Zermatt is a smallish town (approximately 5,800) permanent inhabitants, located in far southern Switzerland, very close to the Italian border, but still firmly within the Swiss-German region of Switzerland. Although close to the border, it is impossible to travel directly from Zermatt to Italy, since the town is surrounded by snow-covered 4000+ meter high alpine mountains, including the world famous Matterhorn (4,478 meters).
On Tuesday morning, I skipped the mediocre hostel breakfast, and hopped on the first of the three trains that would take me from Interlaken to Zermatt, connections in Spiez and Visp. In Visp I ate a doner kebab at the train station, since I was hungry from skipping breakfast. I arrived in Zermatt at around 1:00 p.m., and made the approximately 2 km walk from the train station to the hostel at which I had planned to stay. I walked through crowds of slow moving elderly tourists, darting between them as they made full stops in the middle of the street. Worth mentioning is that cars are technically banned in Zermatt, for the purpose of preventing pollution that would block the views of the mountains. HOWEVER, Zermatt does permit the use of battery powered trucks, taxis and police vehicles that silently zip down the street when you least expect them. Did NOT like those guys. By the time I made it up the hill to the hostel, I was tired, hungry and sweaty, and the front desk reception was closed. Furthermore, the price was slightly more than I had hoped for, and the hostel had the look of those family oriented hostels in the Netherlands that I found so very un-fun. In fact, I was primarily scared off by a German family, several children included, yelling and screaming in the lobby as I arrived. I thought to myself: "I can do better than this."
I googled "best hostel in Zermatt" and came up with the Matterhorn Hostel, which was a vast improvement. Close to the city center, young people, a bar downstairs (which ended up being closed the entire time, but at least their hearts were in the right place), and a free computer for internet use. And only 34 dollars a night! Here too, the reception was closed until 4:00 p.m., so I left my bag in the lobby and ventured out into the city.
My first two stops were notable in that they illustrated the great variety of the quality of service by people in the tourist industry. I first stopped at the tourist information office near the train station, and asked the lady working there what activities she recommended in Zermatt, which hikes were good, how warm the clothes she estimates would be required for going up the mountains (which I recognized were much colder than Zermatt itself). She handed me a brochure listing all the hikes in the Zermatt area (I later discovered that these maps were not fully accurate, a fact she did warn me of, although many people I met later on were aware of this generally known fact), and told me that all the information was in there. And gave me a look like I was annoying her by asking her questions. I get this look surprisingly often, and it always gets under my skin. After a few tries of getting specific information out of her, I gave up and walked down the street to a store selling winter clothes/gear. The lady working at that store was extremely helpful. I mentioned that I wanted to purchase something of a thermal sort to supplement the clothes I had, she discussed the options with me (long sleeve vs. short sleeve, wool vs. synthetic), the prices, the pros and cons of each, until we decided on a short sleeve wool shirt (warmer, although takes a little bit longer to dry). Not only this, but she confirmed that it fit me (most salespeople just ask me how things "feel", a question which is more or less useless since my body goes into panic mode when I shop and nothing feels right or everything does). After this, she pointed out some hikes she recommended, described their difficulty and how long they would take. This was great service!
After this, I headed to the Matterhorn Museum, full of artifacts from old Zermatt, failed and successful climbs up he Matterhorn (broken ropes, torn up shoes), recreations of old farmhouses (small!), hiking shoes and cameras over the years and a letter from Theodore Roosevelt to his sister, describing his climb up the Matterhorn (he thought that it now qualified him as at least an "amateur mountaineer"). All and all, a very entertaining museum, and got me excited about my plan to hike up to the Matterhorn (although not up it) the next day. It was also a good "activity" for a day off from semi-strenuous activities (two days of hiking and one of canyoning preceding and two days of hiking following).
I have many times criticized travelers who, in an effort to save money, obtain all of their food from supermarkets, avoid local restaurants and cook simple pasta dishes in hostels or a campsites, the reason being that part of the travel experience is the local food. For Zermatt, I made an exception to his rule, noticing that all of the restaurants were 1) very touristy, 2) very expensive, and 3) didn't look that great. Besides, I realized that for my hike the next day, I wanted to eat specific foods that I would need to purchase at the market. I stopped by Migros and picked up a jar of peanut butter, a half loaf of bread, two oranges, a bar of chocolate, 3 red bulls, some shampoo, a bag of gummy worms and a jar of nutella. Now I had some delicious, portable and high energy food, and was saving money!
Returned to the hostel, checked in, and spent some quality time on the internet downstairs, ate a peanut butter sandwich and an orange in the TV room, while others watched the Bruce Willis vehicle Tears of the Sun.
Had planned to find a bar/restaurant in town and read, but instead met some folks in my dormitory room, which led to a much different sort of night: pilot from New Zealand, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea and a Swiss guy from Bern. The two of us chatted in the dorm for an hour or two about our lives, Papua New Guinea, and Bern, until we decided to go out to downtown Zermatt for a drink. Our first stop was the Papperla Pub, recommended both personally by the Swiss guy (he had been to Zermatt several times), as well as my Lonely Planet. There were flags of the world covering the ceilings and the walls, but the bar otherwise had the feeling more or less of an Irish bar. Being the off season, and still somewhat early, it was a little quiet, but we had a good chat with the bartenders, both from Groningen and very interested to hear about the places I had gone there (fortunately I was able to access this blog through my blackberry to jog my memory), both super nice people. After a pitcher of beer, the three of us started talking to a group of Australians we recognized from the hostel, two guys and a girl, on 1, 2, and 4 month long trips respectively. This now larger group got along great, telling travel stories, talking politics, etc., and at around 11:00 p.m. decided to move to the Broken Bar on the Zermatt main drag for dancing. The Broken Bar sits underground, beneath another pub, and features a live DJ, as well as an old oak barrel upon which intoxicated guests dance. The group of Australians, New Zealand, Swiss and me danced around, each taking turns on the barrel, and were eventually joined by a Tuareg guy from Niger (whose dancing, and language skills put all of us to shame) and his two French girl friends, the three of them studying hospitality in a town near Mont Blanc.
Despite my plans to get up early in the morning, we all stayed out until 2:00 a.m. I did not expect to have such a "big night" in the quiet mountain town of Zermatt.
Oakley Hall -- No Dreams
No comments:
Post a Comment