With three others - a lovely German couple and their grand-daughter - we kicked off the tour with an electric train journey which took us 1km into the working mine which dates back to the 1500's. We had to dress up as miner's, and the protective clothing kept us warm as the temperature is a constant 12 degrees (reasonably chilly).
Once off the train we were treated to a light display showing off a section of a mine to it's best and then we were offered the chance to 'nip' down the slide (or take the stairs) and I thought I'd be brave and join Blair on the slide - blimey, I thought I was going to sick! My stomach lurched as we zipped down and little did I know they would be taking automatic photographs (that you could buy at 5 euro's each) at the bottom (or I would have attempted a smile rather than a grimace - that said, the photographic evidence didn't even show a grimace, more a horrified 'I'm going to be sick' look!). Needless to say, Blair bought the resultant photograph and had a good laugh at my expense.
The downside with the tour was that it was in German. We have found that the area doesn't particularly cater for the non-German speaker when it comes to tours and museums - there are no translations, so you have to make do with catching the odd word or just looking at what you see. Luckily for us, our German friend we had met at the start translated a few things for us which was really helpful.
Onward through the tour and we came upon another slide - I did seriously think about it but decided I wasn't up to it and walked down the steps instead. The slide took us to 'Mirror Lake' - an underground water feature where we had another light show and some Mozart. We all crossed the lake in a raft while the light show and music was going on and I certainly had a feeing that you were on a journey to the next life! There was something very calming and ethereal about it.
The tour lasted about an hour and then we had some time for a walk and a packed lunch (courtesy of the Hotel as we weren't having dinner that night) before boarding the bus for a short stopover at Lake Konigseee.
We didn't have time to take the boat tour so walked out to a viewing point before heading back and having a beer. Lake Konigsee was everything I thought Lake Chiemsee would have been - high mountains running down into crystal clear water. Lake Konigsee is 5 miles in length and 191 meters/620 feet deep at it's deepest point. It is also the cleanest Lake in Germany with no private boats allowed and the tour boats powered by battery.
After boarding the bus again we had a short journey on to Lake Hintersee, intended as a one hour 'refreshment' stop. Blair and I decided we didn't need any more refreshment and walked around the Lake instead, taking us about 35 minutes with an ice cream stop and some stops for photo's. This Lake, with the surrounding hills, was also very beautiful.
Getting back on the bus, we were pretty knackered and we got back to Rhupolding at about 5:15. Dinner was at a Pizza bar near the Hotel and then an early night (for me at least) as we had planned to walk Rhupolding's highest mountain tomorrow!
