Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB): Hike of a lifetime (Part 2)

Now, if you haven't read Part 1 of my Tour du Mont Blanc story, link here. 

Day 4 (11 Aug 2019) - 29,535 steps

Val Veny/Courmayeur > Rifugio 

Body ache was hitting me hard. I had blisters; my feet were bruised; calves felt like they belonged to someone else's; knees were so sore, I could feel it aching from just trying to stand still. And worst of all, I felt like I was going to catch a cold. 

But the hike must go on.................... and today, we're expecting at least 4 hours worth of ascend. 

The day started off with us leaving Courmayeur, cutting through the town before arriving at the trailhead.

Lucky us! Even managed to catch a glimpse of Mont Blanc summit. 

We had a pitstop at Bonatti Hut. An opportunity to fill up our water bottles and a chance to take some photos! They had this observation deck and the view was (obviously) amazing. 

After that, it uphill all the way until our lunch break. 

Lunch view was once again, AMAZING. I'm not doing it justice but the best way to describe the experience was like watching television with 4k resolution and an extremely wide screen. 

All the pain from the uphill battle was well forgotten once we got to our accommodation for the night at Rifugio Alpino Walter Bonatti! I mean, with that view, who wouldn't?! Even my fruit tasted extra crisp and refreshing.

Accommodation was more like a hostel, approximately 8 to a room, depending on the size of your group I suppose. Amenities were pretty clean and well maintained. The only downside (but extremely understandable due to the altitude we were in) was that you have a time limit to your hot shower. Each person receives a token that you'd insert when you enter the shower cubicle. Once your time is up, good luck trying to wash off those soap in icy cold water!

I wasn't exaggerating when I said my body was broken and I was definitely not the only one. We had a mini yoga/stretching session in the room that night. 

Day 5 (12 Aug 2019) - 18,400 steps 

Val Veny/Courmayeur > Rifugio 

The day started off lovely but very quickly in the span of less than 30 minutes, it turned from this... 

to this.

Thunderstorm alert. With no choice, we had to cut our hike short. It was a race against time to get down to the valley as quickly as we could. The 2 local guides even gave the group a warning, "no stopping for photos".

But here's a sneaky one while we wait for the rest to gear up. 

We marched our way through the rain and caught the bus to head back Courmayeur. Thank goodness me and mum decided to invest in a poncho the day before. EURO40 well spent. Expensive but at least we stayed relatively dry.  

To be honest, I was secretly happy that the hike got cut short. 

We got to Courmayeur around 11am and had to hang around town till 12pm for our next bus.We walked around town hoping to find some local delicacies but most of the restaurant isn’t serving hot food until 12pm. Had to settle for a focaccia. The glutton in my was a bit disappointed. 

But thankfully, I stumbled upon a butcher shop. Walked out with a pack of Coppa al Ginepro, so it says on the pack. Surprisingly, it was one of the tastiest cured meat I've ever had! It wasn't too salty, tasted juicy even. 

The bus took us through a windy road as we crossed The Great St Bernard Pass, moving from Italy into Switzerland.  

That little stream under the tiny bridge is in fact the border between Italy and Switzerland!

Accommodation for the Day 5 was at Hotel Splendide. 

Everytime when we get to stay at a hotel instead of a dorm, I'd be extra excited! No need for late night orchestra i.e snores from multiple sources, and most importantly, I get to poop in complete privacy. Bliss. 

It was such a shame that it was drizzling. We could have been chilling outside at the patio, enjoying the amazing view but instead, all we saw was a layer of fog. 

But it's okay, I've got my beer nonetheless. 

We did check out the lake in Champex but honestly, no big deal. 

Had cod fillet for dinner. Thought it was just alright and doubt it was freshly caught out of the lake. 

Day 6 (13 Aug 2019) - 24,376 steps

Champex > Trient 

Woke up feeling drowsy due to the medication from the night before but there's no stopping in this trip. 

God bless me, indeed. 

Today's hike features the Swiss mountain landscape with views to the famous Rhone valley. 

We eventually made it to Alp Bovine, 2000m above the Martigny Valley, where we will be having our lunch. Packed lunch was some pastry that was way too sweet so we went ahead and ordered some vegetable soup. Perfect for the weather.  It was in fact quite chilly, hovering around 10°C.

Day 6 was not the greatest for me. I was feeling extremely tired and basically felt like I was just dragging both my feet and soul, trying to just survive till we get to our next checkpoint. I really wanted to savour the scenery but part of me just wanted it to be over. 

The sign we were near our accommodation, was when the pink church was in sight. 

The group was split into 2 rooms as part of the sleeping arrangement. 

Our Group Leader, let's call her Ms R (for easier reference because stories are about to get juicier), in my opinion, was starting to play the game of favouritism. She handpicked a few to be in the same room as her, the "better room" since it came with a balcony. Perhaps... I have a prejudice against her but... 

Day 7 (14 Aug 2019) - 20,286 steps

Trient > Argentière 

Today we started making our way from Switzerland back to France. Building up to the highlight of our entire trip, arriving at the passageway, overlooking the Mont Blanc range. 

After 7 days of hike, Mont Blanc peak within sight or not, they all started to look the same. It was kind of anti-climatic but still breathtaking nonetheless. 

It was pretty windy up at the top so for lunch we decided to hike just a bit further down, to a hilly field. 

The weather was perfect and I wanted to air my toes for a bit, so I took of my shoes. While doing that, I decided to walk around the field, trying to get a few nice shots.

#forthegram 

But soon to realise, not wearing shoes, that was the dumbest idea. 

In fact, shortly after this picture was taken, I stepped on cow dung. 

What to do. WHAT TO DO.

I slipped my foot into a plastic bag before wearing my shoes to avoid it staining the insoles. So my left foot was basically brewing in shit the entire hike down. 

Marie, our local guide, said left foot on poop meant good luck... ... ... erm... I don't feel quite lucky though. 

Slowly but surely, we made it back down and took a shuttle bus back to Rock Pop (Day 0's accommodation). We made it back before the luggages so I was just walking around barefoot, but most importantly, we made it back before happy hour ends.

Day 8 (15 Aug 2019) - 18,814 steps 

Argentière to Chamonix/Les Houches 

ONE LAST DAY. 

We did a relatively easy hike to Lac Cornu since cable car to Lac Blanc was close. Suitable as a day hike if you don't have the luxury of time. 

Now, like every other hiking trip (at least for me), towards the end, you'd experience this weird conflicting emotion. Like, you're so glad it's over but at the same time, you really don't want it to come to an end. 

with that...

ladies & gentlemen, we've covered 170+km around the massif du Mont Blanc and almost 140km was on foot! 

Thanks Ma for bringing me around the world.