John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 5
LAKE OESCHINEN
Today’s trip starts by train along the lake to Spiez. Here we change onto the BLS railway to twist and turn up the picturesque Kander valley to the small town of Kandersteg. Then we take a cable car for a spectacular ride to beautiful Lake Oeschinen, set in a mountain amphitheatre high above the main valley, carpeted with the most beautiful wild flowers. A short scenic walk will get you close to the characteristic Swiss cows roaming the lush high pastures, producing the rich milk whose final destination is that delicious Swiss chocolate!
 Returning to picturesque lakeside Spiez, you’ll have some free time for lunch and a wander before returning at your leisure by lake steamer to Interlaken. You could take time to stop off exploring the pretty communities lining the lakeside.

Janet wrote: “Excellent sleep. At least ten hours. [John was] up before me. A dry, sunny day — still misty up the mountains, though.” My own notes indicated that I got out of bed just after 7.30am, and shaved and showered. My observation of the weather was that there were clouds covering the Harder, but that it was clear in the opposite direction. I took photos of both sides of the postcard to Chris.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 08:30:56
Postcard to Chris


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 08:31:16
Postcard to Chris

We went down for breakfast, before returning to the room for the stuff we’d need on today’s tour. Ca.9.45am, we left the hotel to assemble outside the corner Coop at Interlaken Ost station. I posted the postcard to Chris in a mailbox on the way. As now usual, Janet bought a banana and a bread roll from the Coop for her lunch.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:09:40
At Interlaken Ost railway station…


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:10:44
…heading to Platform 7 for the IC (InterCity) 10:30 Basel SBB (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen) train to Spiez. We could have got the R (Regio) 10:20 train, but that would stop at all stations.

Till today, we’d been travelling on narrow-gauge railways, metre-gauge on main lines, 800mm on rack-and-pinion-throughout mountain railways; but today, all the trains were adhesion-traction, standard gauge, 1,435mm (4ft 8½ in) ones.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:11:48
Arrival at Platform 7 of the IC61 10:30 Basel SBB train, calling at Interlaken West, Spiez, Thun, Bern and Olten


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:13:46
Boarding the IC61 10:30 Basel SBB train


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:14:40
Going upstairs on the IC61 SBB train, next stop Interlaken West

“We took a double decker train,” Janet wrote, “(first time for me) to Spiez…” I’d travelled on a double decker train before, from Berlin to Brandenburg in May 2007.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:22:58
Aboard the IC61 SBB train, next stop Interlaken West


Interlaken Ost (IO) to Spiez (S)
Rail route shown in red
© Federal Office of Topography swisstopo (labels in red letters mine)


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 10:57:22
The IC61 SBB train at Spiez railway station, Platform 2

We changed at Spiez to a BLS train travelling on the Lötschberg line. To me it was reminiscent of the Flåm line in Norway, for that too wound its way through and alongside a very picturesque valley, in a surprising manner for a standard-gauge railway. The Lötschberg line trumped the single-track Flåm line, though, in having two tracks — also in being a lot longer, and having trains that ran at higher speeds. The best views came into sight and disappeared behind trees or rock formations too quickly to photograph. I looked out at one point and saw below us the line that we’d just travelled. Then we entered a tunnel and I was aware that we were in a persistent turn to the right. It was only seeing a topographical map posted outside Kandersteg station (below, “14:55:50”) that confirmed to me that we’d zigzagged around a loop and a spiral tunnel. The latter brought to mind when I was nine or ten learning about such a tunnel or tunnels on the Canadian Pacific Railway (Class 2, par.3).


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:12:16
Arrival at Platform 3 of the RE (RegioExpress) 11:12 BLS (Bern–Lötschberg–Simplon) train to Brig, calling at Mülenen, Frutigen and Kandersteg


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:14:12
Boarding the RE 11:12 BLS train to Brig, calling at Mülenen, Frutigen and Kandersteg


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:18:22
Aboard the RE 11:12 BLS train to Brig, calling at Mülenen, Frutigen and Kandersteg


Spiez (S) to Kandersteg (K) [click to enlarge]
Rail route shown in red
© Federal Office of Topography swisstopo (labels in red letters mine)


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:22:14
Views while travelling on the Lötschberg line to Kandersteg


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:26:42
Views while travelling on the Lötschberg line to Kandersteg


Detail of the Lötschberg railway showing the loop of Mitholz turning the line north to climb out of the Kander valley on the western flanks of the Ärmighore and the spiral tunnel putting the line back south to Kandersteg [click to enlarge]
© Federal Office of Topography swisstopo


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:42:04
Views while travelling on the Lötschberg line to Kandersteg


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:42:30
Views while travelling on the Lötschberg line to Kandersteg


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:43:46
Alighting from the train at Kandersteg station

Jan’s directions to the assembled group at Kandersteg railway station, before we parted company, for getting to the Kandersteg–Oeschinen gondola lift, seemed a bit complicated; but after we set out, the way was clearly signed and easily found. She told us — and I wrote it down — to meet back there at 3pm for the train at 3.15pm. It was a bit strange, because there proved to be twice as much walking, to get to Oeschinensee, as there was riding in the gondola.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:54:06
Kandersteg railway station


Kandersteg railway station (K) to Oeschinensee (O) [click to enlarge]
Walking route shown in red dots
© Federal Office of Topography swisstopo (red letters and dots mine)


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:54:54
Walking to the gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:56:08
Walking to the gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:56:20
Walking to the gondola-lift station: the Kander


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 11:58:48
Walking to the gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:00:00
Walking to the gondola-lift station: Marienkirche


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:07:48
Arriving at Kandersteg gondola-lift station

At the Kandersteg gondola-lift station, we were issued with free tickets on production of our “Regional Passes”.



The other side of the ticket didn’t have any relevant illustration on it, just an advertisement for a regional bank, the Spar- und Leihkasse Frutigen.




Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:11:22
About to board a gondola


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:14:14
Views from the gondola


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:15:38
Views from the gondola


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:18:32
Approaching Oeschinen gondola-lift station

On arrival we had a drink outside the restaurant attached to the gondola-lift station, before setting off to walk down to the lake.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:24:46
Refreshments at Restaurant Bergstübli


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:36:56
Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:37:24
Looking back to the Kander valley


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:37:24 (detail)
The Kandersteg–Oeschinensee gondola lift


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:37:36
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:38:46
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:44:00
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:44:00 (detail)
The works of the
LORD
are great,
to the amazement
of all
who therein
have their joy.
Psalm 111:2


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:46:56
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:54:46
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:55:06
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:55:58
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:56:18
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 12:58:22
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:02:16
Views while walking to Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:04:40
First view of Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:08:16
Bim Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:12:32
Panorama of views of Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:13:06
Panorama of views of Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:13:20
Panorama of views of Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:13:42
Panorama of views of Oeschinensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:16:50
The more often-seen polled cow


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:17:44
The more often-seen polled cow


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:18:24
The less often-seen horned cow

There were a few people taking a dip in the lake. I wouldn’t have cared to share it with a herd of cows and their excreta!


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:19:58
Panorama of views looking back


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:20:08
Panorama of views looking back


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:20:20
Panorama of views looking back

Janet suggested that we head back, and have lunch at Kandersteg station, rather than do so here. The walk back to the gondola lift, she suggested, being uphill, would take longer and be more arduous than the outward one (which took half an hour). Then we had to allow time for the ride and the walk following that.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:31:40
Views while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station

I stopped to photograph a butterfly, and when I looked up, Janet had gone on ahead.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:36:26
Butterfly, seen while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:42:18
Views while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:44:20
Views while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:48:54
Views while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:53:08
Helicopter, seen while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:53:08 (detail)
Helicopter, seen while walking to Oeschinen gondola-lift station, apparently emitting a laser beam

I caught up with her at the gondola-lift station.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:54:52
Oeschinen gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:57:52
About to board a gondola


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 13:59:40
View from the gondola


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:03:48
Approaching Kandersteg gondola-lift station

There was one of those seemingly ubiquitous 3D maps displayed on a board at the lower station. I was initially misled by one of the mountains bordering Oeschinensee being “Rothorn”. Later, I realised that that’s why the other is called “Brienzer Rothorn”, because there are more than one.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:05:50
Map at Kandersteg gondola-lift station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:09:28
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:11:12
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:13:38
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:13:38 (detail)
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station: Marienkirche


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:18:28
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station: the Bire


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:19:06
Detail of the Bire, showing its very tortuous strata


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:21:24
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:22:44
Walking back to Kandersteg railway station: the Kander


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:24:02
Kandersteg railway station

There was a little convenience store just beyond the station, so I bought a sandwich (making sure today that it wasn’t so big as to spoil my appetite for dinner) and some orange juice and Janet a bottle of diet soda-pop to go with her banana and bread roll. We sat on a bench in the shade of a couple of trees, just across the station forecourt from there, to consume these. Nearby, there was still another 3D map of the region—


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:51:26
Map outside Kandersteg railway station

—and next to it, an “Ordnance Survey”-style map.[i] It was that, which made me realise what I’ve already written about, that we’d zigzagged around a loop and a spiral tunnel, and would do so again (in reverse order) on the way back. Actually, though, on the way back we were in conversation with a Belgian chap who’d been staying in the region and was now returning home to Antwerp, and with Jan, who both sat opposite us; and I failed to notice the features of the railway journey.

[i] I didn’t realise till after we got home that these Swiss topographical maps are available on-line. Having discovered them, I have made ample use of them.

Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 14:55:50
Detail from a topographical map outside Kandersteg railway station

Janet and I, and one or two others, sat in the waiting area opposite the ticket office; then someone suggested that Jan and the others might have gone to the platform. So we went to find out — and there they were! Tja!


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 15:16:30
Arrival at Kandersteg railway station of the RE 15:15 BLS train to Bern


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 15:16:58
Boarding on Platform 1 the RE 15:15 Bern train, calling at Frutigen, Reichenbach im Kandertal, Spiez (our stop) and Thun


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 15:28:24
Aboard the train: (left:) Belgian chap returning home to Antwerp; (right:) Jan, our Tour Manager

When we descended from the platform at Spiez railway station, Jan remarked that the arch, at the end of the underpass in which we found ourselves, looked familiar as being the way to the harbour. (The “ship” icon on the overhead direction-sign was a bit of a giveaway too!) Actually, on emerging from the arch, it was Janet and I who led the way, initially anyway, walking along the ca.¾-mile route to the harbour.[ii]

[ii] There were seemingly three distinct roads, with a right turn between each of them, between the railway station and the harbour; but I notice that the whole way is called “Seestrasse”.

Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 15:49:02
Heading for the exit at Spiez railway station


Route along Seestrasse from Spiez railway station to the Schiffstation
Route shown in red
© Federal Office of Topography swisstopo (route in red mine)


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 15:50:32
Heading along Seestrasse, just after turning left from Spiez railway station


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 15:56:50
Little garden where Seestrasse turns right in the direction of the Schiffstation


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:02:54
Schloss Spiez


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:04:28
Schloss Spiez


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:06:04
Schloss Spiez


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:08:32
Spiez Schiffstation

When we got there, there were about 20 minutes to wait for the boat, so Janet and I went in the gelateria-cum-bar just in front of the harbour entrance. She had a Coke Zero and I a pistachio-flavoured gelato.


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:16:32
Dolce Vita gelateria–bar


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:26:48
About to board the MS Stadt Thun for the 16:28 BLS service from Spiez Schiffstation, calling at Faulensee, Merligen, Beatenbucht, Beatushöhlen, Neuhaus, and Interlaken West


Detail from a map issued by BLS [click to enlarge], which I’ve placed here especially to show the calling points from Spiez to Interlaken West (solid red line)[iii]

[iii] I’ve noticed a third Rothorn on this map! — the “Sigriswiler Rothorn” near the bottom left corner.

Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:30:08
Aboard the MS Stadt Thun


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:30:28
Passing the paddle steamer Blümlisalp


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:37:48
Calling at Faulensee


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:51:04
Crossing Thunersee to Merligen


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:53:40
Calling at Merligen


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 16:59:32
Heading for Beatenbucht


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:01:02
Calling at Beatenbucht


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:08:00
Fascinating glimpses of Hauptstrasse 221 through tunnels and along ledges


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:08:00 (detail)
Fascinating glimpses of Hauptstrasse 221 through tunnels and along ledges


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:12:18
Fascinating glimpses of Hauptstrasse 221 through tunnels and along ledges


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:14:38
Fascinating glimpses of Hauptstrasse 221 through tunnels and along ledges


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:14:46
Fascinating glimpses of Hauptstrasse 221 through tunnels and along ledges


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:15:36
Calling at Beatushöhlen-Sundlauenen


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:16:22
Calling at Beatushöhlen-Sundlauenen


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:23:46
Heading for Neuhaus, Unterseen: (background:) Harderkulm


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:24:04
Calling at Neuhaus (Unterseen)


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:25:04
Bergrestaurant Harder Kulm at Harderkulm


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:31:06
Passing the Aare


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:31:32
About to enter the Schifffahrtskanal


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:32:16
Entering the Schifffahrtskanal


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:37:24
Proceeding along the Schifffahrtskanal


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:44:32
Approaching Interlaken West


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:45:34
Approaching Interlaken West


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:46:28
Interlaken West


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:48:06
Going ashore from the MS Stadt Thun at Interlaken West


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:52:32
Proceeding along Bahnhofstrasse, Interlaken


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 17:53:50
Passing Albert Schild AG, Bahnhofstrasse 19, Interlaken


Tuesday 16 July 2019 — 18:04:50
In Höheweg, approaching the Hôtel Royal-St Georges

Back in the hotel room, I did this and that, including transferring today’s 113 photos from the camera’s SD card to the WD Elements HDD using the Samsung notebook computer (18:27–18:28). I viewed them in Windows Photo Viewer, rotating one that needed it (18:39). Then there was an unexpected “crash” of the computer,[iv] after which I connected the WD Elements HDD to the Asus netbook/tablet computer and copied today’s photos to the MicroSD card that was also connected to it (18:55). Janet meanwhile was updating her journal: “As I write, I can hear swifts (lots) outside again, as we have done since we arrived.”

[iv] This may have been a harbinger of the “disaster” that would cause the loss of all tomorrow’s photos. Fortunately, I managed to recover most of them more or less intact after we got home.

Dinner was scheduled for 7pm this evening instead of the usual 6.30pm. I went to the bar for my “usual” Grimbergen Blanche, and, as before, there was quite a crowd of our party there having a pre-dinner drink.



Again, I didn’t stay there, but went to the dining room.… We were back in our room ca.8.30pm. Janet updated her journal, showered, and joined me in bed, ca.9.30pm.

[Wednesday 17 July 2019]