Caught an early train to Zermatt, a lovely village at the foothill of Matterhorn. The scenery en route from Interlaken to Zermatt is worth staying awake for. The view of Thunersee near Spiez is particularly amazing. I had one hour to explore the town before boarding a cogwheel train to Gornegrat (fees CHF 39, after discount with Swiss pass). No car is allowed in Zermatt hence there are cute small taxis running around the village. The most poignant memory of Zermatt perhaps was the visit to the Mountaineer's Cemetery near the Anglican church of St Peter's. Here, one can read the epitaphs of lives lost from climbing the Matterhorn and Mount Rosa. Another interesting part of Zermatt is the Hinter Dorf area with wooden traditional Valais homes. There is even a 17th century storage barn with stone discs to keep out mice. Before boarding the train up to Gornegrat (highest cogwheel train station in Europe), I could not resist buying some chocolates from Laderach, a swiss chocolatier shop. The truffles with champagne filling and strawberry yoghurt chocolate tasted heavenly and shot me up to the sky even higher than Matterhorn ...he he he.
The view en route to Gornegrat (3090m) with a cogwheel train was spectacular (sit on the right side for best view). At the top, there is a weather station and panaroma terrace where one can get 360* view of the mountain range including Matterhorn (4478m), the highest mountain in Switzerland. There was quite a huge crowd mainly Japanese tourists. As I waited for the next train down, I signed on the graffiti wall near the gift shops.
Back in Zermatt, I wasted no time and boarded a train to Chur. I could have taken the cable car up to Klein Matterhorn, the highest cable car station in Europe (3820m) but I wanted to travel the famous Glacier Express route with 91 tunnels and 291 bridges before sunset. Furthermore, I was broke after the trip to Jungfraujoch and decided to refrain from spending too much on the train or cable cars...
The Glacier Express Route is a long journey that lasted about 7.5 hours. I was struggling to stay awake...almost need to pry my eyelids open with toothpick...he he he. The most beautiful leg of the journey is between Andermatt and Oberalpass. Arrived at Chur near 8pm. Chur is a charming town with medieval buildings in the gated old town. I did not really explore the town as it was started to drizzle and I needed to do last minute planning for trip to Austria. I was lucky because in the hostel, I met a Japanese guy and Indian guy who gave me valuable information about Salzburg and Vienna. Slept at 3am...
The view en route to Gornegrat (3090m) with a cogwheel train was spectacular (sit on the right side for best view). At the top, there is a weather station and panaroma terrace where one can get 360* view of the mountain range including Matterhorn (4478m), the highest mountain in Switzerland. There was quite a huge crowd mainly Japanese tourists. As I waited for the next train down, I signed on the graffiti wall near the gift shops.
Gornegrat weather station with Matterhorn at the background
Eye treat from Glacier Express Route
Back in Zermatt, I wasted no time and boarded a train to Chur. I could have taken the cable car up to Klein Matterhorn, the highest cable car station in Europe (3820m) but I wanted to travel the famous Glacier Express route with 91 tunnels and 291 bridges before sunset. Furthermore, I was broke after the trip to Jungfraujoch and decided to refrain from spending too much on the train or cable cars...
The Glacier Express Route is a long journey that lasted about 7.5 hours. I was struggling to stay awake...almost need to pry my eyelids open with toothpick...he he he. The most beautiful leg of the journey is between Andermatt and Oberalpass. Arrived at Chur near 8pm. Chur is a charming town with medieval buildings in the gated old town. I did not really explore the town as it was started to drizzle and I needed to do last minute planning for trip to Austria. I was lucky because in the hostel, I met a Japanese guy and Indian guy who gave me valuable information about Salzburg and Vienna. Slept at 3am...
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