Walking Trip to Bambesch

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

By Robert Frost, “Stopping by the woods on a Snowy Evening”

These lines came to my mind in the morning - dark clouds hovered in the sky and then there was downpour thereafter. This was going to be that last walk of the term for me and I did not want to miss it. I was already going to miss the lunch following the walk due to other commitments, so the walk was definitely a “must-do” for the day. The Weather Gods smiled and my Will supported me…so here goes:

1. Uphill walk to reach Bambesch – Even before the designated walk, the uphill pointed round about walk from the bus stop to the walking trail was a good warm up indeed!

2. Followed a set walking trail – There were several walking trails to choose from and we decided to follow the “yellow man”. It is a 5.5 km walk called “Cross Promenade”. I must admit that the walk did not seem so long at all since it had a lot of variety in the trail – rocks, twigs, stone steps, mud to name a few!

3. Rolling stones gather no moss – Am sure the stones here were not rolling! Spotted quite a few beautifully decorated stones full of velvety moss! When I was a little girl, I remember thinking that velvet grows on rocks and is made of moss just like wool grows on sheep!

3. Lovely woods – The tall green trees providing a lot of shade along the way felt as if I was walking amidst one of the locales in the Hindi movies where two lovers run away from home to start life and then dance around trees in the woods!

4. Kids ensured that Moms lost extra calories- Trudi had to jog to keep pace with her daughter and Marie had to brisk walk with her daughter who refused to sit in the buggy despite being promised buggy racing! My daughter wanted to sit on the stroller most of the time and pushing a stroller with small wheels over rough terrain ensured that I had to exert more muscles!

5. Wild berries/cherries – The red berries/cherries growing amidst the woods added color to the green.

6. Benches and exercise equipment along the way – The municipal/commune has really thought about everything! All along the path, there were wooden benches/equipment to do sit ups and other kids of exercises. They were located beautifully too!

7. The walkers – All the people in the walk contributed to great company, lovely conversation and insightful tips/traps of being an expat!

8. Put on your imagination caps – There were several sights which, when one would look at closely, would depict different things – like watching clouds! What can you see in these pictures? Post it in the comments!