Adelboden, Switzerland 2005 - Travelogue

Monday, 15th August

We awoke to find that during the night, snow had covered the higher slopes of the Lohnermountain. It was still damp, and with further rain predicted we were forced to alter the days activities to suit the weather.

We once again boarded the coach to take us around Lake Thun to St.Beatus Höhlen (St.Beatus Caves). The caves, situated at the base of a limestone cliff on the east bank of Lake Thun, have been naturally formed over millions of years. Legend has it that they were inhabited by a dragon until Beatus, an Irish missionary, vanquished the beast.

A short, but steep climb, which criss-crossed the waterfall cascading down from the caves into Lake Thun, took us up to the entrance to the cave complex. A guided tour then took us on a 1km route into the mountain with a rise of 86m.

Inside the caves, which remain at a constant 8°C to 10°C throughout the year, the path wound deeper into the mountain, following the path of the water that helped form the caves. Along the tour we saw many stalagmite and stalagtite formations, many of which had names; underground gorges, caverns and waterfalls.

Stalagtites and stalagmites (Do you know how to tell the difference?) form by continuous dripping of water with a high lime content. Their age can amount to decades, centuries or even thousands of years. One of the oldest that we saw, named the Koh-i-noor after the famous diamond, is estimated to be around 40,000 years old.

The guided tour only took us 1km into the mountain but the undeveloped section of the caves continues for many kilometers further, accessible only to cave explorers.

After lunch, we left the caves and took the coach on the short trip back to Interlaken where, while dodging the rain showers, we had about an hour to explore the town and to buy presents. At least some of the Scouts were tempted by the familiar sight of a McDonalds restaurant!

We all met back at the quay side to board the paddle steamer, PS Blümlisalp, for a trip on Lake Thun to Spiez. The paddle steamer, which entered service in 1906, was originally powered by coal but has more recently been converted to run on oil. Inside you could watch the engine and the paddle wheels as they powered the ship along, and as an added bonus, warm up by the heat of the engine!

Despite the weather, which made visibility poor, we did get a good view from the ship of the caves we had been to that morning and the waterfall as it cascaded down into the emerald coloured lake.

After dinner, the evening was spent playing games and inter-team competitions.