We left Belgium Sunday morning to fly to Geneva, then take the train through Brig to Betten, Switzerland.  From Betten, we rode the gondola to the small village of Bettmeralp at an altitude of 2000m. We had instructions to follow the main road to find our chalet, Daheim.  It was a 10 minute walk up the hill, the chalet waiting with the key in the door and our name on a Post-it note! Bettmeralp is a village with no personal vehicles, and chalets dotted all over the mountainside.  In the village we become familiar with the grocery store, sports complex, and of course the bakery. Our legs are feeling it already!  We are not in peak summer or ski season, so there are few people and the village is very peaceful and quiet.  We are managing to get by with some english, broken french, and of course when needed, sign language! Yesterday we took a chair lift, then hiked to the next village passing through farms and petting horses along the way.  We then took a gondola to the top of Eggishorn at 2269m, to walk out to the spectacular view of the Aletsch glacier which is a Unesco world heritage site.  What a playground for those who love mountains, snow and ice! From Eggishorn, you can ascend a very steep, narrow ridge and follow a “trail” which is on the very peak of a ridge to get to Bettmerhorn.  It is not for the slight at heart, and we were amazed to see a very young family coming down the east side.  We apparently are the slight of heart, as the three hour hike (more like walking a tight-rope?) was more than we were ready for mid-afternoon!  But we did hike down through pastures and past mountain ponds, with breathtaking scenery of far mountain peaks (Matterhorn) and scattered villages on plateaus of surrounding mountains.