As usual with an HF walking holiday, there are no led walks on offer on Wednesday. It is a chance to recover from the previous exertions or to visit other places of interest on one's own. The choice was between travelling for two hours or more each way to visit other towns and staying in or around Adelboden, perhaps using the adjacent open air swimming pool. A third alternative was to go for a walk! There was an interesting narrow gorge not on our official itinery which was not too far away and for which previous leaders had prepared a map. Our route took us through minor roads in the town and through school premises then descended steeply into the countryside. In the sunshine we continued along a tarmac road of well spaced individual wooden residences all with window boxes and one with an immaculate vegetable patch with many varieties but very few of each. The stockpiles of fuel were an interesting feature of each one.
Eventually we came to this rather confusing sign post - the way to our destination ( Cholerenschlucht) is indicated in opposite directions! - but despite that, fifteen minutes later we were working our way along and up through the gorge - a narrow dark crack in the tall cliffs - on a network of wet steel walkways and stairs suspended from the rock by steel cables above the roaring cataract. A truly magnificent sight but not for the faint hearted.
After another couple of kilometres we came to the Cafe Blatti, a rather simple establishment especially in respect of its lavatory! However the cheerful lady proprieteress provided us with her renowned lemon cake and two enormous coffees served in large soup bowls as can be seen here.
