Sölden is an outdoor place. We had to get ‘in the nature’, so it was in the car and off to Umhausen to hike along the Horlachbach brook to see it rush over the 159m cliff and become Tyrol’s largest waterfall -the Stuibenfall. We did consider the Klettersteig but decided against it. Our walk was enough.

Not that we are averse to a bit of an adrenaline spike. In fact, we decided to do the 7.3-kilometre Mountain Cart ride from Gaislachkogl middle station to the valley floor at Sölden. We scrambled onto the gondola along with the mountain bikers and rented our carts and headed for the tunnel which was the beginning of the downhill ride. It is a simple cart with handbrakes which I discovered also assist steering. We got a push down the tunnel to start with the fellow advising us not to touch the breaks. We didn’t. We still stopped. Fortunately, a couple of hikers gave us an extra push to start us again. We were off. Initially the track was smooth and the gradient shallow. That was a delusion. It got more challenging as the ruts deepened and widened, with more hairpin turns and slopes becoming steeper. The braking system was easy, and we were able to adjust our speed and enjoy the ride. It did get a bit disconcerting when the path changed into a shared section and on the hair-pin turns, thrill-seeking bikers literally sailed up the berm and over the top of us. (A berm is a high bank…see what you learn when travelling!!!). The other challenge was the last 200m where we had to drag our carts back. They can be very awkward on the flat. Still, it was a fantastic experience and one that we both enjoyed. 

Austria is mainly a Catholic country and Tuesday was a public holiday for the Assumption of Mary. Gurgl was celebrating with a festival. We took the bus to see what it was all about. There was a marching band, a ceremony and then food and drink. We noticed a gondola so decided to see what we might see. We reached the first station and decided to take the next one seeing that with our Summer Pass it was free. We were on the Hohe Mut Bahn in Obergurgl. OMG I am so pleased we did!!! The view from the top was spectacular. I counted nineteen glaciers and apparently there are a total of 21 mountains over 3000m to be seen. We called home to share our experience and sat at the Hohe Hut Alm with a coffee and soaked in the amazing surroundings. 

Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstrasse connects the Ötztal Alps in Austria to Sud Tyrol in Italy. It is open from 7am to 8pm in Summer -late May to October- and seeing our next destination was Meran/Merano in Sud Tyrol this scenic pass would save us quite a few hours travelling, and it was spectacular. To add to the experience there is the Timmelsjoch Experience Pass which is a series of ‘stations’ which are architectural sculptures with information on nature, history and culture.  It was a terrific drive and a perfect conclusion to our Austrian experience.