Beau-Site Crans-Montana

... used my final day of my eurrail pass for this trip only to find that the trip from Visp station to the Zermatt was not valid despite being told by two train operators that it was. I also couldn't get through to the girl at the station that my eurrail pass allows me discounts for the train but she kept telling me, 'no, no, you can't use anymore days it's full'. Today wasn't the first time I have been stuffed around by the Swiss. It's hard to believe that Einstein was educated here.

I decided to change hostels because I really didn't like this one. I am not fond of the international hostels. They're like hospitals, although the buffet breakfast was nice and I liked their cat. I was woken up by screaming, unruly kids. Some parents aren't parents. I was happy to change. The sun had also come out and so I snuck on the train from Montreux Tilletet to Veyvey which is only 5 minutes away. The place is much nicer and has free food and a kitchen. I actually got an entire 6 ...

... s purse being snatched as the train pulled away. It was kind of odd because the thief was well dressed with shopping bags and wearing expensive high heeled boots, which made me really despise her. It was almost funny watching this little old lady charge after this worried woman trying to run, if it had not made me feel so rotten inside to see it. When I arrived in Lausanne I was unapproachable, I did not want to see another human being.
I did see Geneva lake as I sat in the rain.

... from the mountain to Murren. One path stated it was for only experienced hikers. That's a very subjective description. I figured you would need proper shoes and equipment. I took a look at the path and it is treacherous. You cross bridges of ice where the mountains just fall away on either side. I didn't mind that but it was quite steep and covered in snow- too slippery for my shoes. It looked spectacular though. Just standing at the precipice on the mountain and away from ...

... its own way as I watched the man ahead disappear into the cloud. After ten minutes my fingers were ready to drop off so I went back down. An expensive ride but at least I tried. The weather is supposed to be great tomorrow...hoping. That is why I gave this place three days. September and October still remain the best months to visit. However, later in the afternoon, the rain stopped and the clouds broke away so I went for a 1.15 hour hike down to ...

... there were a few people who though it was pretty funny that I went all the way to Switzerland to hike in the Alps and have never done the same in the Rockies. Looks like I have some hiking to do when I get back home.

The pictures will do a much better job of telling the story than my words.

Also, this is the first place in my entire trip where I did not meet a single Australian. Whats up?

... to enjoy beautiful views on the way up, however once we hit the observation deck, it was a different story. We were truly in the clouds with no visibility. It reminded me of the time I stood on the Great Wall in China and missed the beautiful views because of the rain and fog. We still enjoyed the ice cave and maneuvering our way through the observatory. We watched a movie about the mountain and had some yummy hot ...

... moaning in protest. Determined to get to the top, as it had been my stupid idea in the first place, we plodded on and managed to get to the top in about the same time as the trail markers suggested. Talk about hard work as my heart rate sat above 160/min the whole way, and even though it was about 8 degrees outside we had stripped down to t-shirts. The bad weather that had been threatening all day arrived in Wengen about the same time we did and the jumpers ...

... This lead us though a very narrow car tunnel through the mountain which was very scary and ended up really far away from Lauterbrunnen. Had to really push to get the bikes back nearly on time. When we got back Greg said "sorry we're a bit late - we got lost" to which the lady replied "Oh NO! And I told you you couldnt get lost!" All good but about an extra 1/2 an hour riding we didnt really need/want. Went out for ...

... not waste our money to visits clouds. Lucern is a gateway to 3 world famous peaks: Eiger, Moench & Jungfrau. Highlights included: Chapel Bridge (world famous 600 year old bridge), Lion of Lucern (the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world - Mark Twain), and the Glacier Gardens. Cheese fondue and chocolate were thoroughly enjoyed along with $2 bottles of red wine. I am now a proud owner of a Huntsman Swiss army knife. I could imagine living here as Zurich is 1 hour ...