Before jetting off to Turkey to begin the Silk Road part of my trip, I took the chance to fly to Washington DC to see Adriana, who is working at the World Bank at the moment doing some really cool renewable energy stuff in South America. I hadn’t been in DC since I was there to visit my friend Sam back in 2001 (who coincidentally was also doing an internship at the World Bank at the time!) and I have to say that back then I found the city a pleasant and enjoyable surprise. It had none of that stuffy bureaucratic flavour I expected from the capital and I had a fantastic time, so I was looking forward to going back.
It was great to spend some time with Adriana and we saw a few of the sights that the DC area has to offer. We went kayaking on the Potomac from Georgetown down to the back of the Lincoln Memorial, we visited the Washington Zoo, and also traveled down to Alexandria (pretty old town centre and nice waterfront) for dinner one evening followed by some salsa at a Latin club in Adams Morgan. While Adri was at work I took in a few of the sights along the Mall: the White House, Washinton Monument, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, the National Archives (where they keep the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights), and a few of the galleries and art museums etc.
The President arrived at the White House in his helicopter, with Washington Monument in the background. In proud Berkeley tradition we stood with our middle fingers raised as he flew by.
The Washington Monument. Capitol Hill.
While in town, I decided to knock on a few Central Asian embassy doors (along aptly named Embassy Row, near Dupont Circle) to see if I could get anywhere with some of my Silk Road visas. First up was Kyrgyzstan, which turned out to be a doddle. I filled out a form, handed over the $100 cash and had a visa in my passport in all of 10 minutes – perfecto! I hit a few more obstacles with the Uzbekistan embassy; turns out Aussies still need the dreaded Letter of Invitation, which is a real bitch to organize. Think I’ll save that one for when I’m in Iran.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I’ve had some good news on the Iranian visa front! Just before I left Switzerland to come here I received notification that my request for a visa has been approved!!! Yeee haaa! I’ll go and collect the visa from the Iranian consulate in Istanbul in a couple of days. I’m really fired up to go to Iran now, everything I hear from people who’ve been there is great.
Next stop: Turkey! And let the Silk Road games begin…
With everyone at work during the weekdays I decided to pull the boots on and go for a day hike. I originally planned to do a bunch of overnight hikes while I’m here but the weather has been absolutely shite. Appears I missed summer by a day and it’s been cool, cloudy and rainy every day since I’ve been back.
In a short break in the weather I headed down to Central Switzerland to the small village of Aldorf, near the southern end of Vierwaldstaettersee (Lake Luzern). My plan was to hike from there over the 2291m Surenenpass, one of the last major mountain passes in Switzerland without a road running through it.
To make it day-hikeable I caught a small cable car from the bottom of the valley to Bruestli. From there it was a three-hour walk west uphill along a mountain ridge to the pass. The views were outstanding – numerous 3000+m peaks and glaciers, rolling green fields, the lake below – and the scenery was topped off with the continuous tinkle of Swiss cow bells.
Once I reached the pass I stayed a while eating my lunch and enjoyed the views further west, towards gigantic 3228m Titlis, 3198m Gross Spannort and other mountains. The rest of the hike was a gradual descent down the valley to Engelberg, where I caught a train back to Luzern.
Back in Switzerland, I raced around Zurich and the capital city Bern (a 1.5 hour train journey away) for a couple of days to try and gather a few of the many visas I’ll need for my next "Silk Road" leg of the Grand Tour. While in Bern I decided to rattle off a few photos – here’s a taste of this quaint and very "Swiss" city:
And for good measure, a couple of beautiful Zurich:
