Zermatt

It was a really lucky day. After standing for a while in that position surrounded by the enormity of the white saint like peaks and looking down at the eternal river of ice, I felt so small and so thankfull. I wanted to shout out loud "Thank you..."Thank you for everything....

Then we came down from the view point and started for what is called the Glacier Palace.It is like a cave inside the glacier's cold belly where there are sculptures made of ice.The tunnel that takes you inside this world of chilling wonders is 15 meters below the surface of the glacier. Just the stats can give a person enough chill!! There are hidden lights inside the ice and also music...And the ice sculptures are seen in a  mystical blue light that makes the whole place ethereal...as if we are inside a fairytale...

After coming out of the Glacier palace, we started the downwards journey.The clouds had already hidden the Matterhorn's famous 'horn".After coming down we started walking back through the city,but this time we were really slow as one should be while walking in Zermatt.Strolling past the old wooden houses, and the street side souveneir shops we reached the center point of the town,the church square.

We sat down on a bench there watching people....The horse carriages were bringing tourists to the Grand Hotel just beside the church square.Shops were selling soft dogs and marmots(small animals found on the alps) and Swiss bells...hikers were coming down leaning on their sticks.Fresh hikers and skiers were walking up the village in confident strides....

But the clouds were coming down and it was growing dark in the morning...I smelt the fresh air and the moist flavour of the morning clouds of Zermatt made a permanent stamp in my memory at that moment...

I can still see myself sitting there in front of the church talking about this lady's dress and that man's boots and suddenly there was no more noise as if the mute button was pressed...I could hear nothing but the little drops of rain on the clean pavements and on the flowers beside our bench...we felt so complete sitting beside each other....But at that moment I had fallen in a fresh new love...I was in love with Zermatt....

This love compelled me to go back to Zermatt again and again.Later I went to the other peaks and I also took my parents and in-laws there.But later I thought that taking your loved ones to places you love is very streneous.You always have to hold your breath waiting for their comments and hoping for their approval.

Exploring newer places together is a better idea.

Zermatt;The love story continued...

Now that we have reached Zermatt before the clouds, we tried to win the race to Klein Matterhorn too.But the Cable car station is at the other end of the little village.As I have already mentioned Zermatt is entirely car-free.A few battery driven taxis and horse driven carriages are seen at the station.But the main street is for pedestrians.And we started to walk.

The town (or village?) is in itself very different from any other town I have been.There is a strange tranquility in the air that will at once make your nerves relax.The main street is sometimes quite crowded.But the crowd is only of pedestrians.

Absence of cars can make a place so different.There are all the world famous brands and the boutiques are often pricy.But all of them have one thing in common.They are inside very old looking wooden houses.In the whole place there seems to be no modern house.Beautifully decorated wooden houses are alternated by some very old (restored), darkened wooden houses which look like they will fall down  and break into pieces if someone just puts a step inside.
But inside one of them you will find Macdonalds, inside another a shop of the priciest Swiss watches....

We, however,didn't have time to stop and watch.We walked as fast as we could.After a while the street becomes steep and there you cross the beautiful old village,the strange looking houses which seems to belong to history and just put there for a show.And yet you know people live there...and there must be quite modern facilities available inside.

Later, I came to know that this street is know as Hinterdorfstrasse.These houses are mostly 17th and 16th century houses and are often used as barns to store grains and food like sausages.That explains why they are all standing on supporting posts which are often a pile of stone slabs.This was to protect the foods stored from rodents.
The road comes down to the little Vispa river that flows through the middle of Zermatt.There are little log bridges which you have to cross to reach the cable car station.There we bought the tickets(which are actually quite costly(82 CHF),but we had the half pass and payed only 45CHF per head.).
Inside the cable car station, there are little automated glass boxes called Gondolas which are constantly coming in a row but wont stop.So you have to just climb on one of them while they slow down...The first stop is at Furi.From there you have to climb a larger cable car which can take a lot of passengers.It takes you to the mountain stop of Trockner steg.From there starts the last patch of the journey in another cable car.
From Zermatt to Furi,the little romantic gondolas take you above the town and the green fields.Some of the fields also look entirely purple or yellow from above.They are filled with little flowers.

From Furi to Trockner Steg,the cable car is less cozy but the scene begins to change and you start getting glimpse of ice.
From Trockner Steg the cable car takes you into a dramatic journey soaring thousand feets above the glacier and you suddenly find yourself in the midst of a world of eternal ice.White and white every where and you are in the sky looking at it from a soaring eagle's angle.

There is a tunnel and another lift at the Klein Matterhorn station and this takes you to the view point at 3825 m(12,549.21 feet) above sea level.

And finally there we were, standing at the view point with full view of Matterhorn and almost 40 other peaks which were about 4000m high.The Panorama was overwhelming...the stretch of white around us and the slightly dizzying thin air...we felt if we stretched our arms a little we would touch some angel over there...for it certainly seemed their territory.

The sky was still blue with the proud peaks showing off their grandeur in full display.

We have won the race with the clouds!!

Zermatt;its another love story

The tiny town of Zermatt nestled cozily in the lap of Alps is one of my most favorite places in Switzerland. So much so that I visited the place four times and I know I won't mind a fifth time if I had the chance.

The first time I went there was in the spring of 2003.Oh! I will always remember that day, the day I fell in love with Zermatt.

It was a Saturday.

I had already bought the ticket from the Montreux Train Station on Friday evening, done my homework from the brochures and packed our backpack. And then we heard from the local weather channel (which made forecasts like God) that Saturday was going to be partly cloudy with few rain showers in Zermatt.

And anyone who has gone to the mountains knows how villainous clouds can spoil any tour to the top of any peak. And we were planning to go to Klein Matterhorn to have the closest possible view of the Matterhorn.

So we just planned to take the first train. I have always felt that views on mountains are best in the early morning. We took the 6:44 train from Montreux which happens to be the first connection. From Visp we were to catch the Matterhorn Gotthardbahn, the little red train, which was actually the last part of the Glacier express's journey.

We happened to board a compartment in the train which was entirely empty. There were some brochures inside the compartment. And on the little desks beside the windows where passengers are supposed to put their glasses and dishes, maps are drawn which shows the entire journey and all the stops.

The train runs on a narrow gauge track and passes through numerous tunnels, bridges and valleys. To me this is one of the most romantic rail journeys of Switzerland. For most part of the journey the train runs along the river Vispa (or Mattervispa), which is one of the largest tributaries of the upper Rhone river.

Sitting beside the windows, you lean with the train which bends with the river and slows down at places where the view is overwhelming. It seems to be awe struck at the beauty just like you and slowing down inadvertently just to start again and slow down at another show of nature's beauty....At places the river suddenly changes its mood and disappears only to appear again on the other side of the train. Since the compartment was completely empty, we often changed seats moving from this side to the other to have a better glimpse of the passing views.

As the train gradually approaches Tasch and Zermatt, you start to get glimpses of snow white peaks at a distance and we were constantly guessing which peak was the Matterhorn. At Tasch, you can see large parking areas where everyone who comes with a car will have to leave their car and board the train. No cars are allowed after Tasch.This is the last station before Zermatt.

Visp is the lowest point (650m above sea level) in the journey and the mattertal valley, through which the train passes before it reaches Zermatt (1620m), is 1804 m above sea level. So some parts of the journey include some steep accent which is made possible by cogwheels placed under the locomotive and toothed rack placed between the rails.

The best point in the Journey is when you get a sudden glimpse of the Matterhorn shining bright and unique. Once in Switzerland, you are sure to see it hundred times on pictures and brochures and key rings and yet the heart leaps up at the first glimpse of the snow capped horn shaped peak standing proud and majestic against the deep blue sky.

Then it disappears and you reach Zermatt.