Globitrotter

The kimchi mandu is my favorite, I think. Yummy!

Tomorrow I am off to Korea for a few days. This time they found me some sort of suite at a hotel in a suburb outside of Seoul. There are lots of good restaurants in the area and it is close to customer site so I am quite happy. Now, click on the image and check out the facilities.

I get a Hang-on-the-wall plasma screen, bath stuffs and a clothes blush. It really bugs me though that I do not have a rental car so I can use the ballet parking. I suppose these drivers are spectacular. Would have been interesting… Instead I guess I have to hang around the main entrance and wait for someone to park their car.

In 2003 I travelled around South America. When I was in Ecuador a friend of mine, Peter, happened to go on holidays in the same area. I convinced him to extend his trip and come with me to Galapagos. We took a one week boat tour around the islands and then stayed on a few days to go diving. Galapagos is a magic place, a place where you can see hammerheads when snorkeling, swim with sea lions, have to go around birds that nest on the footpaths and check out the blue footed boobies. I have never seen the amounts of fish diving as I did in Galapagos, the diving is really outstanding (although maybe a bit cold for my taste…).

From my bed in our cabin I had this view. Since I was a bit sea sick the first day I really appreciated being able to lie in bed and look out at sea.

In Switzerland in September I met up with Andy, one of my dive buddies on the liveaboard in Australia. It turned out we have more in common than diving, we also both like hiking and climbing. So it was not very hard for me to convince him that we should do the klettersteig in Leukerbad that leads up to the Daubenhorn. I had done some research and was really eager to do this particular klettersteig.

Leukerbad and the Daubenhorn in the centre of the picture. That’s the wall we are climbing.

We drove from Lucerne, where Andy lives, to Leukerbad on a Saturday and the next day we got up early in order to make it to the first cable car. That would take us to Gemmi Pass from where it was a short hike to the beginning of the climb.

We were not the only ones who had this great idea. It was a bit crowded at the beginning of the climb.

This was the gorgeous view we had all day long. In the distance you can see the Monte Rosa massif which is were I was heading the next day.

The weather was perfect and even on the top of Daubenhorn at almost 3000 meters it was still warm. The klettersteig on Daubenhorn is the longest in Switzerland. It was about 4 hours climbing and totally it took us about 5 hours to reach the top. It was mostly climbing on a vertical wall. In some places it was slightly overhanging and at one point we climbed through a cave. The climb was not really difficult but very long which makes it hard.

Mad Andy. Like climbing is not hard enough… In the background is Gemmi Pass.

Having fun on the ladders.

The Swiss are weird….

5 hours later we finally made it to the top!

Thanks Andy for a great adventure!!

Matterhorn

In September I went hiking around Zermatt in Switzerland. The area is absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold and a clear blue sky. The first day I hiked from Zermatt to Schönbiel Hütte, next to Matterhorn, via Trift Hotel. The part between Trift and Schönbiel was fabulous. This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever made. Straight ahead I had the Matterhorn and to my left the Monte Rosa massif. Magical!

Halfways to Schönbiel Hütte with a view of the Monte Rosa massif.

Getting closer to Schönbiel.

Having a well deserved beer with a view of Matterhorn on the terrace at Schönbiel Hütte.

The second day I walked back to Zermatt via Hörnli Hütte, from where most people climb the Matterhorn. The Hörnli Hütte is also a popular day hike and I got stuck in a group of older people determined to reach the Hütte. The last bit was quite steep and it was not very easy to pass people, you simply had to adapt to the pace.

At Hörnli Hütte.

The third day I took the train up to Gornergrat (on around 3000 m) on the other side of the valley from where I had been the first two days. Because it is so easy accessible it is also very crowded at Gornergrat. They have a fancy hotel, a shopping centre (!) and an observatory. For me it defeats the purpose of going to the mountains if there is a lot of people around. I like the solitude and the calm. So I had to walk away from the hotel and I did not have to go far to loose the crowd. 15 minutes walk and I was on my own again.

Gornergrat.

I must say my favourite side of the valley was the Matterhorn side. The view of the Monte Rosa from a distance was great. It was a bit more green on that side which I appreciated. Next time I will bring a picknick, some wine and sit down and look at the view for a few hours.

Arlanda Airport is (according to my experience and everyone I know…) the worst airport in the world on luggage handling. Usually you have to wait almost 1 hour to get your bag from the moment they start unloading the plane and now I am not just that unlucky person who always gets their bag last. No, everyone is waiting for a long time. They do give you plenty of time to think about how difficult it can be to transport bags the few hundred meters from the aircraft to the conveyor belt. I am an engineer and do not consider myself the most stupid person in the world, but I can not figure it out.

When I arrived from Switzerland a few weeks ago I had a surprising experience. I got my bag within 10 minutes from when I arrived at the belt! My heart was filled with hope and I thought that finally they had changed the routines and from now on it would be like a dream to come back home.

This morning I came back from Chicago. I was in a little bit of a hurry because I had to make it to a meeting in the office. But light at heart I thought that today I would be out of here in no time. I came to the conveyor belt and at the display it said that the luggage would arrive within 6 min. Perfect, I thought. After about 10 minutes they opened the door in the wall and sent out 5 bags. I am sure these were only dummy bags that disguised staff went out to pick up only to keep people happy for another few minutes. The door in the wall was closed again. This is mentally very frustrating. After 15 minutes or so they opened the door again and out came a few bags. Do not think this was all of them, no, again they closed the door. After a few of these turns and 30 minutes later I finally got my bag and I was not the last one!

Since I travel quite a lot I have to learn how to handle this without going completely crazy. Instead of being very stressed and angry I think of stories about what the staff is actually doing behind that wall. How they are coming up with ways to trick us instead of actually getting the bags. It is now a joke for me and my friend and it makes us laugh instead.