DRIVING ON HIGH MOUNTAIN ROADS

Back then, at the peak of youth, swayed by the “temptations” of friends my age, I bought a six-day tour from a Swiss company, not the usual kind of tourism.

It was certainly not ordinary to ride a bicycle on the mountain roads with a Swiss female guide in front and a van escort behind.

Many years have passed, but the pages of youthful life have returned. Which memories are like the fading sunlight of the afternoon that vanishes? They may sink deep somewhere in the subconscious, in the unconscious, but they never disappear.

Like the trip to the mountains that summer. A challenge for myself as I tirelessly crossed one pass after another. Looking back now, I realize I was no less than my Western friends at that foreign school.

How to go? Bring a good bicycle; if you don’t have one, you can rent it, possibly from the tour company.Then take a train to a town
town near… Italy, close to Switzerland: Chiavenna, at an altitude of over 300 meters. Throughout Europe, it is always convenient with trains; you can almost go anywhere. Our first train journey was from the capital of France to the remote highland town of Chiavenna in Italy, nearly 600 kilometers away; even the slowest train takes less than 10 hours.

By the afternoon, we wandered around this town of less than 8,000 inhabitants. At nine o’clock the next morning, we gathered in front of the Chiavenna town hall, where the tour guide was waiting. She looked very “sporty” in her tight-fitting outfit, wearing flashy yellow shoes that matched perfectly, unmistakable.

From then on, we got on our iron horses together. Like true cyclists, we pedaled hundreds of kilometers every day, crossing the Alpine slopes from Italy to Switzerland and back to France. The guide also sped along the road, only occasionally stopping by the roadside to explain a bit to our group of 10 all-male cyclists, before speeding off again. She took care of the whole group. Just like Tam taking care of… her!

Her presence made everyone feel that the desolate, windy place became bright and warm. Her voice was as sweet as coconut water, causing many of the men in the group to feel dizzy, sometimes as if they were in a half-awake, half-dreaming state…

Following the group was a van carrying supplies, painted a modest navy blue.

We drove from east to west, facing the high passes mainly along the arc of the Swiss Alps, including some passes as thin as a thread strung across the rocky slopes. The gusts of wind whipped against our faces, sometimes raging and causing the car to sway, making it hard to breathe, but we had to keep pushing forward. Can’t dawdle, because in a day you need to press the pedal for hundreds of kilometers, not a small distance, like the road from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau, but on uneven, narrow roads.

However, one can still enjoy picturesque scenery that can only be seen in mountainous regions: typical Swiss-style wooden houses with sloping roofs located along the roadside or hidden among pine forests; mountain peaks covered in snow year-round or rivers and lakes that, it is said, often freeze like winter ice, and in summer, the water flows gently or drifts softly. Truly spectacular.

Looking up at the blue sky, sometimes you see eagles – the leaders of the sky – soaring; looking down at the valley, sometimes you see cows, sheep, and even goats, leisurely grazing – it’s summer after all. When winter arrives, from the beginning of November, they will be taken by the herdsman to the farms in the plains.

Sometimes, crossing through the pine forests, the sounds would whiz through the canopy, sometimes sparse, sometimes dense, blending with the sound of water flowing down from the high mountains, creating an enchanting melody.You can smell the fragrant pine resin and the faint scent of grass under the forest canopy.

Sometimes, just after rounding a bend, you might see a mountain rise before you, or perhaps two peaks covered in snow. Snow is always permanent on the high peaks of the Alps mountain range, which stretches for thousands of kilometers from Italy to France, Monaco to Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia.

Sometimes, I had to slow down because I ran into a village with houses that had very steep roofs—so that snow could be easily cleared during or after winter—encountering groups of tourists holding guidebooks and maps, walking back and forth.
Occasionally, they stop to read a book or look at a map.

The view from above is so expansive and incredibly gentle.

EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF THE DAY

At that time, it was already mid-June, when the small country of Switzerland, with its 7.5 million people, was bustling with tourists due to the relatively warm weather. They can go
boats, climb mountains without encountering extremely cold weather. However, on our way, we didn’t encounter any bicycle groups at all!

By the end of the day, everyone was utterly exhausted. Eating quickly just to get it over with – unable to savor the delicious mountain dish of Switzerland made from cheese and fresh milk, everyone collapsed, sinking deep into sleep. Because tomorrow we have to wake up early, continuing the long and arduous journey, not just a simple trip. Therefore, we couldn’t enjoy the starry sky and the orange and red clouds of dawn, as advertised by a Swiss tour company.

Actually, there are times when you can enjoy it, but not for long. When the afternoon sun tilted, the sunset departed, a hint of mountain glow reflected on the deep blue sky, then gradually turned purple, and twinkling stars appeared. Some nights, I see the moon slowly rising as if hanging suspended in the vast space…

Every early morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is go out to the hotel courtyard to do about 15 minutes of exercises, look up at the sky, and enjoy the sunrise. The sun gradually appeared, half-opened eyes behind the clouds; the gentle sunlight shone down on the ground, dispelling the chill of the previous night. The mountain landscape is indeed vast, and in the morning, the sky is deep blue again.Beautiful like a harmonious, natural ink wash painting.

Moments like those fill me with energy, allowing me to start a new day… cycling tirelessly. That was for me, because by the end of the third day, a tall friend had asked to stop the game, waiting for the travel company’s vehicle to take them back to Paris. By the fourth day, similarly, another tall friend bid farewell to the bicycle. They couldn’t bear it, which made me anxious and confused, reminding myself to try hard and stay strong.

Later, upon investigation, I found out that sometimes those who are small, slender, and regularly play sports and do morning exercises are actually more enduring than those who are just big and do not regularly engage in physical activities.

UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

Finally, only eight “racers” remained determined to hold on, hunching over their bikes and continuing the long journey.

The journey through the heights, at times reaching close to 2,000 meters, ended on Friday afternoon next to the Thonon-les-Bains train station in the Haute-Savoie region, southeastern France.

It is a village at an altitude of 430 meters, about 550 kilometers from Paris. It takes more than five hours on the train and three transfers, including one with the TGV high-speed train at 320 kilometers per hour, to finally reach Lyon station in Paris. Actually, staying in the village of Thonon-les-Bains would also be very interesting. The village is located on the southern shore of Lake Geneva in France, about 35 kilometers from Geneva, Switzerland.

In general, it is fascinating and delightful to gradually get used to the scent of the mountain breeze; an unforgettable experience! And it’s also a way to… actively boost health!

But, in the future, if I go on a mountain tour in Switzerland again, I will probably choose a tour that is a cycling tour with electric bikes covering several stages introduced by myswitzerland.com.

Starting from Unterterzen along a lakeside road, guests stop to eat chestnuts in Murg, the capital of this nut, and then ride to Mühlehorn. The next highlight is the Seerenbach waterfall, followed by Weesen, where guests will enjoy the main course of lunch at Brasserie du Lac.Get back on the electric bike for the final stretch to Beetlis; from there, return to Unterterzen by boat for dessert.