Interlaken, Switzerland

Interlaken was nothing short of amazing, some of the most breathtaking views of the Swiss Alps I could ever imagine. The town itself is quite small and quaint, it was a nice change from the big cities. The air was crisp and the lakes were crystal clear, just phenominal views. Interlaken is actually the extreme sports capital of Europe and we just had to take advantage...

Day 1 - we decided to jump right in (literally) and went canyon bungy jumping. It was intense - an 85 meter plunge into a rocky canyon with nothing but a bungy cord strapped to our waists. Unlike regular bungy jumping where you just have one downward plunge, with canyon jumping you have the intial plunge, then you swing back and forth like a pendulum for about 30 seconds. Sarah and I both tried to be brave, but it was pretty scary once you looked over the edge and the dude told us to jump. We were both so glad we did it, such an adrenaline rush and not many people can say they jumped 85 meters into a canyon in Switzerland. Pretty extreme if I do say so myself.

On the way to the jump we met Carl, a fellow American traveler from Texas who has been traveling for about 6 months on his own through Asia and Europe. He gave us tons of great advice and it was just really exciting for us to meet another American with our same passion to see the world (to this point we've met mostly Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis). We all had a nice post-jump glass of wine and chatted about where we have gone and where will be going. Talking with Carl just excited us that much more for our future journeys, especially SE Asia. Carl - thank you so much for the inspiring note and we hope that you had a safe journey back to the US. Hope to see you somewhere in South America next spring...

Day 2 - We decided to give white water rafting a go, so we wet suited up and headed for the river. We got to the river, went through the whole lesson about following the commands with our leader, Carlos, and were ready to go. Did I mention it was pouring rain? Well as we were about to put the boats into the water all of the instructors talked and the water level was just too high and dangerous so unfortunately we had to cancel. So we went back to the lodge, de-wet suited, and spent the rest of the rainy day drinking wine and playing a cool German dice game with Carlos and our Aussie and Kiwi roommates. We also watched our first rugby match with our mates and cannot wait to check one out live when we get to New Zealand. Turned out to be a crazy night, but we were disappointed that rafting had to be put off.

Day 3 - Perfect weather and white water rafting was rescheduled. So we re-wet suited up and headed out again. Despite never having been on the water, Carlos was so impressed with our rafting skills that he left us to teach and lead the raft. It was so much fun, great rapids and incredible views of the snow capped Alps all around us. The water was about 6 degrees Celcius, but it was so crisp and refreshing that everyone in the boat jumped right in after we got through the rapids. Hope you enjoy some of the pictures below. We got back in the early afternoon and had time to squeeze in a hike 1000 meters up to overlook the entire city which was just amazing. Overall an awesome day of extreme sporting.

Day 4 - We ventured outside of the main city to Grindelwald, a quaint town with incredible hiking. We hiked to the top of the mountain for more beautiful views and explored the town. It was a nice little day trip and a great way to end our stay in Switzerland. It was definitely the most naturally beautiful place I have ever seen.

11 hour train to Vienna coming up next...