Interlaken

This blog entry took me ages! The most difficult part was actually to choose a few from the many amazing pictures i want to share.. =)

The Golden Pass, the train route between Lucerne and Interlaken in Switzerland is considered by many to be the most scenic of train routes. You'll see why!

I spent the entire 3 hour train ride on my feet. I pulled down the windows and pointed the camera outside. I found myself taking a shot every few seconds because the view outside was just so amazing! Photos taken from the train.. Enjoy! =)


Lakes..


Valleys..


Meadows..


Cows..


Lake Brienz



It was as if the journey itself was a huge show.. God displaying a little bit of this majesty.. =)


We checked in at Backpackers Villa.. which i found out afterwards that it is run by Methodists! =)

The journey that i'll be taking up to Jung Frau Joch the next day =)

Interlaken, as the name suggests, is smacked in between 2 lakes, Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. The idea is that many small villages near the area grew and grew and basically overlapped, forming 1 small city. Maybe it's summertime here.. but it seems that everyone is having fun here! No one seems to be doing any work.. I certainly don't consider being a paraglider work!

We looked through the brochure.. and something caught my eye.. HANG GLIDING! I persuaded my brother and Edeline to join me in my craziness. Unfortunately Aunty Pris hurt her back.. so she couldn't join us.. she would if she could!!

She was really really sad that she couldn't fly with us..

We waited at the landing zone while my brother was in the first "flight"..

Some paraglider landing..

Perfect weather for flying =)

My brother landing!!

Safe and sound and loving it!

We hopped on the van and they took Edeline and i to the top of this mountain.. (1/2 hr drive up).. and then we got ready!!

While Ed (the one i'm flying with) set up the glider, i took pictures haha..

I helped out a little though..

My ready glider!!

Edeline looks scared!

I like my helmet =)

Pre-flight shot!

A few practice runs and drills.. and we're running off a mountain! The in flight photos were taken with a camera attached to a pole. Ed can fire shots with a remote control that he operates with either his hands or feet!

It was really peaceful and quiet in the air.. amazing amazing amazing.. =)

Woohoo!!

Free beer after the flight hahaha.. to calm our nerves??

Dinner and a slow walk back to the hostel.. getting ready to go up to JungFrau the next day..

The next day in Interlaken, we woke up early in the morning coz the journey up the mountain takes about 2 hrs.. we were praying for good weather.. and thank God.. it was amazing!

The ticket up the mountain wasn't covered in the Swiss Pass and was kinda expensive.. but you don't come to Interlaken without going up Jung Frau! Pictures from the stunning journey up..


We finally arrived!! =)

I was feeling pukish for a while.. the first time i ever felt altitude sickness..

I don't know why they call Jungfraujoch the "Top of Europe" when there are actually taller mountains. Maybe it's because its the highest any normal person can go without doing the hard work yourself! They built a compound up in the mountain, there there is an observatory, weather labs and things for people to see =)

Ice palace.. wasn't as impressive as the one in Kemi, Finland though.. (look back at my Feb Lapland posts)

Switzerland was joint hosts for Euro 08, which Spain won. Fernando Torres scored the winning goal of course =)

We went out into the cold and the view was amazing!

This sign was set in a rock wall.. =) Hallelujah!

Posing on the dog sled..

Conqueror of Jung Frau!

After spending a few hours up in the mountains we headed down..

Panoramic train allows you to see more =)

After returning from JungFrau, I decided to explore Interlaken by myself... i took a walk though the city area and found that many shops were about to close.. But i stumbled upon a footpath next to a stream. I really enjoyed the personal quiet time with God singing and praying =)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.. =)

Aunty Mummy wanted to strap her luggage up.. but ended up strapping it to the chair instead =) hahaha..

And so i said bye to Aunty Mummy, brother and Edeline.. and headed to Zurich Airport.. =) I'm off to Barcelona to meet up with Cindy, Toni, Jack, Nguyen, Wei Sing and Ri Hao..

So next post... Barcelona!