Even though I spent almost an entire day in Basel, I didn’t get to see too much of it. I was preoccupied with the usual to-do list now that I was once again in a city and a new country. I had a SIM card to buy, Swiss Francs to withdraw, and also needed some new brake pads for those soon-to-come Alpine downhills.
I had a quick lunch with my host Johann as he came back from work to find me still around the house, and headed off early evening. I didn’t cover much distance before I started to run out of sunlight, but I at least made it out of the city and had started to gain some elevation.
I set up camp in what apparently was a training playground for the Swiss military (I was assured by a local that it wasn’t being used for the next few days at least). And indeed my only companions were to be some sheep grazing around my tent early morning. It was quite the spot again – I’ve been incredibly lucky in terms of camping locations so far.
As I cycled deeper into Switzerland, things started to get more interesting in terms of both terrain and sights. I had my fair share of elevation gain for the day, and with that came some great views.
I had planned to cover the distance between Basel and Thun over three days, but by lunchtime on Day 2 I was doing quite well distance-wise and decided to give it a final push and aim to arrive that same evening. I called up Martha, my CS host, to ask whether she’d be able to host me a day earlier, and with her confirmation that all was good I set off towards Thun.
I made it there by the evening with time to spare, and with the day I’d gained I was now able to take a day’s rest in Thun. That was definitely a welcome change – Thun was as beautiful as always, and even though this was my fourth or fifth time there I still haven’t had enough of it. Besides, my next day of cycling would take me on the first proper Alpine climb of the trip so far as I’d be heading up to Kandersteg at 1200m, so some rest was good.
I’d offered to cook dinner for Martha and her boyfriend that evening, and sweet and sour pork with rice it was to be. It’s become somewhat of a Couchsurfing staple, but everyone seems to love it (or at least they say they do..)!
I ended up leaving for Kandersteg late afternoon the next day, but still had more than enough time to get there before sunset. I didn’t think I’d be saying this, but I may actually have overestimated those climbs. Easy to say now that they’re over, of course.
Arriving in Kandersteg had a special significance for many reasons. I had worked there for three months a few years ago, and it’s become something of a home away from home ever since. Back in 2010, I’d spent three months as staff, or a ‘Pinkie’, at Kandersteg International Scout Centre (KISC) doing some hike guiding and just about everything else, and as we ex-pinkies say there’s no such thing as leaving Kandersteg for good. I’d already been back a few times as a helper in 2011 and 2012, and it felt as though it’d been way too long since my last visit.
Besides the excitement of being back at KISC, reaching Kandersteg felt like quite an achievement in itself. I was still far from half way to Malta, but having made it to a place which I already knew and was used to flying to when visiting from Maastricht meant I must have covered quite some distance at least. I was also far from up the Alps, but again, at least starting to have a go at them felt good.
I’d gotten in touch with KISC a week earlier to explain my trip and say that I’ll be visiting, and the centre had kindly offered to host me for a few days while I caught up on some sleep (wishful thinking!), rested and planned out the weeks to come. Catching up with old friends largely took the place of catching up on sleep, but I otherwise got most of what I’d planned to done. And more, for while I was back I ended up ‘in green’ again – helping out as staff for three days. I was more than happy to do so, and those three days involved everything from preparing rooms for guests to hike guiding. I even found the time during one lunch break for a bike ride up to the centre’s hut in the Ueschinen valley.
It had been great being back as always, but the time to head onwards had eventually come and I had a few interesting days (to say the least) up ahead. This was where the Alps really began.
Anonymous
Keep at it bro xx