My first stop for the day was Untersberg, the highest mountain of the many surrounding Salzburg, rising almost 2km straight out of the plain. On the bus between town and the mountain, I met a fellow solo-traveller, a bloke called Ike from the Philippines (hi Ike!), and it was delightful to have someone to compare notes with, especially as, to a certain extent, we were doing a similar trip but in opposite directions.
Together we caught the cable car up to the top of Untersberg, which made my stomach churn as it was so very high, and I can never help thinking really cheerful, helpful thoughts like “What if the cable snaps? It’s such a long way down!” However the fascination of being carried up the side of this incredible mountain and admiring the changes in plant life the higher we got, as well as the dramatic rock formations, certainly took my mind off things. A while before we reached the top we hit thick fog, but we still got out and went for a bit of a walk.
Not long after Ike and I parted company – I was keen to go for a walk over the plateau - however I was a bit sorry to lose my temporary travelling companion. Travelling solo has many benefits, but it’s nice to be able to speak to someone in complete sentences (and yes that’s sentences in plural!), rather than stilted English or the couple of words of German I’ve picked up, or even a bit of French or Spanish.
Together we caught the cable car up to the top of Untersberg, which made my stomach churn as it was so very high, and I can never help thinking really cheerful, helpful thoughts like “What if the cable snaps? It’s such a long way down!” However the fascination of being carried up the side of this incredible mountain and admiring the changes in plant life the higher we got, as well as the dramatic rock formations, certainly took my mind off things. A while before we reached the top we hit thick fog, but we still got out and went for a bit of a walk.
Not long after Ike and I parted company – I was keen to go for a walk over the plateau - however I was a bit sorry to lose my temporary travelling companion. Travelling solo has many benefits, but it’s nice to be able to speak to someone in complete sentences (and yes that’s sentences in plural!), rather than stilted English or the couple of words of German I’ve picked up, or even a bit of French or Spanish.
Anyway, off I headed, aiming for an ice cave an hour away from the top of the cable car. However it wasn’t too long before I realised that the fog, even though it was starting to clear a bit, was just too thick for me to safely navigate the path. In addition, the rock over which the path lay was very sharp in many places and, as I was only wearing my light sneakers, it was very slippery and uncomfortable to walk over. So I contented myself with taking some photos of the beautiful alpine flowers blooming by the path, and sat on a bench to eat a peach and admire such parts of the plateau as I could see as the fog swirled and gusted. It was tremendously peaceful up there, despite the numbers of fellow tourists wandering past. I flew in spirit with a couple of small black birds who floated over me on the air currents, and as I ate my peach the juice dripped through my fingers and I watched as the drops hit the ground beneath my feet and melted into it.
It was a bit rocky.
Bluebells growing in a crevice in the rock.
Yellow flower thing.
Away with the birds.
The fog starts to lift - just in case you were in any doubt that you were in a Catholic country, crosses are on just about every peak.
Alpine meadow, complete with bumble bee (dark spot at centre top of grassy bit).