3 Valleys – Day 4 – Val Torens / Lost In Woods

The weather is continuing to give us perfect conditions so to make the most of it, we went to the furthest resort in the 3 valleys from La Tania to Val Thorens (VT). It took a good hour or two to get to VT but the scenery en route was simply breathtaking.

With our packed lunches in my rucksack, we were going to have a full day on the mountain. At VT, we went up to the highest point in the 3 Valleys that the ski lift or gondola could take us. Actually I lied, I reached Cimo Caren which was at 3200m, while the others went to the glacier which was 20m higher but the runs going back down to terra firma were mostly black runs, which I couldn’t brave just yet.

After taking photos at the highest point of the trip, I had to venture down what was the hardest run that I’ve had to do so far (actually ever). It was a red run and from the gondola I did see a precarious drop and my eyes were not deceiving me as I approached the cliff face. You couldn’t go around it, the only way was down and down I went.

I started off slow by going far wide as possible then turning sharply and repeating the process until I got more comfortable and skied till the half way point. It wasn’t terribly hard as I would have imagined, it was like a blue run but only a tad steeper and a bit more ice. Other than it was a perfectly fine run and after doing that, any red run could be done!

I started making my way back to La Tania and it was going to take me at least 2 hours from Val Thorens and I had to make the last lift at 430 in Meribel otherwise I would be stranded with no easy way to get back apart from a bus or a taxi if it was operating or did that route.

I thought I would easily make it back but after taking 2 incorrect chair lifts, I was in strife and it was going to be somewhat of a miracle if I were to make the last chair lift from Meribel. I thought the only way I was going to have a chance was if I were to do as many red runs as possible, so I did.

Just by chance, the others were running late to and we somehow managed to bump into each other on the final red run before the lift. I was absolutely knackered at that point and I still had another run to go. By this time it was about 430 and our chances of getting on to the last chair lift were far fetched. So just as I thought, the lift was closed when we got there, perfect!

My contingency plan was to ski to the bottom of the village and get a bus. The others had different ideas and thought going through the woods through unknown terrain and duration was the way to go.

You would think that my plan is a far better alternative then venturing through the woods but my plan is not superior when you miss a couple of signs and get terribly lost on a cross country track (well that’s what I had thought at the time).

It was getting quite dark when I got lost and I had no idea where I was going. Some signs say to go this way, other signs that way. I was skiing on what looked like a cross country track but it was more like a walking trail covered in snow. There were benches here and there so I knew I was close to civilization. I stopped skiing once the tracks got too narrow and just started walking in the boots.

When the trail stopped there were abandoned houses and houses in mid construction. Once I saw people, I knew I had made it, made it to Meribel Village which is not the main resort, an off cut almost. I found the bus stop and waited for about 30 minutes without any luck.
Meanwhile back in the woods, the others were still trekking through the snow with their gear in hand. It was pitch black now and they’d almost made it to La Tania by following the signs, Eventually they got out of the woods and made it onto the main blue run of La Tania.

Back in Meribel Village I was still waiting for the bus, the timetable was nonsense and I really had no idea what its route was or even if it went to La Tania at all. However I did manage to spot a sticked on the bus timetable of a taxi company. I called and asked if they spoke english and whether or not they could take me back to La Tania.

The taxi driver said yes and he arrived within 5 minutes. The taxi drive to La Tania was at most 5km and it cost me €26. Ouch! But at least I made it back to the apartment.

The others had already arrived back and taken my order for pizza’s. As I walked up to the apartment, we met again only this time they got back with some effort while I was €26 poorer. What an eventful day!!!!

3 Valleys – Day 3 – Meribel / Courchevelle

It was another perfect sunny day for skiing and despite being sore and nursing 2 bruised big toes, I was more confident skiing the runs without fear of stacking it.

I skied the blue runs mainly in the Meribel area and this by far is my favorite resort. My favorite run is the Pelozet from the top of Tougnette 2 all the way down to St Martin de Belleville. This run went on for about 20-30 minutes going at a moderate pace. I had to stop every 5 minutes just so my legs could rest especially the quads as the turns do really put immense pressure on it.

Meribel has many long Blue runs and there are plenty of lifts that operate this area connecting many runs together. My aim was to do every blue run before tackling any reds. But this wasn’t going to take more than 1 day so I did as much as I could before lunch.

It’s always a bit of a trek going from 1 resort to the other but thankfully the 3 valleys ski lifts are well connected to get you to whereever it is you need to go. From Meribel back to apartment in La Tania, it takes at least an hour depending on where you are.

Its good to come back to the apartment for lunch if your are in the vicinity or if the travel time back is about an hour. However if its more than an hour then its not worth traveling back. Pack a decent lunch and spend more time on the mountain, after all ski lifts are only opened between about 900-1630!

Food is definitely expensive on the mountain even in the local supermarket, so a healthy budget is required if you want some decent food.

Once lunch was devoured, I was back on the mountain trying to clear all the Blue runs on the Courchevel side. All runs are sign posted quite well with the name of the run and also a number. The lower you go down the mountain and down a particular run, the number decreases. This is a good system as its easy if you need to meet someone at a particular point or in case you have an accident and if you are still conscious, you can roughly give your location to emergency services (provided you can speak french or if they understand English).

The best part about skiing these runs is the peace and tranquility. I hardly saw anyone on the runs and some runs there weren’t anyone on it. I guess one of the reasons why no one is on the piste or mountain is because their planes have probably been cancelled just like us!

There isn’t much of things to do at night in La Tania. The only thing opened are the pubs and restaurants. Most shops close before 8pm and there isn’t really much that’s going on. I’m surprised there’s a Michelin star restaurant in the town and there’s only about 5 restaurants in total. You’re going to have to pay through the roof to eat at a restaurant and even more if its a Michelin star one. The best option for dinner that night was an adequate size pizza, with a bottle of wine (good wine and cheap) and watching the African’s Cup on tele.

Meanwhile the others arrived back later than usual and the reason being was that they missed the last ski lift back to La Tania. They waited around for the bus but it never came so they managed to hitch a ride back to the apartment!

3 Valleys – Day 2 – La Tania / Courchevelle

I haven’t skied in at least 3 years so it was going to take a couple of ski runs to get into the rhythm again. I also haven’t been skiing in Europe before so I didn’t really know what to expect in terms of difficulty. All I knew was that the runs are classified as Green, Blue, Red and Black.

The weather was perfect today, nice and sunny and such a different contrast to the last couple of days in London where its been miserable but there should be no surprises there.

A 3 valleys 6 day lift pass will set you back about €223. It will let you ski Courchevelle, Meribel, and Val Thorens which are the main resorts. The lift pass will also allow you to ski other resorts inbetween those 3 resorts including La Tania, St Martin, Les Menuires and La Masse.

I spent most of the day around La Tania and Courchevelle 1550 skiing the green and blue runs. I have never skied on ski runs (piste) that are longer than a few minutes. These runs lasted 10-15 minutes and I would have to take a break every 5 minutes to catch my breathe and loosen my legs as they were sore and strained due to the pressures of turning constantly.

The scenery in the 3 Valleys are stunning and it was difficult to stop the temptation of taking photos every 5 minutes. Around every turn or down a new piste is a photo oppurtunity.

By the end of the day I was quite sore and I’m sure most people will feel the same after the first day of a skiing trip. Stretching and warming down defitenely helps ease the pain. Also a nice pizza and beer tops off the first day of skiing.

3 Valleys – Day 1 – Cancelled Flight

I had to leave the apartment at 3:30am to get to the airport, so I decided not to sleep and stay awake the whole night. It has been snowing quite heavily in the UK so we did have concerns about our flight.

Before leaving to go to the airport, we checked the EasyJet flight to Lyon, France departing 630am and it was still scheduled to fly and all looked well. We arrived at Gatwick Airport at about 5am and checked all our baggage in and headed to waiting lounge.

You would think that if you are waiting to board a flight it is scheduled to fly and everything is ready to go. Shortly after buying some breakfast, we glanced at the departure flight screen to find our flight had been cancelled!

We spoke to the airline staff whom weren’t very helpful. The reason due to cancellation is due to the shortage of crew members. They said because of the snow, the staff couldn’t make it to work. Surely they would know this before checking passengers on a flight.

So we left the waiting lounge, walked through a few doors and ended up at baggage carousel. We got our luggage then proceeded to walk to EasyJet helpdesk to claim a refund or change flights.

The airline staff said the flight was going to be rescheduled to 1630 and we knew straight away that flight was going to be cancelled with further snow expected.

While waiting in the long line to speak to EasyJet staff about a new flight, the guy standing behind us ripped the smelliest fart ever! I turned around and bang, this smell just hit me in the face; it was ruthless!

We gave up lining up at the EasyJet line because we knew it was a waste of time and all flights today by EasyJet would be cancelled. Non budget airlines however had a far better chance of flying so we headed to the North Terminal and spoke to British Airways.

Our new plan was to fly to Geneva, Switzerland and somehow use our connecting bus ticket orginally issued for Lyon and use it in Geneva because they were the same bus company.

British Airways quoted us £150 one way flight to Geneva at 1030am which was quite expensive considering we paid £50 return to Lyon. There was also a BA flight at 2pm for £125 which was too late.

Instead we ran around the terminal and spoke to any travel company that flew to Geneva. By chance the first person we spoke to said there were available seats and the flight was leaving at 830am for £100, so we agreed. Since the flight was non budget, we knew we’d go to Geneva!

The flight was delayed by perhaps 1 hour so we managed to arrive in Geneva at about midday. We gained momentum in the luck stakes as we managed to get bus tickets to La Tania at no extra cost when it should have beem more.

We arrived at the apartment at approximately 4pm and this was only 1 hour late if we had caught the original Lyon flight, so its not a bad effort.

The Man and His Luggage

People disembarking from the Stanstead Express train usually are coming from Stanstead Airport. The final destination is Liverpool Street Station where my Journey begins to work.

I couldn’t help but notice the man and his luggage. Everyone was rolling around standard size suitcases or walking with back packs but not this character. He was wheeling around a tiny suitcase of which 250 ply sheets of toilet paper could be the only thing that could fit in there.

Does he not like backpacks? Or will his poor shoulders scream murder for carrying a lightweight pack?

This man or any other man should not be using these suitcases! They should be handed back to their rightful owners, spoilt little kids who can pack their own powdered milk so they can nourish themselves throughout their holiday.

We’ll spare this guy the ruler this time, if there is a repeat, send him to China where an act like this could face the lethal injection. Do the crime, you don’t have much time!

smiles

testing post from wordpress on blackberry!

Finally there’s a wordpress for the blackberry. Now it should be easier to update this blog in the palm of my hands. No more wasting money having the blog do nothing

This is a cool birthday gift. Ramblings at any time.

Japan (Day 8) – Flight back

Sun 26/07/2009

The bus from Shinjuku to Tokyo Narita airport takes about 1-1.5 hours on the bus. The train I believe takes just as long and I would guess be a bit more expensive. The bus costs 3000 yen one way and since there are two/three terminals at the airport, they categorize your bag with different colored tags so you know when to get off. I thought it was a great system.

It is a bit sad to leave Tokyo and even more depressing knowing that you’ll be back into London in 12 hours, eat dinner, sleep and be at your office desk the next day.

smiles

Japan (Day 7) – Roppongi, Yoyogi Park, Shibuya & Daiba

Sat 25/07/2009

Today was the busiest day in Tokyo, I wanted to do so many things before leaving Tokyo and luckily the weather today was perfect; hot and sunny.

First stop was back to Roppongi to visit the Sky Deck. I had actually called them in the morning to confirm it was opened otherwise I wouldn’t have been. The view from the Sky Deck of Tokyo is amazing, it is so DENSE! It seems like there is no room left to build anything whatsoever.

On the way to Yoyogi Park, my friend suggested I visit Meiji Shrine. This park/shrine is a welcome sight from all the apartments, skyscrapers and people crammed in Tokyo. It is particularly nice on a hot day like today to walk amongst the trees and shade. At Meiji Shrine I witnessed a marriage but it felt like a funeral procession, cheer up people!

I wanted to check out the freaks or should I say the EMO’s at Yoyogi Park dressed in their Manga attire. I know Sundays are usually when they’re out and about but I was hoping some would appear on Saturdays. Sadly, they’re only out on Sundays as I couldn’t find anyone around dressed up.

Instead I witnessed a show involving skaters and bike riders in a game of reverse limbo whereby the skater/biker would jump the pole and slowly the height would increase until everyone who participated was eliminated. This was all on a stage, with a DJ spinning the decks in the background. I don’t think it was an organized event; it was like these guys rocked up, set up some decks on a stage sitting in the middle of nowhere and began to draw the crowd including skaters and bikers.

It was an entertaining event nonetheless with the BMX easily clearing the bar and eliminating his opponents. I’m not sure what he won in the end, probably a sushi set.

Next up was the shopping district mecca of Harajaku and also Shibuya. I have never seen so much people in my life just wandering up and down the streets in the same vicinity. I thought London was congested, this area and Tokyo in general was like a global gathering.

Here I did see some girls dressed up in Manga costumes but it seemed to me like they were there to make money, i.e. take a picture with me and pay me X amount of yen but I could be wrong as I didn’t approach them. I couldn’t help but do some shopping myself so I entered this cool T-shirt store and bought about 3 T-shirts just to fit into the crowd (I’m joking).

I’m waiting to see how the Oxford Street / Regent Street crossing is like when it becomes transformed into a street crossing like in Tokyo. I want to see if it gets as busy as Shibuya. Somehow I don’t think it can compete to the sheer number of people crossing the road in 20 different directions dodging each other in the process. It would have to be the longest wait in front of the traffic lights for someone driving a vehicle.

That night I headed to Daiba, where the Fuji TV station is situation and also Rainbow Bridge. I was here mainly to take some night photos of the bridge and as much of the Tokyo city skyline as possible which was dependent on which buildings had their lights or rather neon lights on.

Daiba is on an island that is connected to Tokyo via the Rainbow Bridge. It’s quite a nice place to chill out by the water on a summer night and relatively easy to get to on the Tokyo Metro trains.

smiles

Japan (Day 6) – Tsujiki Market

Fri 24/07/2009

I was out of the hotel door at 5am and headed to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market to explore the premises, examine the seafood that was on offer and see what the fuss is all about in regards to the Tuna auctions. It is quite busy at the seafood market with funny looking and operated vehicles dashing up and down the aisles filling orders for the businesses.

I can’t believe how much fresh seafood was here, it was definitely seafood heaven and it was by far the freshest seafood I’ve ever seen in the world so far at a market apart from the frozen tuna. Fish were still swimming around in their containers; it was like they’d just been thrown in a box straight from the sea. I really can’t say if the produce is expensive or inexpensive as I didn’t take notice of the price. I was too busy taking photos of the seafood being sold and admiring the size of the scallops – gigantic!

I didn’t find the tuna auction interesting at all. It was just a bloke standing in the center of the room taking bids and offers. He was surrounded by a large group of blokes raising their hands and that was pretty much it. The tuna was all frozen and once sold would just be loaded onto a wooden cart and wheeled away to one of the many seafood businesses selling this on to their customers. Some stores would sell the tuna whole, others would saw it in half literally, while others chopped and filleted their pieces of tuna to manageable and consumable sizes.
On the outskirts of the market are restaurants that serve ramen noodles as well sushi and all things seafood. I couldn’t stomach sushi so early in the morning so after eyeing where I wanted to go for lunch, I headed back to the hotel for a nap.

I returned later to a restaurant called Sushizanmai and got a plate full of sushi with different types of fish. Most sushi items I knew what they were but there were some I had no idea but I still ate it anyway. There was raw tuna, snapper, eel, crab, fish roe and many others.

This place is by far the best place I’ve ever had Sushi and everything I ate was so soft and delicious. The fish were delicate and the wasabi just right burning through my nostril. The best thing was that it only cost me around £13 and I was completely satisfied, it touched the spot (my stomach) nicely.

Roppongi was my next destination. Roppongi is the city or suburb where all the international shops and restaurants are located. I wasn’t interested in those particular places but instead I was looking to go up to the Sky Deck to see Tokyo from above. Unfortunately due to the weather that day, the Sky Deck was closed but you could go to the observation deck. Well to me that was pointless, if I can’t go to the top floor/terrace and have non obstructed views then there was no point going up there!

smiles