"Hello? Can I get some inconvenience here? I've got a green passport! Even my OWN country doubts its authenticity! And even my OWN country puts unnecessary large stamps on it!" But the Swiss official was just uninterested. Just to spice things up a bit, I thought of making a dash across the French side but I quickly noticed that their Douanes had assault rifles.
I took the bus to Basel (connected to the French airport via a fenced-in autobahn. Not that you can survive crossing an autobahn with cars going at a slow 140mph. Also it was probably to keep some semblance of Switzerland in France as side by side with the French highway, you could eat sushi on the Swiss tarmac. It was so smooth). At Basel Bahnhof I took out a Swiss Pass (99 Francs) for foreigners that cuts all transport prices by half (good value for criss crossing the country and for taking those expensive ski lifts). The Basel train station also has a "French Sector" with passport control. (Switzerland is NOT a member of the EU hence the border control.)
It was an uneventful train journey to Grindelwald, a base I chose at the very very last minute after checking the weather forecast and and figuring out which alpine pass routes were open. (Sadly, my original plan of walking from Wilderswil to the top of Faulhorn was impossible with Schynige Platte still inaccessible even in late winter.)
With all this automation, I miss the bus conductors of the EDSA buses. ("Miss" doesn't mean I like riding Edsa buses.) This Swiss bus was late by 35 seconds! (Maybe because technically, we were still in France.)
His Royal Orangeness Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit wait at Interlaken Ost to change from the regular SBB train to the Berner Oberland Bahn. Interlaken is a pretty small town, with lakes one either side (duh, kaya nga Inter-Laken) but it's chock full of tourists. We were not in the Alps to mingle.
HRO Karl Willem enjoying the view from the royal coach.
The Berner Oberland Bahn snaking its way along the Schwarze Lütschine.
I was cursing PA/PR Gromit ("This better be good, Gromit" I said to him) for the uphill hike to the edge of the village up to the beginning of the alpine forest where we had our lodgings. Then we got to our room and boy "Well done Gromit!" PA/PR Gromit got us a room with a view of the North Face of the Eiger!!!!!!! It was frigging breathtaking. My jaw dropped and was happy I could sleep facing the sheer 1800m rock face.
Arriving too late in the afternoon to take a proper hike, HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit took a relaxing stroll. Behind them stand the Wetterhorn (3692m) and the Schreckhorn (4078m).
.....but we were hungry and so we took afternoon merienda at Bodmi to soak up the atmosphere.
HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit, with the North Face behind them, study our options for the following day, record the escape routes to memory, and plan for our four days of hiking.
...but before dinner, HRO Karl Willem convinced everyone to loosen up a bit by doing some alpine forest orienteering. The Nashman did some serious tree hugging. Being a Cordilleran, he loves conifers and is in his element in this most natural of environments.
...the German-speaking side of Switzerland has very rustic menu, but it's very filling......
PA/PR Gromit picked up our gear from the equipment stores and was so eager to get his paws on the Eiger. We had to calm him down and tell him that The Nashman was in no shape to do the North Face this year but we'll certainly train for it and attempt it soon. For now, we were going to do regular hiking with no glacier walks or rock climbing. PA/PR Gromit was a bit disappointed of course but he knows that one must always respect the mountains.