Chur
SWITZERLAND Diary : Day 2 - 06 April 2014
Chur is a town in the eastern part of Switzerland. The river Rhine flows up north of the Chur valley. The idea of getting to CHUR arose from a long standing wish to ride one of the scenic trains in the country. Massive theatrical windows, transparent roofing, comfortable seats, good food and a free ticket with our SWISS PASS - The GLACIER EXPRESS had it all and was obviously our choice. We just had to pay for the mandatory seat reservation. The train begins from St. Moritz and ends at Zermatt village, covering one of the most scenic routes in the country.
It also runs vice-versa. It has short stop-overs at Chur, Andermatt and Brig stations. We wished for a longer journey, in order to complete touring a larger area, sitting in one place. As our accommodation was in Interlaken, the first stop- St. Moritz, was apparently very far away to get to on time, to board this train. Chur was therefore a better option, though it lay at a distance of 3 train hours from Interlaken. We couldn't wait to get started. We left Interlaken West at 7:30 am boarded a local train and got to Chur by 10:30am. Please do click to watch the video of our route for the day, in the gallery.
The Chur bus station was on top of its railway station. Half hour's time was more than enough to just graze through this area. Soon, we spotted the GLACIER EXPRESS train arriving from St.Moritz. It was due for departure at 11 am. We were definitely excited. We boarded the train and took our seats which were reserved in advance. We were aware that the journey from Chur to Zermatt would last 6 hours. We had nothing to do but stare out of the massive windows and enjoy all what we witness. The journey began as scheduled. The Scenic wonders that moved past our windows at a leisurely pace, were just splendid. The stunning views of the Rhine gorge, also referred to as THE SWISS CANYON, slowly and steadily uncovered itself in front of us.
The train wound upward in ascent. The designer gorges formed on the white mountains in this area by river RHINE, is something to be witnessed. The very thought, of water continuously cutting through rock, to give it that unique look was something hard to digest. Each phase of scenery out beat the other .
The stunning green gradually turned whiter as the train moved into higher altitude. Long before it was totally white !!! The blissful snowy lands were a treat to the eyes. The red GLACIER EXPRESS train curving around the tracks , made it a perfect photographer's delight.
The weather outside was definitely cold and the surrounding mountains were a knockout. The whites gave us goose bumps. The magnifying windows made it feel as if we were sitting right on the lap of the vast white valley. As the train continued its motion, our eyes seemed to crave for more of such scenic bliss. The temperature inside the train was constant, yet it felt colder as we got to the snow clad mountainous area. People were stuck to the windows without blinking their eyes. The train reached ANDERMATT in less than 3 hours. People in our compartment got off for just a minute, to stretch out after a long period of remaining seated.
After the two minute stop, the train was back on track. Soon it was time for a sumptuous lunch. We had paid for vegetarian meal. A friendly hostess soon arrived to discuss the menu with us. She didn't mind taking a picture with one of our group members.
We placed our order and in a short while a huge spread came around our table. We were hungry and the food looked delicious. Pasta, bread, loads of fresh salads , we couldn't ask for more. We relished our food , forgetting the scenery for a while. The whitish landscape remained running past our window screens for a long time. Slowly and steadily we began to see them turning brown, adding a bit of green once again. Our next stop was at BRIG. By now we were tired. Most of us seemed to doze off on the comfortable seats.
The journey from Brig to Zermatt lasted around an hour and twenty minutes. A power nap refreshed us. The scenery outside was not so charming anymore. We were waiting now to get off at ZERMATT village, to discover some more, by foot. In all, the GLACIER EXPRESS was a truly enjoyable journey, but lasted way too long for us to sit glued in a place. If at all we had a choice, we would have wanted to shorten the journey. No regrets though, it was a terrific experience. For further story , read under ZERMATT.
