Day 25-28 - Ardez, Switzerland

On Thursday we were up early and headed to the train station in Innsbruck to work out how to get to Scuol in Switzerland where we were being picked up by Oscars family friend Bernie. After managing to book the train and then 2 buses we were off. A few hours later we got off the first bus near the border to Switzerland and discovered that the next bus onwards wasn't for 1.5 hours. While we waited we had our lunch by the river and chilled out in the sun. Once on the next bus we made it through the border and to Scuol with no issues, in fact the buses were exactly on time. Bernie was waiting for us and we headed straight up the gondola to the top of the winter ski field, although it now had no snow at all. After walking around and enjoying the scenery for a while we jumped on kick bikes (basically bikes without seats or peddles so you stand on it, basically halfway between a bike and scooter) and headed off down the mountain. This was a heap of fun as we raced down the mountain, although there were a few close calls as we got overly confident and we even got called crazy by a few Swiss-Germans walking past. We then headed to Ardez where we explored the village and Bernies amazing house before having a BBQ for dinner. It was nice having home cooked food for the first time in a while.

The next day we decided to do a hike in the morning before the weather packed in. We walked up on top of the mountains above Ardez, even stopping for a swim in the lake on top which was absolutely freezing. We got back in the afternoon just before it started raining and headed to the hot pools to chill out and enjoy the scenery of the alps.

Our final day in Ardez we spent the morning looking around one of the local farmers barns. He was an amazing guy who had won a heap of European and Swiss awards for his cows. He also had a robot that milked his cows which was very interesting to see, especially as the cows would line up to be milked. That afternoon we spent white water rafting on the river which was also great. The first half was quite calm and we learnt a bit about the history of the valley and enjoyed the view and then the second half was in a gulley with a number of great rapids. All in all it was another amazing day in the stunning Engadine valley.

On the Sunday morning we were up early to pack up and head back to Basel where we would be splitting up. The drive was great despite the mountains being covered in mist as we caught the longest tunnel car train in the world and passed much more amazing Swiss scenery.

It has been an amazing few days in the Swiss alps and I was extremely lucky to be able to stay with Bernie and his family. They completely spoiled us and gave us an awesome experience of the alps that would never have otherwise been possible.

This also ended the part of my trip with Oscar as he was heading to Kaiserslautern to work for a couple of weeks before heading home while I'm heading to Paris. We had a great couple of weeks travelling though and had some great adventures! Looking forward to what more Europe has to offer!