I moved on again today, exchanging the serenity of Engelberg for the much more happening Lauterbrunnen. Tonight I'm staying at a 5-star camping "resort" which apparently means free entertainment for the children in the form of teaching them to walk on tightropes to doof-doof music - at almost 9pm. Rather glad I had a long afternoon nap!
I gave myself an easier day today after yesterday's epic hike, however I was feeling surprisingly good apart from feeling a little tired and having the usual blisters. However I obviously didn't eat enough yesterday as I woke up a couple of times during the night, absolutely ravenous. All in all though, pretty impressed with my corporeal being!
The drive over here took a couple of hours, interrupted by my stopping to admire a lake of an extraordinary jade colour while I ate lunch, and by the fact that I had to stop twice for petrol - the first time the shop seemed to be shut, and the second time I couldn't make the pump work. Don't laugh (too hard), it was like this: the petrol came out of the usual pumps, but the pumps weren't at a dedicated petrol station, they were more like stand-alone petrol-ATMs on the side of the road. I kept putting the nozzle in the car and nothing was happening, there wasn't anyone to ask, and I was reluctant to go somewhere else as I was getting a bit low on fuel. So after a bit of standing around, trying to look like I was just waiting for someone/something (I was, the petrol to come out, what else anyone would be waiting for at a petrol bowser I don't know) while in actuality I was trying to work out what could be going on, I finally realised that you had to pay first and then the bowser would let you take as much petrol as you paid for (too bad if you paid for more than you needed). Phew.
The awesomely-hued Lungerersee.
By the time I had found my new camp site and had a late second lunch (still ravenous, still blaming yesterday's walk), and a little sleep, there was really only enough time to go for a short walk up to a waterfall near the campsite, and another down to the river which runs through the middle of this beautiful valley, carrying with it the meltwater from the three famous peaks just above the camp - Jungfrau, Eigen and Monch. On the way back, I heard the oddest sound - something like someone tearing a newspaper in half, but tremendously magnified. After looking all around I noticed what looked like a tiny bat high above me and falling like a stone. I was mystified for a few seconds until a parachute opened and I realised it was a base jumper. (I got one of his friends on video - you can see it here. Note: the tiny black moving dot which appears to be a fly or a piece of dirt on the lens is in fact the bloke base jumping. It's some of my best videography.)
The traditional lunch whenever I'm near a shop - fresh bread and locally-made cheese. (I think a career in food styling beckons. ;P)
Gentle evening walk up the valley beyond the campsite. It was quite late in the day, hence the difficulty getting the contrast right between the valley and the mountains - but yes, that is snow on the peaks in the middle of the photo.
View in the other direction - at the left of the photo you can just make out the Staubbach Waterfall, which I walked up to before heading down the valley. You can actually walk through a little tunnel and up behind the waterfall, which was nice but very slippery! A number of famous writers and artists visited the valley on purpose to see this waterfall - Goethe wrote this poem after his visit, inspired by the lacey veil of water.
Still debating what to do tomorrow - whether to do one of the many walks near here (there's a train you can take up almost to the start of a walk which traverses the base of the north face of Eigen which I'd like to try, but depends on how rested I'm feeling by then), or to drive part of the way back to Zurich, which is a couple of hours away. Something nice will happen, I'm sure.
In the meantime, love to all of you - looking forward so much to being back home with you all again very soon. xx