Interlaken Ost is considered the gateway station into the Bernese Swiss Alps. Upon disembarking here, you transfer to the Jungfraubahn, the system of cogwheel railcars which take you high into the Alps, wherever you want to go. The first stop beyond Interlaken is known as Lauterbrunnen, which lies at the entrance of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. As the train pulls into Lauterbrunnen, and you get your first glimmpse at what lies ahead of you in the valley, you literally have your breath taken away by the awesome sight of the mountains ahead.
The valley is known as the 'Valley of 1000 Waterfalls', as every few 100 meteres there is a waterfall cascading down from the valley cliffs on either site of you. I hiked from one end of the valley to the other, the total time being about 4 hours, but it flew by, as I simply absorbed what I saw around me. The grass and trees are lush green, and all the while you are surrounded by the snow covered trips of the mountains. Clouds lazily meander across the background of the deep blue sky... the air is crisp, and every breath you take invigorates your senses.
Ultimately, my destination for the night was a small village known as Gimmelwald. The village of Gimmelwald lies 2000 meters above the valley, in a remote part of the alps, at the other end of the valley. It is accessible only by cable car, and by the time I reached there, I realised I was actually exhausted. But there are no materialistic pleasures to be had here. In Gimmelwald, there is basically nothing. No stores, no restaurants, no banks, nothing. There are 3 small guesthouses, the attic of one of which became my place of shelter for the night. After grabbing a quick nap, I spent the rest of the day exploring the village. Cows and goats graze in the fields, young men with their pants rolled upto their knees toss hay on the hills with pitchforks. Young, blue eyed, blond haired boys and girls kicked a soccer bell around in the only street in the village, as their mothers looked on, and chatted with one another. There are no Playstations, no IPods here... kids still ride their bikes and play on the swings in the playground. There were only 2 jeeps in the entire village... and a total population of 150 people. I came to the conclusion that the people of these village must have been exceptionally hardy to survive and propser in a location such as this, especially in the wintertime.
Seeing a place like this, where there are minimal facilities, and yet, the people are happy and prosperous makes one realise that maybe not all good things in life are fancy and expensive. It is nice to know that there are still places like this, and people like these... I had been questioning humanity alot lately, and it was good to see that it still exists in remove places such as the village of Gimmelwald...
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