Berchtesgaden Pt.2 - Konigsee

The walk to the lake was nice. Everything was green, you could hear the river flowing. We followed the road from our campsite doing our best not to step on the many gigantic slugs that littered the pathways.

We made it to the end of the road, down a footpath which opened up onto a strip of tourist shops selling everything from lederhosen, wooden nick-nacks, fridge magnets, german flags and… Nordic walking poles.

This was the first time we'd seen them but it sure wouldn't be the last! I swear, after Berchtesgaden we saw people using them in every city we visited. Old people. Young people. They all seem to swear by them. I personally would hate to have to carry these things around Europe with me but that's just me.

But I digress.

What we saw when we got to the lake was breathtaking. The water. The mountains. The trees. The boat sheds. The boats. Picture perfect. If only it was snowing and I had my snowboard with me, this would be heaven.

You can see from the photos how clear the water is. This is actually drinking quality water because since the 1909 only electric, rowing and pedal boats have been allowed on the water. So not only is the water clean, you can enjoy the views in peace and quite because there is no noise coming from the boats. Well almost none.

Walking through the trees was surreal. It's amazing how many shades of green you can see in one place.

For a few minutes, all you can see is trees. Then all of sudden this happens…

Like I said before, you don't hear noise coming from the boats. However, you do hear the trumpet played by the boat's captain. The sheer rock walls that surround the lake creates an echo which is amazingly clear. To demonstrate the effect, the captain plays a tune on the trumpet which is then echoed back. Apparently they used to fire a cannon instead with the echo reflecting up to seven times. I wish they still used the cannons :(

Although I wasn't prepared to drink the water to prove its clarity like Bear Grylls, I did take a photo of my hand submersed in the water. Luckily Alice saw it in time because I was about 1 second away from being a leech's lunch, and he looked hungry.

Having already been attacked by leeches in Australia not too long ago, I wasn't keen to hang around any longer. It was an abrupt ending to our time at the lake but it was still awesome. Definitely some of the best scenery I've ever seen. End scene!