Bernese Oberland Day 9

Welcome to my personal diary of the trip to the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland in September 2003

Day 1 .. Travel to Switzerland
Day 2 .. Meiringen to Grindelwald .. the Grosse Scheidegg
Day 3 .. Grindelwald to Mürren .. the Jungfraujoch
Day 4 .. Mürren to Griesalp .. the Sefinenfurgge
Day 5 .. Griesalp to Kandersteg .. the Hohturli
Day 6 .. Kandersteg to Gemmipass .. Leukerbad
Day 7 .. Gemmipass to Engstligenalp .. the Chindbettipass
Day 8 .. Engstligenalp to Lenk .. the Ammertenspitze
Day 9 .. Travel to Zurich
Day 10 .. Travel home

We're all up with the alarm, packing and breakfasting at the same time in the corridor outside the rooms. We're travelling to Zurich today, a little earlier than planned, on a variety of Swiss trains, and arriving there in good time to see a little bit of that famous city.

Last night Allan did some sums and computed that from Meiringen to Lenk we have made 5491m of ascent, 5178m of descent and covered 93km of distance .. that's up and down Ben Nevis 4 times while walking from Loch Lomond to Fort William!

The Postbus duly arrives at 0725 and the narrow gauge train from Lenk down to Zweisimmen leaves at 0752. We change to a different train which then takes us down to the main line at Spiez. This train then goes into Bern, then back out again on its way to Zurich. The whole experience takes about 3 hours, and Allan and I are amply entertained not only by the scenery outside but also by a young lady .. allegedly on her way to join a Hare Krishna group in Zurich .. who practised her already excellent English all the way from Bern to Zurich.

Now for the recovery of the left luggage .. yes, fresh clothes for the rest of the day! You'll recall that we made up 3 large bags on arrival and paid 21SFr for the privilege of leaving them at Zurich Hauptbanhof. As Richard goes to match the location of the Youth Hostel with the city transport system, I present the baggage tags to the recovery staff .. who demand payment of a further 168SFr to release the items! No way Jose!! They say that the cost is 7SFr per day per item. There are no signs around to say this and I replied that no-one said so at the time .. and if they had, we would certainly not have left the luggage. Suddenly their command of the English language disappeared, and after much fruitless argument, I told them just to keep the bags .. not worth the £80-odd they're demanding. As the gathered audience parted to let me through, their attitude suddenly changed. To cut a long story short, I eventually offered them the 70SFr I had in my wallet, which instantly went in their back pockets and we were out in the sunshine with the bags. Beware the big Swiss bag scam at Zurich Hauptbanhof!

So at last we queue up to purchase a 24-hour pass for Zone 10 of the tram network (with Swiss Card discount of course) and set off to find the Youth Hostel somewhere in the southern suburbs. After settling in and sorting out the evening meal arrangements, we go off in various groups to explore the city. The old town turns out to be the most entertaining, but the lake and park are nothing special now that we're seasoned Swiss travellers! The shops are mega-expensive and Bob and I end up buying a few souvenirs in the supermarket next to the Hostel!

The catering is institutional again, queuing with a tray for all the elements of the evening meal .. but it's really good. Some get ready to hit the town again for a night out, and others settle down to a quiet glass of wine before retiring at a reasonable hour. Breakfast is at 8.30 and we're aiming to leave around 9am.