| 23rd July
-Interlaken-Jungfraujoch |
We
got up early for the excursion to Jungfraujoch.We
took a train to Interlaken Ost first . From here
we took another train to Lauterbrunen. There we
changed the train again to cog-wheel
train to a
place Kl. Scheidegg. The cog wheels prevent the
train from slipping down when climbing up the
slopes. Again a change at Kl. Scheidegg to a
train that took us to the Top of
Europe - JungfrauJoch.
Changing trains so many times was
tedious and especially because there was no
reservation for these trains. So we had to
literally run for seats. The views on our way up
were very nice. Jungfraujoch is 3454 mtrs/ 11,333
ft, the highest railway station in Europe. Here
there is an observation deck - closed as well as
open. Being a sunny day sweaters weren't really
necessary. Although what was really required were
sun glasses - more than direct sunlight the
reflected light from the snow was harsh on eyes.
This even gave Sandeep and myself a headache.
From the observation deck
one can the Junfrau,
Monch and Eiger peaks. There is
snow all year round in this region. From the
observation deck on the glacier below we could
see people enjoying fun activities. With Aai-
Baba tired and finding a little difficulty
breathing due to height , only Sandeep and myself
decided to go down to the glacier. We went
through a tunnel in the mountain ...it was quite
chill inside and we suddenly felt the need for
jackets and gloves. Once out of tunnel and we
started feeling hot. Once on the glacier we saw a ski
and snowboard park. There was a
snow disk ride just as the one at Mt. Titlis. The
one thing new here was a husky dog sledge ride.
Unfortunately we couldn't take it as it was closed
for the day.Maybe next time :) I felt
disappointed for I had missed it for a second
time the first being in Jukkasjarvi , Sweden.
There was another fun ride called Tyrolienne. It
is was something like a T- shaped stick on which
one stands just for sake of support. The T-stick
slides down a wire from a slope. We hardly saw
all these things and decided to get back to
observation deck coz the reflected light from the
snow was really getting troublesome. We came back
and went to see the Ice Palace.It was nothing as
compared to Ice Hotel in Sweden but we went
nevertheless to get an idea what it was for
Sandeep was seeing it for first time. Back to
deck to pick up Aai- Baba, then we started back
on our return journey to Interlaken. This time we
took the route Jungfraujoch- Kl. Scheidegg -
Grindelwald - Interlaken Ost. Thus we completed a
full circle through the mountains. The return
journey was nice but we were all dozing all the
way so were most of people. Dinner that night was
at same Indian restaurant as before and that
night we slept like logs.
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