Kayaking and Grindewald

We liked Interlaken so much that we decided to stay back for an extra day. We got out of our hotel with nothing particular in mind. Jay had his eyes peeled for anything exciting that might pop up and I had given up expecting and planning anything by this point. It was a nice bright day and we were lazing around Interlaken. Even though Jake does not do a lot of homework type of preparation, he does his due diligence on anything he decides as and when it happens. Being utterly taken by the beauty of the lakes, Jay had an inclination to do some sort of activity in and around the lakes. We had already taken long cruises and also dabbled a bit with canyoning. It was time for some kayaking. After a quick chat with a few people, he had all the info he needed and we headed out to the nearest pier of lake Thun. Initially Jay had peddle boats in mind, but upon reaching the place he thought kayaking would be more challenging and interesting.

With great hesitation arising from not being dressed for the ‘occasion’, I agreed to renting kayaks for an hour or so on Lake Thun. Bear in mind I do not know swimming and there aren't any lifeguards on constant watch and there are huge cruises that come on that lake. Anyway, even before I could wrap my mind around it all, we were pushing our red kayak into the shallow waters and getting ourselves strapped in.

Kayaking on lake Thun

It was a bit scary at the start because there wasn't anyone to help us and we had to figure it all out by ourselves. It was fun because it made me feel like we were doing some sort of task from The Amazing Race. As usual, I got into it with trepidation, blaming Jay for making me push the envelope and do things I wouldn’t normally go for. As we got onto the deeper regions, the views got more beautiful, the experience of rowing (or is it kayaking) was fun. We had our bit of squabbles about me not steering the boat properly. I eventually left it all up to jay and just sat behind enjoying the experience of floating on a giant plastic kayak in the middle of a beautiful lake. The testament to my emotion then is the fact that we started singing hindi songs to pass the time on the water (while jay did all the hard work). We set out looking for peddle boats but then ended up doing something better and in fact were judgemental of others on peddle boats (typical)!

After about an hour and a half of floating fun, we returned our kayaks and spent the next hour lounging on the lovely green shore trying to dry off. Then we headed off on a cruise on lake Thun.


Grindewald is a small city on the mountains and we had to go there after Jay’s  funny little incident with the crew member of a cruise ship. Jay was chatting with one of the members of the lake Thun cruise boat. He was generally asking him how to get to Grindewald and if it was worth the trip.  He recommended it but mistook that Jay was asking if the cruise ship would take us there. Poor guy must have thought we are insane tourists and  his exact words were, “Ship no go on mountain my friend!” That was enough for Jake (and me later) to burst into peals of laughter.  Truly LOL. So then we took a train to Grindewald. After all ship no go on mountain you see!

Mountains for a backyard

Rooms with a view

The city was beautiful. We could see the snow-capped mountains right rom middle of the city. The city seemed like a haven for trekking enthusiasts.The train winds up the mountainous region slowly and as we reach Grindewlad, we can start seeing snow-capped mountains closer. It gets colder and unfortunately it was a little cloudy that day. We walked around the city, watched an ice hockey game at the local sports center and even spotted a rainbow.

A sliver of colours in the sky

We wished to have had more time to spend there, but we had a night train to Zermatt and had to head back to take it. On our way back from Grindewald, we bumped into a group of marching band performers who were returning from their performance. They seemed like a fun bunch and it was absolute riot to have them in our coach. Besides being funny and drunk, they were so nice and warm, they were willing to join us for dinner and a drink. George the bassist, recommended a restaurant  to us and  even  gave us a handwritten note saying “These are my friends, take good care of them”. Really sweet.