JOIN USEngelberg in Switzerland was the highlight of our Europe trail which started from Paris and ended at Milan. While in Switzerland, we a family of 22 members, stayed in the tourist town of Engelberg for two nights.
The overpowering snowcapped mountains, which are part of the Swiss Alps, surround this small town with buildings dispersed over an undulating terrain. The train station pierces through the centre of the town and as in other parts of Switzerland, the efficient rails climb up and run down the rugged landscape maneuvering through tunnels and difficult grades. The train station was picture perfect and was visible from our hotel balcony.
Merging small garden patches with flowering tulips, the vegetable rows spoke about the character of the tourist town. It was that time of the year when manuring would be done and the smell in the air spoke about it.
The day on which we landed in Engelberg, the weather was good and the summer sun had melted the snow from the peaks. The water thus formed gurgled through the channels which filled the Engelberg Lake. The architecture was a mesh of traditional wooden houses and newer buildings made of glass and steel. The tower of Engleberg Abbey formed the climax of the building line of the town.
The evening was pleasant and chill with temperature, ranging around eight degree celsius, and the daylight extended beyond 8 pm. The next day, the weather changed and it was misty in the morning revealing only parts of the mighty mountains around.
It was a rainy day when we visited Lucerne and Interlaken, the two other important towns near Engelberg. While returning late in the afternoon, the rains continued and we could see the peaks laden with more snow cover. We walked through the streets of Engelberg with umbrellas. The shops close punctually at 6 pm though the daylight keeps the town bright till 9 in the night in the summers.
The next day, we began our trip to Mount Titlis and it continued to rain. Mount Titlis is one of the highest points in Uri Alps located at a height of over 3,200 metres above sea level. Bundling ourselves with jackets, we were ready to face the freezing cold. To our surprise, we realised that the facility to reach Titlis peak was right behind the hotel where we stayed. We had to change four different modes — the funicular, the cable cars, the elevators — to reach the peak.
Once we reached the peak, it was our first experience of snowfall. After experiencing the freezing temperature, we headed down back to Engelberg. On our way back, we saw people enjoying skiing on the lower slopes. From Engelberg, we boarded our bus heading to Milan. But before leaving Engelberg, we realised that we had established a strong connection to the place than to any other place which we visited through our trip.
How to get there
We reached Engelberg by road from Nustad in Germany through Zurich.
Places to stay
Sonnwendoff. It was a package of 10-day Europe tour for a group of 22 people at Rs 1.35 lakh per person.
(The author can be contacted on vshanthala@yahoo.com)