switzerland Keyword
Liechtenstein
If I can say anything about my adventure it is that I have achieved some of my greatest dreams. I’ve seen snow in Tokyo, I’ve stood at the foot of Colusseum and I’ve touched the Berlin wall and, in the outskirts of Switzerland, I visited one of my “must see’s” : Liechtenstein.
When I mentioned my excitement in seeing this tiny 160km square patch of dirt most people responded with blank looks, others harrumphed and snickered at my enthusasim. I don’t pretend to think that these people will understand. See, for me, Liechtenstein has risen to some kind of shining light in my own sphere of personal “pop-culture” references. I don’t expect people to understand the giggles that boil from deep with-in me when ever I mention that I have stood on the streets of Liechtenstein. I just wish I had bought a lighter in this wonderful little tax haven.
For those who want a little more out this blog post than just some burble about in-jokes heres some facts. Liechtenstein is the Fourth Smallest democratic country in Europe, with a population of around 35,000 people. Being the crazy awesome tax haven it is, Liechtenstein has more registered companies than citizens. Formed in 1719 Liechtenstein gets it’s name from the Liechtenstein Dynasty who hailed from Liechtenstein Castle in Southern Austria. It’s topography makes it a great location for winter sports and is home to some of the worlds Top downhill skiers. One of Liechtenstein’s biggest exports is false teeth!
As Liechtenstein was just a stop over, we only stayed in this fantastic place for but moments, but I did get my passport stamped, just for good measure. It takes pride of place on page 8 of my official documentation. I’ll have to come back again to explore more of the country side and sample some of what I am sure to be crazy awesome Liechtenstein nightlife.
Seilpark
While I didn’t have the money to indulge in any of the more EXTREME adventures on offer in Interlarken, I did sign up to the Seilpark. SeilPark is a high ropes course, set 20 to 30 meters in the trees of a swiss national park.
Being a fairly confident climber from doing heaps of indoor, I had no problems with the course, my rope handling and climbing skills coming back to me quickly. The equipment was top notch so I could put full faith into the harness, often leaning way out over drops that others found vertigo inducing. Probably the most enjoyable of the courses was the flying fox course which consisted almost entirely of zip lines, but the park offered paths of varying degrees of difficulty so everyone could get involved.
I went with Owen and Coops (a driver and guide from Busabout) and Renee one of my mates from the bus. Renee struggled through, but did a great job considering she was terrified of heights.
At one point in the day I was asked by the staff to pretend to have an accident on the highest course, let myself drop and they would send one of the new girls to save me as training. I accepted and then proceeded to hang suspended for around half an hour while the staff got her stuff together, hooked me up to a pulley and lowered me down. As I ran off as soon as I hit the bottom she wasn’t too impressed and when I went up to congratulate and thank her she ripped me to pieces saying that “some people just can’t make it and need help getting down, its nothing to be ashamed off”. I couldn’t explain to her so I let it slide. It wasn’t until later that she met up with her boss that she came over and apologised. All good fun!
A great, cheap day out in Interlarken, well worth checking out.
Trummelbach Falls
One of the most amazing things I saw while staying in Lauterbrunnen was the Trummelbach Falls. Situated just a few minutes walk from our camping grounds, the Trummelbach falls are a series of Glacial fed falls which cascade through a mountain, accessible by tunnelling and an underground elevator.
The place is amazing, the sound of around 20,000 litres of water a second smashing through the mountain is intense and everywhere you look sunlight through the mist makes little rainbows. I walked out of the falls feeling renewed, like nature had given me a strange little awakening, filling my lungs with icy air and coating my skin with pure glacial water that dripped down the neck of my jacket and tickled my spine.
Photos cant capture the majesty of this place, but I gave it a try anyway.
Lauterbrunnen
First of all, let me apologise for the lack of updates to the site. Not only have I been on and off the grid more than I would like to say, but I have also been dealing with a good dose of the Swine Flu. It knocked me about for nearly a week, I lost around 5 kilos and has made my time in London fairly boring. That said, I’m back on track to catch up before I head to the States. I hope to be on a reasonable posting schedule once I hit the land of the free.
Today I’d like to introduce you to one of my most favourite places I’ve encountered on this adventure: Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen is a tiny town of the area of Interlarken in Switzerland. Situated in a valley this primarily agricultural area with a population of around 3000 is also popular with Extreme Sports fans. Base Jumping, Cayoning, Sky Diving, White Water Rafting: you name it, there are some crazy Swiss doing it.
The camping grounds we stayed at were called Camping Jungfrau. Being surrounded by around 17 waterfalls gave the grounds this surreal beauty. Their sound coated the night in a comforting clatter of white noise while during the day they provided a never ending changing background to everything we did.
Apart from one day of recovery after a big night at the Bomb Shelter the rest of my days were spent wandering the town and hiking the area. With my new friends we organised a great BBQ, I cooked up a storm most nights at the hostel kitchen and enjoyed a beautiful Schnitzel from the camping grounds restaurant. There was so much to do in Lauterbrunnen, and the surrounding Interlarken I can’t even start to describe. I definitely have to go back. The valley calls me like a siren’s song.