How living in a foreign land matters- an experience

Living in a new country on your own is something to experience once in your lifetime. With everyone you know thinking that you are having the best time of your life, you might be going through a feat on your own by coping with the culture of the place, its rules and regulations, and most importantly, finding new connections.

Living on my own has helped me jump out of my comfort zone and enjoy my freedom, which has made me find a lot about myself. When you start to appreciate yourself, you will even be able to celebrate your own birthday alone!

At some point in life, everyone goes through a phase of anxiety and trauma that hits them in varying degrees and angles. Me, coming from a foreign land, found my first few years very challenging to adapt to the central European culture. Though I appreciate the idea of more personal space compared to what I had in India, my home country, connecting with people required tremendous effort from my side, which wasn't easy and not one of my memorable moments. When going through tough times, I realized that there was no one noticing my struggles, as if almost invisible. Being generally shy to ask for help, I thought of helping myself out by doing small fun things alone.

At this point, on one fine day, I decided to embrace the immense personal space that I had to explore. I started by taking short visits and hikes across Switzerland, where I lived, which made me discover the immense beauty of the place in a new light. It was scary at first for a foreigner like me, who was not used to navigating everything in my life on my own, to put a foot forward. Anxiety soared many times, leading me to cancel plans by intentionally finding reasons. But eventually, I realized that I was enjoying my own company, by doing fun activities and learning from mistakes. This new confidence even made me more productive in my research. 

It all starts with pursuing what you love to do, and deciding what you want to do. Making decisions can be scary, even making a step forward for a coffee or a hike outside, but if you do it once, you find the utmost fulfillment. 

In the end, everyone has a story, with each writing style different from the other. I share mine with the hope that someone else finds theirs!

Long hikes in the Zermatt region of Switzerland

 

During the time I lived in Switzerland, going out for hikes was a habit to freshen up my body and mind. So far, the hikes around Zermatt that is situated in the southern part of Switzerland and famous for the impressive mountain Matterhorn, have been my favorite. A few of the long hikes that I did in that region were quite impressive, and are worth spending a day or two just for this purpose. There are a number of hiking trails categorized in terms of difficulty listed in the Zermatt website (www.zermatt.ch), but I think most of us like to make personal choices irrespective of the detailed descriptions available in the websites. In this post, I suggest a few challenging and fruitful hikes that can be done in the Zermatt region.

Relaxing near the restaurant-hut in Fluhalp after a day's hike; Matterhorn in the background

The hike from the village of Täsch all the way to Fluhalp is a very impressive and challenging hike, especially for people like me who are experienced only with hikes of medium levels of difficulty. The entire hike that I did with a group is a combined one (Täschalp-Fluhalp, Nr. 46 and hike to the Täsch Hut, Nr. 45 in the website). Our group ascended from the village of Täsch, crossed Täschalp and the Pfulwe Pass and finally reached Fluhalp after roughly eight hours of hiking.  One should keep in mind that there might not be possible spots to take rest if the topmost portion of the Pass is covered in snow.

Taking a break while hiking across the Pfulwe Mountain Pass

Overall, the hike is a gradual but steep ascent from Täsch (ascent of around 1 km), and therefore is important to maintain your pace during the entire hike. In terms of technique, crossing the Pfulwe Pass was challenging for me due to thick layers of snow that slowed down my pace, and also scared me at times when my legs went all the way down the snow to get wet. At this point, sturdy alpine hiking shoes are necessarily required for crossing the Pass. Just after reaching the top of Pfulwe, a glimpse of Matterhorn towering over the other mountains is visible. The last part of the hike involves a comparatively easier trail until Fluhalp, where the mountain hut/restaurant (https://www.fluhalp.swiss) is located. 

View of Matterhorn after crossing the Pfulwe Pass

Fluhalp is a picturesque mountain stop that gives the experience of a postcard landscape. This stop is accessible also by cable car on the other side of the mountain (Zermatt to Sunnegga or Blauherd), after which a short hike takes you to the mountain hut. As many tourists go here to enjoy the view of Matterhorn and some local food, the mountain hut/restaurant here has all the necessary amenities for a good stay overnight or for a day more. There are even nice showers, but you get hot water only for a few minutes! However, the fresh alpine water gives a great feeling especially after a good hike 😀. The place is nice to enjoy in summer, but due to increasing popularity among tourists, I would suggest to visit the place either in early or late summer.

View of Matterhorn from lake Stellisee, close to Fluhalp mountain restaurant

Yet another time, I decided to hike all the way to Täsch Hut (Hike to the Täsch Hut, Nr. 45), of which not many pictures were taken during the hike. However, the hike up to the hut gives a nice experience of alpine wildlife. A stay in the hut is recommended and can be reserved beforehand (https://www.taeschhuette.ch), but it is important to know that the place has amenities that you normally expect from a mountain hut. Though a view of Matterhorn is hindered from the hut, even larger mountains such as Weisshorn (4505 m) are visible. Due to the close experience with nature, I recommend taking this hike for a stay in the alps.

View of the mountains from Täschalp

Hike to the Hörnli hut, also known as the Hörnli Trail (Nr. 27 in the Zermatt website) is comparatively short in distance, but challenging at the same time. This one is strictly an alpine trail, which requires the use of hands at times to find the way through and courage not to look down at some tight spots that give you the feeling of hanging over a cliff. The hike starts from Schwarzsee, reachable also by cable car.

The ascent from Schwarzsee to Hörnli

The Hörnli hut/restaurant is situated at 3,260 m above sea level, and gives you a close view of the towering Matterhorn. Most of the hikers who stay at this base camp also have their next day planned to climb up the Matterhorn peak. Due to the steepness of the peak, it is necessary to be experienced in rock climbing. However, reaching until the basecamp is something to be proud and happy about!

View of Matterhorn at 3,260 m a.s.l

There are many more interesting hikes and places in the area, which are definitely not possible to be covered in limited time. However, I would encourage anyone to do and see as much as they can, as this place will surely remain in one's memories for a long time!

Short-day hikes in Zermatt, Switzerland: getting the best of Matterhorn

 

In an earlier post, I described my visit to Zermatt in Switzerland and the iconic mountain known as Matterhorn that one should not miss. Zermatt is definitely an ideal tourist destination when one is visiting Switzerland! I usually like to go to a place as a traveler rather than as a tourist, and the features of a place while traveling are better noticed when hiking. 

This time, I will be suggesting some hiking trails around Zermatt that are easy to moderately doable, and enable one to enjoy viewing Matterhorn at the same time! 

The first tip is to check the weather; one may even miss having a full view of Matterhorn even on a slightly cloudy day!

One of the hiking trails that gives a nice view of Matterhorn

A hike that I enjoyed a lot was the trail that starts from Zermatt and ends at Lake Schwarzsee. The elevation gain is around 1 km, but can still be done with intervals in between or even with a steady go! In the end, it is about how much you love the hike and surely one will, because of the amazing views this one offers!

Lake Schwarzsee with a view of Matterhorn

 

One can also take this hiking trail the other way around, that is to descend all the way to Zermatt. This is possible as there are cable cars that go directly from Zermatt to Schwarzsee. No matter what, one will be able to reach the destination by lunchtime. 

Lunch break with a view of the Lake Schwarzsee 

Yet another hiking trail that I liked is called the 'Mark Twain Trail' which turned out to be a fairly easy and short one. If one has less time in Zermatt and still wants to enjoy the best view of Matterhorn in a less crowded atmosphere, I would recommend taking this short hike to Riffelberg and enjoying the view of Matterhorn over lunch from the restaurant there. Of course, the restaurant up on top of Gornergrat, the highest accessible point close to Matterhorn, is the most people-recommended one, but I loved the restaurant on top of Riffelberg as more closer to nature.

The view of Matterhorn on the way from Riffelalp to Riffelberg

My favorite hike among the less strenuous hikes is the 'Five Lakes Walk', because it is a thematic one. Three of the lakes show a reflection of Matterhorn on a clear day and all of them provide nice views while relaxing for a break on their banks. Though it is an easy hike to visit the first three lakes that give splendid views of Matterhorn in the background, the sudden ascent to Lake Stellisee and finally to the cable car station Blauherd requires a medium level of fitness. If one has two days to spend in Zermatt and a sunny day to enjoy, this hike would be the best thing to do! 

Reflection of Matterhorn captured over Lake Grindjisee

Many more easy to medium-level hiking trails are available on the website of Zermatt (https://www.zermatt.ch), out of which I pointed out my personal favorites. There are also interesting and more challenging hikes as well as traveler tips to get the best out of visiting Zermatt that I will be explaining in detail in my upcoming posts. Stay tuned! 

A hidden gem in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland: Grosse Scheidegg

 

Switzerland is definitely everyone's dream paradise. Interlaken, situated in a valley in the Bernese Oberland region, and higher altitude places such as Grindelwald and Kleine Scheidegg are on every tourist's list of priority destinations. Though very beautiful,  these destinations can be sometimes overwhelming due to the tourist rush during the holiday season. During one autumn time, I visited Grosse Scheidegg which is comparatively less crowded and located not very far from Grindelwald - an ideal place for a weekend getaway!

A mountain hotel in Grosse Scheidegg, Bernese Oberland

I stayed at Berghotel Grosse Scheidegg, a mountain hotel (more likely a large hut) at the top, with my friend who was also looking forward to a weekend in nature. Reaching the hotel was not difficult - after catching one of the occasional regional trains from Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald, a direct bus  (https://www.grindelwaldbus.ch/en) took us directly to Grosse Scheidegg and the hotel which was the last stop. 

The bus journey included nice views of the Bernese Alps and a short view of the popular Eiger Wall. The valley and the road that leads to it are visible from the top, also from the hotel, at 1962 meters above sea level. The view also conveyed that there are possible hiking trails!

View of the valley from the hotel 

I was always impressed by the disciplined markings of Swiss hiking trails. The yellow boards with red and white corners are hiking trails, some of which can be taken along with families and the rest requiring intermediate fitness or experience. The ones marked in blue and white refer to trails that require significant experience in mountaineering (I have rarely taken these trails 😅).

A signboard showing different hiking routes and their directions

What we wanted from our trip was to be close to nature and that was exactly what we got. The postcard-like view of the hills and the warm rays from the upcoming sunset made us calm and relaxed after the long journey during the day.

Relaxing under the sun after a long day

After sunset, it was starting to get colder and we went back to the hotel. The hotel was warm and convenient for tourists and provided everything that I expected from a mountain hotel, which also meant less luxury. For more details, check here: https://www.grosse-scheidegg.ch/

Sunset view from outside the hotel

After a nice Swiss dinner, we decided to take a rest early to be ready for the big day the next day. That involved hiking until the forenoon, after which we planned to take a bus to the  Meiringen region (PostAuto AG Bus 164). Details on the hike and further travel will be there in the upcoming posts, so keep posted! 

Special thanks and credits to my friend for this impressive picture! 😊

Me and the natural world- the connection

 

One of the coolest attention-pulling words used by travel bloggers and vloggers these days is ‘getting inspired by nature’. Well, I ask myself this question of how much I connect with the natural world every time I come back after a journey. Do I involve myself a lot more in electronic gadgets than I want to?

After I find an answer to that question, I try to make my next travel a lot better than the previous one by involving myself more with the surroundings and absorbing the present.

 

Connecting with nature had helped me on my path to becoming more mindful. In my earlier years, I chose this as an option when I felt stressed at work or with my personal life. Later it turned out to be less of an option. Just like how geology frames my life!

 I find the utmost happiness in hiking or wandering, getting some fresh air from mountains, forests, beaches, or anything natural. This is what doing research as a geologist had always made me.  I had often gaped in awe at intricate details of the natural world, and sometimes the effects of the surroundings on me can even be tiny. Sometimes my whole travel plan turns out to be a flop due to excessive rains (I am a fan of rain in tropical lands, but not in temperate landscapes!), had stressed me out with not getting my visa until the last minute travel, but all these were part of the whole package. Many a time, I had forgotten to take clear and nice pictures or videos of my journeys, and probably that is why they stayed as memories and made a larger impact on my life. 

My Zen

 

About me

I like to travel- small travels, long travels, up a mountain, down a valley, to a sloppy marsh, to smoky volcanoes, to ancient castles, to bustling cities, to fairy tale villages, to Gothic haunts; a visit to Como, a flight to Boston, up the Matterhorn, down Shimla valley, to the bogs of Galway, to the puffy Etna, to ancient Stonehenge, to the Broadway theater. My travels go on.

If you ask me what interests me most, I don’t have a specific answer. Landscape fascinates me; my camera always captures pristine nature. People and their food interest me. I try to understand their temperament through their food- the spicy Andhra lamb curry, the cheesy spaghetti Carbonara, the slurpy Ramen, the huge hamburgers of N.Y. I take care to taste the local food wherever I go.

Looking at the Thun castle I say, this is sandstone, typical of the place. Bending my neck backwards to view the tallest spike in the cathedral of Milan (ancient cathedrals attract me, I do not know why!) I say, oh, Gothic art in marble. I collect rocks from the places I go (when people collect curios and jewellery!).

So, in short, I am an enthusiastic traveler, who travel for the sheer joy of it. I am a photographer (not professional) and a foodie. I appreciate art, ancient and modern. That explains me. Now you might be wondering about my interest in rocks. I am a Geologist too!!