BMCC 2008 Switzerland Blog

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

(Day 5: Tour Guide – Pragya Shrestha)

Luzern, Switzerland: Itinerary

7:00-7:20am Breakfast

8:16am Departure from Chur (Change trains in Thalwil)

10:25am Arrival in Luzern

10:32am Bus from Luzern train station to Kriens

10:43am Arrival bus stop Kriens (name of stop: Linde-Pilatus)

Ask at Information desk for your tickets and take cable

car to Pilatus

11:30am Guided visit with Mrs. Colette Richter

12:30pm Lunch on Mt. Pilatus

1:45pm Take cog railway down to Alpnachstad

2:25pm Arrival in Alpnachstad

2:35pm Departure (by boat) from Alpnachstad to Luzern

4:14pm Arrival in Luzern

4:35pm Departure Luzern to Chur by train (6:43 pm in Chur)

7:05pm Departure to Passugg by bus (arrival 7:15pm

in Passugg)

6:00pm Dinner (Paulaner)

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Hiking Mt. Piltaus

Written by: Asha Burton

This was the trip we all were waiting for. Mt. Pilatus is a famous mountain in Switzerland for its long history and grandeur. Our day started with an early breakfast and a bus trip to the train station in Chur. Once there our tour guide for the day Pragya, directed us to the correct train platform. Once on the train, the scenery captured me. The natural beauty of this country is still hard for me to grasp. After about a hour, we had to change trains at Thalwil station for the next train to Luzern.

I was amazed at the mix of old world grandeur and modern environment of Luzern when we reached the city. I wanted to explore the town but our prepared itinerary didn’t permit any leisure time for Luzern. So we whisked through the station to the city bus which led us to Linde-Pilatus, the street for the path to the mountain.

Once of the bus we trooped through the street towards the entrance where we meet Mrs. Colette Ricther, marketing and public relation at Mt. Pilatus. She was a little disappointed that someone discovered the Gore-Tex diamond prize before we came.

Mrs. Colette Richter, Mt. Pilatus Marketing and Public Relations

Group @ Mt. Pilatus Entrance (L to R: Dr. Garely, Mrs. Richter, Liliana, Prof. Blake-Neis, Katherine Pragya and Andy

I wasn’t discouraged, if anything very excited about jumping in the cable car for the trip up the mountain, even if there wasn’t a “golden ticket for Willy Wonkas chocolate factory”.

The cable car started up through Kriens-Krienseregg, the first part of the mountain. As we continued to ascend further up the mountain, I noticed the creeping cold because I was hot on the ground before we climbed inside the cable cars. The view I saw from the cable cars gave me an expansive view of the city of Luzern. I was blown away by the picturesque view.

One of the stops for the cable cars on the mountain brought us to Krienseregg(3369 ft), where a playground was available for children. We continued going up for another 15 minutes through the second part of the mountain called Krienseregg-Fräkmuntegg. I noticed how thick the air felt while breathing. The third stop at Fräkmüntegg(4649 ft) where people can play on Central Switzerland’s longest suspension rope park. They have a zip line for people to “fly” through the air suspended by a single cable and harness. I really wanted to join them but our schedule for the mountain was tight enough. We waited for about 10 mintues for a bigger cable car to take us all further up the mountain. As the cable car continued to hover over the mountain, we saw Switzerland’s longest summer toboggan run (1350 m). I found it wonderful that the mountain offered activities for the winter and the summer seasons.

We finally reached the summit of Pilatus Klum at 7000 ft. I remember the Mrs. Collete Ricther mentioning how Queen Victoria traveled on an easel (donkey) up to the top of the mountain. That’s why part of the top of the summit was named Esel (6953 ft) after the horrendous journey the animal had to trot while carrying people or items up the mountain. We get of an see all of the city of Luzern in its sunny yet glacial glory. The cold was hitting me hard and I felt stupid for not remembering to pack my jacket. I ended up one at the gift shop along with items for the family back home. Once done shopping, I walked out on the platform where people from all nations were also enjoying the mountain. We meet a lot of Americans from all over the states such as new Orleans, Georgia, and California just to name a few.

There’s a cave which had an archaic yet airy environment. I walked through it feeling amazed at the view and alp mountains range that seemed to stretch for days. Mrs. Ricther said that the mountain had a legend from the Middle Ages among locals believing that the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate had found his final resting place in the former Lake Pilatus. There also a myth about a dragon that lived on the mountain but was helpful a kind of a protector of the mountain. I continued to walk through the cave with my fellow classmates, all of us were speechless at the beauty was saw.

We walked to the end then turned when we saw a sign saying Hotel Pilatus-Klum. The hotel was built in 1900 for only the creme de la creme to enjoy its spectacular view of Switzerland. It still open for people to afford a stay for 62 CHF a night for double room occupancy. For single occupancy the price is 77, both feature breakfast included during the stay. Children up to age 2 are free of charge but is still quite affordable for families to stay in the historic hotel.

I didn’t get a chance to explore the hotels but I was ready for the next part of the “Golden Round Trip” which included a trip up the mountain by cable car, then a ride in the cogwheel railway. The point of the mountain we were located for the Railway was called Alpnachstad-Pilatus Klum. It was the world’s steepest cogwheel railway that winds up through lush meadows and pens up to the lake AlpnacherSee. The ridedown was dizzying because of the steepness of the mountain as well as the decent from such a high aptitude. I noticed how locals also explored the mountain by hiking and walking through the green valley. I never seen a place where fresh water flows from the rocks all over the place. It doesn’t surprise me anymore why at the Swiss school, we’re serve water with every meal.

Sasha in the cogwheel car on Mt. Pilatus

After about 20 minutes of gasping at the beauty and my dying camera battery, we finally landed on solid ground from the mountain. All of us were still talking about the mountain as we continued on the trip towards the boat that would take us back to where we came from which was the Luzern Rail Station.

“Coming Down the Mountain”

The Star Luzern was a boat that sailed the lake, while picking up other people to enjoy the light cruise through the turquoise blue waters. it made stops along the shores to Rotzloch, Stansstad, and Hergiswil. Different people of many nations also were on the boat and I took in the different languages and dialect being spoken. Most of them were talking about Mt. Pilatus or the view of the mountain from the lake as well as the panoramic scene around us.

Enjoying the view on the lake of Alpnachstad

I took as many picture I could take without my camera dieing on me. After about 50 minutes and various stops made along the shore, we reached back to our original starting point at Luzern Rail Station.

View from lake of Luzern, Switzerland

Gia directed us toward the station so as to not be late for our train back to Chur.

I started to feel to exhaustion settle in after we applauded her brilliant effort as tour guide for the day. Once on the train I took a short nap to recover from such a lengthy excursion. We had to switch over at the same station for a train leading straight to Chur. We reached back at Chur rail station on right on time for a bus taking us back to Swiss school with still enough time to have dinner.

After relaxing for a moment we trooped down for dinner and had a discussion about what we say at Mt.Pilatus. This was a trip that will go with me to the ^grave and couldn’t wait the get some rest for the next new day.