Day 15 - Day 17

Anumama had registered for the IELTS and the exam centre was somewhere in Bern... I asked him whether i could come... Postive... I didn't have to do any packing... I arrived in the night from Geneve and was heading to Bern the next dawn... I just took out the clothes and was ready for the journey... From the constant exploring of websites related to travelling around Switzerland, I had realized one thing, and it was that Interlaken and Bern are close by...

We reached Bern around 7 am in the morning and it was raining... not drizzling, raining... We found out the location for the exam and settled for breakfast... McD's from the Suisse, as the Switzerland is also called, was hot and delicious... They just have one burger in vegetarian... but that was more than enough... taste wise and size wise... I told Anumama of my plans about visiting the Interlaken... He asked me to be back by 3... I got on the train... obviously after getting the tickets... no risking after what happened to me on the Basel-Geneve journey...

Here, it's opposite to what happens in India... In India, you can safely travel without ticket in trains, but it's highly impossible to do so in the busses... here, there is a sure scrutiny for the train journeys and nobody to check you on the trams or the buses...

So, I got down at Interlaken Ost (German for East) station... It was pretty... They say that the rain makes everything look beautiful... I agree... I realized after checking the ferry rates that I have too less to travel on one if I keep aside the money for my journey back to Bern...

And the Lakes are too far from the station... So, I go to the tourist information centre and ask this lady how productively can I spend two hours in Interlaken barring the ferries... I thought she would say, walk along the blah blah street till you reach blah blah, take left/right and in 5 minutes, you will see the Thun/Brienz lake and you are free to shop... She instead told me about a funicular (steep train) to this Jungfrau mountain leaving in 5 minutes but costing tripple than what I had in my pocket... I thanked her and left... So, back to square one!! Just if Anumama could have let me carry this laptop, I could have been in a MUCH better condition... I had saved all the places in and around Interlaken which I could see without spending... Walking routes from the station to both the lakes... But the stubborn person that he is...!! He made me carry his laptop... which practically was much heavier and had no use... I mean to him as well...

So, anyways, like always, i start meandering in some intuitive direction... I saw some very beautiful sights... the cold rivulet connecting the two Lakes, the camping grounds on the shores of this rivulet, which was filled with caravans, barbeques and remains of the camp fires from the previous night diffused by the rain, some foggy foresty mountains, and a small duplex above which there rose some funicular tracks... I went up the duplex and enquire about the rates for the funi... I counted my money and realized I had 1 CHF less... Hmf!! I am going to miss the 'Harder mountain' (that is how the name goes) just as I missed Rochers-de-Naye and Jungfrau... I cursed myself for 3 full minutes and then decided to ask the person at the ticket counter to help me... and like me, she took 3 minutes to be convinced that I shouldn't miss this...

So, all thanks to this sweet lady, I went up, up ad away, into those misty green forests on the mountain... After walking for about 1 km, I lost all the other people around me for the obvious reason that they had come to stay at this Hotel on this mountain... I decided to trek up the mountain... yes, there was much more 'up and up' to go...

This trek reminded me of the greatest trek of my life, which was at the Siddhagad... this resembled Siddhagad barring only a trivial difference... that this was very easy... This was breath taking, Siddhagad was life taking... But the ambience of a rainforest that this place had was worth every bit of the CHFs that I paid... and even the one that I did not pay...

I got myself clicked a lot... for two reasons... One - people are complaining, they don't see me in the picture that I take here... and Two - I wanted to see myself in such a place not just today, but for the years to come... I wanted this to be a permanant memory! So, my bichara camera worked its butt out... going into trees, and branches and being hung at information boards, just to get me on the memory card! And it was all worth the effort! Well done, sweetheart!! I am proud of you...

I walked for some 2 hours and it started raining too hard... So I took refuge under this big tree... It was very protective and my camera and ANumama's laptop are alive only because of it... actually me too... because it was so Goddamn cold, I couldn't feel my fingers... the first time I felt thankful to Naniji that she gve me her gloves to take along... It made me feel better...

So, for an hour the rain did not stop and that is when I decided, I should go anyways... down, of course! I reached the station after playing kabaddi with the rain and losing one time (I slipped on the mud and fell down)...

So, with no exceptional experiences, I got back to Bern and found the warmest corner of the station to sit... Anumama came much sooner than I expected... I had my lunch and we set off for roaming around Bern... because there were a good 4 hours for our train to arrive...

Bern is a wonderful city... Ancient architecture and modern civilization... Much more lively than Basel, where, as my mama says, 'the life is a bit dead'! We saw the consitution of Switzerland and Einstien's house from the outside... there were this Music festival and African festival happening (both separately)... the town was ablaze with people and the culture... Eventually, he got tired of exploring streets and we headed to the station...

I got home, had some food and slept like a log, compensating for the 4 nights of disturbed sleep... Well, actually I don't need an excuse to sleep...

The next two days were lazy and the only activities I did was walking, shopping, cooking, downloading nd uploading photos and writing the blog... I am preparing myself for Poland and the marriage...

Au Revoir till next time...