Weather was a major problem today. It started out fine but soon started raining in the evening. Quite depressing really.
The hostel that I stayed in is not very near the bahnhof and to make things worse, it does not have 24hr reception. Though I woke up early to go to Titlis, I could not check out and put my luggage in the train station as planned the night before. I started the day by exploring Lucerne. It is a charming medieval city and deifinitely more interesting than Zurich in my opinion. The main attraction is of course Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstattersee) and Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge).As I walked along the bridge, my attention was drawn to the triangular painted roof panels along the ceiling that were painted in 1614 by Heinrich Wagman. Some of the paintings were damaged in fire hence the missing gaps.
Sadly, I did not have much time to explore this lovely city as I have to board train to Engelberg to visit Mount Titlis. In the hind sight, I should have just stayed in the city and visit museums. Weather forecast already warned that weather would be bad. Instead, the stubborn me wasted all my money on the mountain railways...One painful lesson to learn indeed: always check the weather online before buying tickets, in fact the ticket counter staff can check for you but only if you ask and the staff is nice. There is a website with webcam photos of ongoing weather at the mountain: www.swisspanorama.com. But I only learnt about this after descent from Mt Titlis...
The train ride to Engleberg is of course scenic, as expected. I cannot imagine anywhere not scenic in Switzerland. Once reached the station, I bought the ticket (CHF 43 with Swiss pass) and was directed to walk to the gondola station (about 7 minutes walk). The path is well signposted and the walk itself is refreshing and pleasant. Green rolling field strewn with wild flowers in full bloom and snow capped mountains as backdrop and not to forget, crystalline river...phew..what can I say! Joy! The gondola goes all the way up to Trubsee (1800metres). I got out from the station to walk to the lake. Boy, it was tough. I was wearing normal running shoes since I already sold my waterproof hiking shoes. In no time, my shoes and socks got wet. The snow on the ground was more than 10cm thick but I am glad I went ahead stubbornly. The Trubsee Lake is mesmerizing. It reminded me of my experience in Glendalough. Nobody was around, it was just me and the lake. Perfect! It was the right timing because when I descended the same route, it was snowing heavily and the view of the lake was obscured.
Once got back into the gondola, it continued until Stand station where I changed to board the Titlis Rotair, first rotating cable car in Europe. Sadly, after all the hype, it was an anticlimax due to bad weather. All I could see was WHITEness due to fog and snowfall. Bleeding, keep on bleeding...money into the drain...Once reached Titlis Mountain station at 3020m, I explored the Glacier Cave. It was okay but I enjoyed it more because my favourite Beethoven piece was playing at the background :) Despite the lousy weather, there was a huge crowd of tourists, mainly Indians. After that, I braved myself to venture out in the Glacier Park. It was cold! Temperature was -10*C. With 6 layers of clothes, gloves and hat, I survived :) Thankfully, there was no wind. I wandered around to look for Ice Flyer but could not seem to find it. Later, a Titlis staff laughed as she pointed straight ahead "Just walk into the fog". What? I could not see anything within 5 metre away. Well, what did I have to lose. So, the stubborn me stumbled my way forward and like a magic, the Ice Flyer sign board appeared. It was still very poor visibility but I found my way to the the station alas. Although I cannot see much, the open air chairlift ride was exhilarating especially when I was the only one person there (besides staffs). Very few people found the station that day...not surprisingly. With feet dangling few thousand feet above ground, the chairlift flew like a magic carpet to the lower part of Glacier Park where the Snow toys are. I tried the snow slide but ended up quite badly. Not only the snow kept on flying off to my face and mouth, I kept on tripping onto the thick snow as I made my way to the fun lift to reach the higher ground.
Left Titlis to return to Lucerne. Unfortunately, I missed the train (scheduled hourly) and had to wait for the next available train. Chatted with a Singaporean family while waiting. Back in Luzerne, I walked back to the hostel to get my luggage. I did not know what got into me. Maybe because the weather in Lucerne was quite sunny, I was optimistic. So, I boarded the boat cruise (free with Swiss pass) from Luzerne gate 2 pier to Alpnachstad, gateway to Pilatus Mountain. The Lucerne lake is beautiful but as the 2 hour boat journey nearing the end, the weather got worse and it started raining :( Still, I did not learn my lesson, I hopped into the last cogwheel train up to Pilatus Kulm (CHF 33 with Swiss Pass). According to myth, the crevices are haunt of dragon and spirits and the restless ghost of Pontius Pilate roamed around Lake Pilatus.To justify my stupidity/ impulsiveness, I told myself that I wanted to experience the ride on the world's steepest cogwheel train. But, it is money down the drain really. Not all lost as on the way up, there is panaromic view of Alpnachcher See (Lake Alpnachcher) and alpine flowers in full bloom. To my dismay, there was heavy snowfall hence poor visibility. The train weaved through 5 tunnels before reaching Pilatus Kulm (2132 m) that is famous with few trails that lead up to the top with 360 degree panorama view of Alpine range (Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau), Black Forest and Santis. But I guess it is just not for me to see :( I tried to walk to Echoloch but I had to back off as the path was getting too wet and slippery. There was no point of going to Esel (2148m) as well because with heavy snowfall, I cannot imagine what is there to see. Boarded the last cable car down. One can choose to go down by the cogwheel train or cable car. I recommend going down by cable cars because of fantastic view of Vierwalstattersee (a.k.a Lake Lucerne). The cable car decended to Frakmuntegg before continuing to Krienseregg. Once reached the Kriens town, I had to walk for 5 minutes to the bus stop to take bus no 1 to the Luzern bahnhof. I was tired hence skipping any more sightseeing for the day and boarded train to Interlaken instead.
The train ride to Interlaken was really worthwhile. It went through the Golden Pass road that is famous with view of several lakes and Brunig Pass. It passed by Alpnachersee, Sarnersee and Lungernsee before I changed to another train at Meiringen. After Meiringen, there is scenic Lake Brienz before reaching Interlaken OST.
The hostel that I stayed in is not very near the bahnhof and to make things worse, it does not have 24hr reception. Though I woke up early to go to Titlis, I could not check out and put my luggage in the train station as planned the night before. I started the day by exploring Lucerne. It is a charming medieval city and deifinitely more interesting than Zurich in my opinion. The main attraction is of course Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstattersee) and Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge).As I walked along the bridge, my attention was drawn to the triangular painted roof panels along the ceiling that were painted in 1614 by Heinrich Wagman. Some of the paintings were damaged in fire hence the missing gaps.
Lucern
Sadly, I did not have much time to explore this lovely city as I have to board train to Engelberg to visit Mount Titlis. In the hind sight, I should have just stayed in the city and visit museums. Weather forecast already warned that weather would be bad. Instead, the stubborn me wasted all my money on the mountain railways...One painful lesson to learn indeed: always check the weather online before buying tickets, in fact the ticket counter staff can check for you but only if you ask and the staff is nice. There is a website with webcam photos of ongoing weather at the mountain: www.swisspanorama.com. But I only learnt about this after descent from Mt Titlis...
The train ride to Engleberg is of course scenic, as expected. I cannot imagine anywhere not scenic in Switzerland. Once reached the station, I bought the ticket (CHF 43 with Swiss pass) and was directed to walk to the gondola station (about 7 minutes walk). The path is well signposted and the walk itself is refreshing and pleasant. Green rolling field strewn with wild flowers in full bloom and snow capped mountains as backdrop and not to forget, crystalline river...phew..what can I say! Joy! The gondola goes all the way up to Trubsee (1800metres). I got out from the station to walk to the lake. Boy, it was tough. I was wearing normal running shoes since I already sold my waterproof hiking shoes. In no time, my shoes and socks got wet. The snow on the ground was more than 10cm thick but I am glad I went ahead stubbornly. The Trubsee Lake is mesmerizing. It reminded me of my experience in Glendalough. Nobody was around, it was just me and the lake. Perfect! It was the right timing because when I descended the same route, it was snowing heavily and the view of the lake was obscured.
Trusbsee
Left Titlis to return to Lucerne. Unfortunately, I missed the train (scheduled hourly) and had to wait for the next available train. Chatted with a Singaporean family while waiting. Back in Luzerne, I walked back to the hostel to get my luggage. I did not know what got into me. Maybe because the weather in Lucerne was quite sunny, I was optimistic. So, I boarded the boat cruise (free with Swiss pass) from Luzerne gate 2 pier to Alpnachstad, gateway to Pilatus Mountain. The Lucerne lake is beautiful but as the 2 hour boat journey nearing the end, the weather got worse and it started raining :( Still, I did not learn my lesson, I hopped into the last cogwheel train up to Pilatus Kulm (CHF 33 with Swiss Pass). According to myth, the crevices are haunt of dragon and spirits and the restless ghost of Pontius Pilate roamed around Lake Pilatus.To justify my stupidity/ impulsiveness, I told myself that I wanted to experience the ride on the world's steepest cogwheel train. But, it is money down the drain really. Not all lost as on the way up, there is panaromic view of Alpnachcher See (Lake Alpnachcher) and alpine flowers in full bloom. To my dismay, there was heavy snowfall hence poor visibility. The train weaved through 5 tunnels before reaching Pilatus Kulm (2132 m) that is famous with few trails that lead up to the top with 360 degree panorama view of Alpine range (Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau), Black Forest and Santis. But I guess it is just not for me to see :( I tried to walk to Echoloch but I had to back off as the path was getting too wet and slippery. There was no point of going to Esel (2148m) as well because with heavy snowfall, I cannot imagine what is there to see. Boarded the last cable car down. One can choose to go down by the cogwheel train or cable car. I recommend going down by cable cars because of fantastic view of Vierwalstattersee (a.k.a Lake Lucerne). The cable car decended to Frakmuntegg before continuing to Krienseregg. Once reached the Kriens town, I had to walk for 5 minutes to the bus stop to take bus no 1 to the Luzern bahnhof. I was tired hence skipping any more sightseeing for the day and boarded train to Interlaken instead.
The train ride to Interlaken was really worthwhile. It went through the Golden Pass road that is famous with view of several lakes and Brunig Pass. It passed by Alpnachersee, Sarnersee and Lungernsee before I changed to another train at Meiringen. After Meiringen, there is scenic Lake Brienz before reaching Interlaken OST.
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