Skip to main content

EIGER, MONCH AND THE JUNGFRAU

The Bernese Alps...three majestic peaks forming a massive wall... a saddle which houses Europe's highest rail station...the longest glacier of the Alps..the trains cutting into the mountains...the play of snow and rocks...needless to say, such an offering of a landscape has to be among the most majestic locations that Switzerland offers...the UNESCO site of Jungfrau-Aletsch. The center of the site is dominated by the three mighty peaks, the Eiger, Monch (the Monk) and Jungfrau (Maiden Girl) along with the glacial landscape around the Aletsch glacier.  Jungfrau, being the tallest among the three, dictates the names of the stations and the tunnels. While Jungfrau and Monch comfortably cross the 4000 m height parameter, Eiger falls short by a few meters. 


Naturally, with such a destination in imagery, our  excitement was at peak. By the time we reached Lauterbrunnen by road to board the train to Kleine Scheidegg, the vistas of the peaks all around was already humbling. 
Kleine Scheidegg is a mountain pass which offers some of the purest views of the three peaks in one line...a picture which stays  etched forever in the memory.   It is also the lowest terminus of the Jungfraubahn (Jungfrau rails), where the cog wheel controlled trains commence a nine kilometers long journey to Jungfraujoch. Enroute, the train passes through Eigergletcher (Eiger Glacier), Eigerwand (Wall of Eiger)  and Eismeer (Ice Sea) before reaching Jungfraujoch. After Eigergletcher, the train climbs steeply into the Jungfrau tunnel inside the rocks of  Eiger  and Monch, thus remaining underground for the rest of the journey. At Eismeer, one stop before the Jungfraujoch, the panoramic view of the Ischmeer glacier is breathtaking. Its worthwhile to disembark at this stop and see through the tunnel glasses. The journey from the Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch takes a little less than an hour during the ascent.


At about 3450 m above the sea level, Jungfraujoch is the highest railway station in Europe. At one end of the Jungfraujoch is the Monch and at the other end dominates the Jungfrau. And both appear so close from here. The view of the upper reaches of the Aletsch glacier from the Jungfraujoch is simply irresistible. With length exceeding 23 kilometers and volume more than 15 km3, the Aletsch glacier, the largest glacier of the Alps originates from the Konkordiaplatz which is the converging point of four glaciers, and then proceeds towards the Rhone Valley. 

The Jungfraujoch also houses an astronomical observatory and an ice palace, for those who are interested. Amazing day it was....amidst the most venerable presentation of the Alps. While the summit views of these mountain peaks are incredibly defining, yet there are a few places down below which are  blessed with immense natural beauty. There are two routes to reach Kleine Scheidegg - one from Lauterbrunnen and the other from Grindelwald...both catered by the Wengneralpbahn trains. Both Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald are quintessential Swiss villages and are well connected to Interlaken by trains. If you have the time visit both these places to get a glimpse of different views of the peaks, valleys and the waterfalls, especially the Trummelbach Falls at Lauterbrunnen.

This post is for alphabet ‘J’ of the #BlogchatterA2Z 2020 challenge:

 J for Jungfrau

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ANTWERP CENTRAL STATION

 As deep as I can peep into my past, I always sense very fond and nostalgic memories of railway stations. So many moments of  childhood began and ended in railway stations. My love for railway stations continues and whenever I get a chance I don't miss a visit into a station to experience the magical energy of the mixed sound of thousands of  fast moving footsteps and eager voices. European settings provide infinite moments to any traveler. Antwerp is no exception too. Like any other  European city with a strong medieval connect, Antwerp owns its history and legends. While it may take pages to write about Antwerp, let me restrict this post to the first landmark of Antwerp, its getaway - its very own train station, the Antwerp Central, located in Koningin Astreidplein, in the heart of the city.   The brainchild of King Leopold II and designed by Louis Delacenserie, Antwerp Central, with its stone clad structure and huge dome, has seen its days of glory and destructi
20 comments
Read more

THE VOICE OF LAKE BLED

Nature communicates...through different channels, shapes and forms. Sometimes, in the form of the gentle ripples of water...and sometimes through the rustling of the leaves of the trees. The sound of the wind brushing with everyone around can just not be missed. The image of the beautiful birds swimming and looking at you and coming close, as if they know you since ages, is a beautiful experience. For the full duration, I was there, this is exactly how I had felt. Some sort of communication...with everything around. A beautiful lake, an island inside the lake with a story and church on it, snow capped peaks around this lake, reflections of a fairy tale castle, swans wishing by as they swim and beautiful boats ferrying the lake without disturbing the swans... About half an hour's road drive from Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia, wrapped all around by the Julian Alps sits a beautiful lake, by the name Lake Bled (Blejsko jezero in Slovene)....in the tow
2 comments
Read more

THE CLASSIC RIVALRY OF OLD ZAGREB

We stood there absorbing the beautiful sunset that Old Zagreb, locally known as Gornji Grad, offered. The February evening was delightfully clear and presented a view to remember. In front of us,  mingling with the red tiled roofs, dominated majestically the two famous monuments - the Zagreb Cathedral of Kaptol and the St. Mark's Church of Gradec...along with the bits and the pieces of the historic panorama of a thousand years.  Few centuries back, during the medieval period, when the region was not known as Zagreb, existed two hill top settlements - the Kaptol and the Gradec, separated by the then existing rivulet Medvescak. The Kaptol housed the Cathedral and was the religious center while the Gradec was home to the merchants and the craftsmen. It took the two settlements centuries of bitter rivalry before prudence took over and they decided to unify during the nineteenth century, thus together becoming Zagreb. The reasons for this bitterness were many ranging from simple
3 comments
Read more