence into a large mountain-side pasture area and continued on the trail. However, we were soon confronted by a herd of about 10-15 cows and bulls completely blocking our path. We stared them down for a minute or two while we cautiously talked about what course of action to take. The cattle just stared back at us without budging, each party trying to impose their will on the other.
After what seemed like a decent amount of time, the three of us took a few hard steps forward. Immediately, the herd of cattle starting moving quickly towards us, like a well trained defensive unit converging on an opposing ball carrier. Since we were outnumbered about 15 to 3 and they had the advantage in total mass by several thousand pounds we opted for the only logical strategy.....we turned and ran. However, once the herd of cattle saw that we had given up our initial ground they stalled their attack.
We stopped just outside the fence and re-assesed our strategy. The only way forward was straight through the herd of savage cattle. We couldn't go around them because they had the higher ground and the terrain below us and them was too steep and rugged to get across. Phil and I decided to try to scare them off the trail and picked up a few rocks to hurl in their general direction. Unfortunately, our nemesis did not budge. These savage territorial Swiss cattle where not going to let us pass without a fight.
Since we didn't feel like fighting savage territorial Swiss cattle at the moment, we turned around and went right back the way we came. Upon once again reaching the fork in the path, we ascended the trail going higher up the mountain. However, the trail soon looped around and we found ourselves once again headed on a downward slope in the general direction of Gimmelwald. Unfortunately, the trail soon led straight into another fenced-in mountain pasture where our friends, the savage territorial Swiss cattle, were once again blocking the path!
Those stinkers must have known that the only other way we could go was this path and they were once again ready to do battle for the right to their land. Since we still weren't in the mood to fight these guys (and still weren't to thrilled with the odds), we took our only other option at this point.......we went completely off the trail, down the side of the mountain and into the trees.
The terrain we were now on alternated between sheer drop-offs and slopes that you had to walk sideways on to keep your balance. It probably wasn't the safest route to take, but it was fairly exciting. We carefully made our way down the side of the mountain, slipping and sliding occasionally, but eventually popping out on the trail far below. We were wet, muddy, tired, and exhausted (yeah, I know that's kind of redundant) but we were back on the trail, far away from the vicious cows, and that was all that mattered!
After maybe another half-hour or so of following the trail, we arrived back at our mountain hostel in Gimmelwald! We had been lost out in the Swiss Alps for a good four hours but had had one of the greatest adventures of our trip!
The rest of our afternoon/evening consisted of reading, uploading some of our pictures, eating dinner, and playing cards. It was a very relaxing evening that all of us badly needed.
After hitting the hay fairly early on Saturday night, we got up at 8:30 this morning to take the cable car.........oh wait, I think I already told you that at the start of this post. Anyways, we're now passing a gorgeous clear blue lake down in a mountain valley. This is definitely the most impressive train ride of the trip!
When we get into Rome late tonight (midday for all of you in the U.S. of A) I'll put up this post along with any pictures that aren't up yet (providing we have wi-fi).
Until next time, this is Ben signing off from a train somewhere in what I think is southern Switzerland.
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