Ray & Jenny in Austria & Switzerland: 23rd September 2010

Yesterday we headed off to a valley that we hadn't been to before. I had picked out a hike, but we didn't know where to park, where the train station was to buy tickets etc... So we were running a bit late. But we finally got everything organised, and with a bit of a dash, just made the train to the start of the hike. We had only gone about 5 minutes, and were making our way up this steep incline, when all of a sudden a crashing sound came from somewhere on the train, our carriage started rocking violently from side to side and we came to a screeching halt. We sat for about 30 minutes with no idea what had happened. Eventually someone came and told us that they had trouble with the engine and that they were working on the problem. An hour later we were reversed back down the mountain and back to the station. Our enthusiasm for the hiking was gone and we spent some time looking around the town, Meiringen, and then stopped at Interlaken for a look around on our way home.

Another great day was forecast for today so it was off to yet another valley that we had not visited, the Lotschental. The Lotschental is actually closer to Guttet-feschel where we had our previous apartment but hadn't had the time to visit. A bit of a marathon to get there though. We drove and parked at Kandersteg, caught a train through the mountain tunnel (the only way to get to the other side) to Goppenstein, caught a bus to Wiler in the Lotschental and then a mountain lift up to Lauchernalp for the start of a very popular hike. This all sounds like it took hours but is so well organised, it was very quick. The train took 12 minutes, the bus about 10 minutes and the lift about 8 minutes.Most of the people that got off the train were all doing the hike and the bus was waiting at the station. It drove us straight to the chair lift and the lift was waiting for the arrival of the bus to take the hikers up the mountain for the start of the hike. See what I mean about them catering to the hikers in a big way. All transport schedules are worked around the popular hikes. Our destination for today was a place called Fafleralp, just a small collection of houses at the head of the valley.
A beautiful hike, without any great steep climbs or descents, but with great views down into the valley and to the mountains across.