(My favorite moment)

We’re almost reaching an end of my Austrian adventures. And although it makes a part of me really sad as going through all these memories made me realize how much I miss that place, I’m so glad that I can share all these experiences with you all!

Next day of exploring, I decided to head on a bus tour to Hintertux Glacier which is a high ski peak in Austria reaching at 3250m. This is officially the highest mountain I’ve been on, so the experience was extra-ordinary for me. Despite what was yet waiting to happen …. Hehe

(On a coach)

(Seen on a coach journey. Great marketing there! ;) hehe )

There were several stages to the mountain, with quite a while of waiting in ski lifts to reach the top. I had some food at one of the lowest sections, before heading up.

(Sticker on a wall)

The peak was wonderful…. But ohhh so cold. So… So …cold. I went to the viewpoint to see surrounding mountain landscapes stretching in a grand manner. You know that scene in Titanic….. ‘’I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!’’. Well that was me, minus standing on the rails because they were icy ….and minus screaming- because any attempt to open my mouth was dreadfully painful, due to cold strong winds.

(View from a ski lift)

I was looking at the vast mountain landscape, feeling so small yet so free. I looked at some guides which showed different mountain peaks and also the direction to different country borders. I absolutely loved looking at all the different details of mountains but then the wind picked up and my nose couldn’t stand the cold anymore!

Admiring the views didn’t end the journey though, I was thinking of heading down before noticing a sign for Mountain- Ice – Cave exploring. The brochure looked cool, so I thought… 32 euros…. Why not?
The weather didn’t get better, with every passing minute the wind was picking on speed and the temperature kept dropping. At this point I completely covered myself in any piece of clothing I could find to make sure my cheeks don’t fall off. Even having two pairs of thermal socks and winter boots wasn’t making my feet warmer! I waited for the moment the guide came over to give us helmets and lead us to the cave.

The ice cave seemed like an ideal shelter from the wind, but in reality it was a death trap……
I was on the last trip of the day, and the group consisted of somewhat 20 people. There was one guide for all of us. And let me just point out, that in a dark, slippy cave full of safety hazards and people in their skiing gears…. It would make sense to have one guide at the start and one at the end to guide the group…. But then again, that wasn’t the worse of the issues there.

We went through the tiny corridors, up the ladders, down the ladders … and I just imagined how tough it must be for people who were wearing their snowing gear, ski or snowboarding boots, while I was there struggling in normal clothing.
There was one ice room that had a small man statue in the ice, which was quite cool (it was also the photo shown in the brochure). But apart from that, there really wasn’t much to see.

As we continued going deeper into the mountain, I started getting more and more light headed. There wasn’t much oxygen at this point and my body was reacting greatly. As my eyes started blacking out, and legs giving in… I sat down before I would fall and hit anything. My group left, and while I was sitting there trying to remain conscious, a couple of people walked past, they got close to me- looked at me for a while (I was like….. are they crazy?…) and then started laughing because apparently, they thought I was a mannequin. As they left, I sat there on my own. It was quiet and dark.

And I had no clue which way I was meant to go. Paranoid that I will get locked in a mountain and never heard of again, I rushed into one of the tunnels and just headed straight forward the way I thought was right.
I managed to re-unite with the group after a while… nobody noticed that I was gone. I laugh about this experience now…. But at the time it was quite scary. There was a lot of unprotected holes in the ground or broken ice, and the low oxygen levels didn’t help… I mean someone could really get hurt down there.

(Can you tell my 'hostage-look' face? Pls.. get me out of hereeee)

After making it out of the cave, I felt like kissing the ground! Hehe
After this thrilling and mentally exhausting adventure, I needed to re-fuel my brain with oxygen so I just sat on the hill of snow and watched a gentle sunset peaking among the mountains. The pink hues made a gentle appearance, and the beauty of the scene almost squeezed a tear out of me.

I just looked, breathed and felt alive! That’s the best way I can describe it! I felt the scenery around me, and I thanked for the blessing of this view, in fact whenever I have stressed days, I still come back to that moment in my mind… it means so much to me!

Before I knew it was time to leave, as otherwise I would miss my coach back. I headed down and tried to memorize all the mountain views at Hintertux Glacier one last time before I got on the coach.

Upon my journey back, I started scouting for locations to eat. This was one day all the staff at the chalet had off which meant all guests had to take care of their own food. I have to say, if you’re looking for a holiday in Mayrhofen, go all out on booking a place which is all inclusive. There’s a number of restaurants and diners but the prices are out of this world!!! I managed to find a good place with reasonable pricing and decided to go for something new…. Something I’ve never tried before… a dinner with deer meat! I have to say, it wasn’t as special as I expected, quite chewy…. I then had some more mulled wine to wash down my dirty conscience…. Poor deer…

Over all, I loved every minute of this wonderful day! I hope you enjoyed the post!

Cheers,

Marta x