One day in Switzerland I’ve spend in mountains. (and it would’ve been hard to spend it somewhere else, for when you think Switzerland, you think Alps). My heart pulled me to see Mont Blanc again, it is a place that I think I’ll never get enough of… I find myself charmed by the Above The Clouds World, as if the mountains put a spell on me and now I’m a part of them. The Mont Blanc pulled, but common sense said: there are other places too…and this time I listened to him and was adventurous enough to take a journey to the other tops of the world – I visited the Glacier3000.
This Glacier located on the slop of the Alpine massif Les Diablerets – about 120 km from Geneva. Of course the name has a history and I suppose in Middle Ages the area was regarded as a cursed place…Local legends tell the stories of the devil playing games with the rocks, throwing them to roll down the slop. And there is also a huge rock - one of the points of the massif, that stands out of the rest because of it’s strange shape and the respective name – “Quille du Diable" (devil's skittle). Truly makes your imagination run wild.
Of course, if one would ask me where is it better to go: Mont Blanc or Les Diablerets, I would choose the White Mountain. Not just because she is more spectacular, for you can never say some mountain views are better then the others – there is some sort of equal magnificence up there – wherever you’d go, you are guaranteed to loose your breath. Just on Mont Blanc you’ve got a view and a physical sensation of being high literally: your eyes are blinded by the light even if it is not a sunny day…the light reflected from the eternal snow is painful to look at without sunglasses. Your head gets dizzy and your ears get plugged…your lungs feel the altitude and you walk almost like on the moon (not that I know how it would’ve been to walk on the moon, but if I am to imagine it, it will be this kind of sensation)…it is unspeakable…
On Glacier3000 you get all the benefits of the majestic views from above the clouds without feeling the altitude in a funny way. So yes, I’d say: try Mont Blanc for your never to forget experience. Then climb every mountain you can and dream for more to climb…
Here are few pics from Les Diablerets for your amusement:
I have to mention another little treat that my travel dice have thrown my way on that One Swiss Day of transition. I took a bus to the Glacier. And the road itself was spectacular – very scenic route through the mountains, starting from the Geneva lake and winding up in such a steep bends that it reminded me of the peeled orange skin, you know, when you do it all in one go without detaching the knife off the fruit’s surface. That was first time when I felt I had enough of the mountain driving for a while, as I never had road dizziness before. Anyway, that is not about scenic route, but about The Very Scenic Swiss Town. Gstaad. We visited it on our way back and spend only less then an hour there. But it was enough to fall in love with the place! I must admit, the whole town has that kind of “postcard” prettiness to it. And of course, being a famous glamour resort town does help to maintain this image of being “attraction” rather then a place to live. But when you are a tourist and came to be amused by the picturesque sights, amused you will be that’s for sure! Take a look at Gstaad as I saw him with my eyes:
More to come...