Today we took the bus to Frutigen, further down the valley, for a change of scenery. I’d been awake for a few hours in the night… annoying but it happens to me quite regularly. Because of this, John let me lie in a bit later than we’d planned, but we still managed to catch the 10 o’clock bus, with plenty of water and a packed lunch in our small rucksacks.
We left the town on a path above the river, climbing through meadows past wooden chalets. A local woodcarver has sculpted many animals and other works of art along the trails, which we kept stopping to admire. Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit the 13th century castle ruins because they were wrapped in plastic and scaffolding… this seems to happen to us quite often when we visit castles!
In under an hour, after about 5 kilometres, we could see the Hostalde suspension bridge over the Englstlige River. It’s 153 metres long and 38 metres above the ground. It’s a private bridge and the family requests 1 Swiss franc per person to cross, unless you visit their cafe at the end of the bridge. What a great excuse for a refreshing beer!
The bridge was very wobbly with a few people on it and I found it a bit scary at first, despite having crossed many suspension bridges before. I soon settled down though, and enjoyed the views up and down the river, and to the surrounding meadows and hills.
We returned to Frutigen on a riverside path. The river was quite grey and silty after recent rainstorms, and there were trees stranded on the rocks, probably after being washed down in storms or when the snow melted. After a while, we made a short detour to an enclosed wooden bridge, Grantibrücke, which was beautifully built in 1905. I wish I knew more about it.
It was hot now and we were glad of the shade from the trees along the trail. There was evidence of logging, and many large racks of firewood, dated with the year they’d been chopped and stacked. We took advantage of a tree that had been felled to sit and eat our butties in peace and quiet, under the tree canopy.
By 13.30 we were back in the town. We wandered through the streets, admiring some of the old wooden buildings, before stopping at a bar to wait for the bus back.
Back in Kandersteg, while I edit my photos and write my blog, John’s doing our washing… a regular occurrence when you only have three pairs of knickers with you! As it’s our last night here, we’re treating ourselves to a meal out. It’ll probably be expensive, but life’s for living. We don’t know what our futures hold, and we can’t take our money with us.
Ramblings 
Those little wooden carvings and that bridge look amazing! Good views from it!
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