12th June - Prague Day 1
In summary, Prague was beautiful, with nice scenery, cheap food and friendly people who can speak decent English. We arrived on Monday, 12th June, around 2.30pm in the afternoon, and were impressed with the clean and new-looking airport. Although it was my 2nd visit to Prague, the last being in 1997 with my parents, it felt different this time traveling independently with friends. Right from the moment we arrived, we knew things were cheap and this was where we needed to treat ourselves. The 15 minutes bus ride on bus number 100 from the airport to Zlicin station, followed by a transfer in the metro to Nadroni Trida cost only 20 CZK for 3 zones (SGD$1.40). No other airport transfer cost cheaper than that.
We got off in town and walked a couple of streets down to our accommodation, Steve’s Guesthouse, which I had booked for 8 of us (Qiuchan and her two friends arranged with me a month ago to come Prague and sought help in booking the same hostel, and emailed them to assign one entire dorm room to the 8 of us). The rates were extremely good for an 8 bed mixed dorm with attached bathroom, kitchen, and internet access within the room; we only paid 700 CZK per person (SGD$50) for 2 nights! With Fred, Edelene and Elaine joining us in Prague, they too requested to join us in our dorm room since there was an adjacent 4 bedroom which was empty, making our total Singaporean strength in Prague 11!
We headed out to look for lunch, and found a Chinese restaurant near the station and not too expensive either. I ordered a sweet-and-sour-pork-rice set that cost me only 69 CZK (SGD$5), and enjoyed it thoroughly. After lunch we walked towards the Old Town Square, which has since been transformed into one giant arena with large LCD screens and food/drink booths to cater to World Cup fans. I met Qiuchan and her friend Edwina (who traveled all the way from Melbourne to tour with her in Europe), as well as Fred, Edelene and Elaine, before they left to find a late lunch.
With some recollection of the place, I led Grace, YH, SY and LC towards the major attractions in Prague. In several hours, I showed them the Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, and more or less covered Prague (yes it’s pretty small!). At dinner time, the rest wanted to eat Chinese food again and this time, LC led us to different restaurant, where I ordered a fish-with-mixed-vegetables-meal for 125 CZL (SGD$9). After a long day, we returned to Steve’s Guesthouse to retire.
13th June - Prague Day 2
With the major parts of Prague visited, Grace, SY, YH and LC’s plan was to shop, while I joined the UK faction of Fred, Edelene, Elaine, Belinda QC and Edwina to visit Mala Strana, a town with a hill on the other side of the river, opposite the Prague Castle. QC and Edwina had planned to bungee, but they found out they didn’t operate on Tuesday and so joined us to shop and climb the hill instead - but not before lunch at Karavella (along Michelska street). With every intention to sample Czech food, almost all of us ordered “goulash”, an authentic Czech cuisine, comprising tender lamb served on a plate flooded with gravy and slices of bread, costing only 92 CZK (SGD$6.60). Hunger satisfied!
After lunch the 2 factions split again, with Fred and I and the 5 girls crossing the Charles Bridge towards Mala Strana, where we had intended to climb the hill. Attempting to cut corners, we decided to take a short cut by trekking up the hill on treaded paths, reaching the peak in almost an hour, tired but not if we had to take pictures. At the top, only QC and Edwina paid 40 CZK (SGD$3) to climb up the Petrin Observation Tower, Prague’s own Eiffel, for a fantastic view, while we 5 decided to save that money and hang around.
The way down was made even more interesting, when we again tried to take a different short cut, and winded up at a short cliff with a steep slope. When I gave the green light, and convinced the others it was easier than making one big detour, they followed suit, and slid down the slope, with Fred and I assisting the descent. Who would have expected such an adventure in Prague?!
At night, I headed out to take some night shots of Prague, and met this old Czech couple along the way, who said they lived in Prague 6 (pretty out of town). At first they asked if we knew the score for the World Cup match that Tuesday, assuming we were Koreans. When I clarified we were Singaporeans, the old man’s eyes glimmered with delight, and mentioned to us he had flown with Czechoslovakian Airlines before to Bombay and Singapore, and stayed in Sea View Hotel back when he was still 24 years old. He remembered places like Change Alley, Sentosa, Changi, before mentioning that he would like to send us pictures so we could see what Singapore looked like during his time. What a small world!
14th June - Prague Day 3
Departure to Basel at 1.15pm.
14th June - Basel Day 1
What I found unique upon touchdown in Basel-Mulhouse Airport was the arrival hall where one sign points towards an exit in France/Germany, and the other sign pointing to the Swiss exit. Basel is the meeting point of 3 countries, as mentioned above. SY, YH, Grace and myself took bus number 50 to the main train station, Bahnhof SBB, for approximately 2.80 Euros (SGDS$5.60), after which we started looking for our hostel. What impressed upon us on the first day in Switzerland was the warm and friendly nature of the locals. When I was holding on to a map and appearing a tad lost, this gentleman approached us without fear or favor and asked if we need help with directions. Moreover, at the train station, 2 different counter staff also took time and effort to attend to our requests and explain all the terms and conditions should we decide to buy the Swiss Rail Pass. The service standard was really top-notch, and Singapore comes far from it.
Thankfully, my prior reservation at the Basel Youth City Hostel for just 33 CHF per person per night (SGD$45) earned us a new 4-bed shared dorm to ourselves. After settling in, we discussed our intended route through the Swiss Alps and concluded it was only worthwhile to buy the Swiss Rail Pass for Youths (under 26 years old only) for 188 CHF (SGD$254) for 4 consecutive days of travel. This allowed flexibility in taking any train all about Switzerland except the Jungfrau region, which we would need to pay 50% of the tickets if we wanted to. After Basel, we would hit Zurich, spend a couple hours, proceed to Luzern to spend the night, and then hit Interlaken for 2 days. But instead of taking a direct train from Luzern to Interlaken, we chose to go about the long clockwise route about the Jungfrau region because we wanted to make full use of our rail pass and take the Wilhelm Tell Express (3 hour boat ride from Luzern to Fluelen and another connecting train to Goshenen and Andermatt), and board one of the 11 scenic trains through the Alps, the Glacier Express, from Andermatt to Brig, which required us to make reservations (15 CHF or SGD$20 each). From Brig, we would transit to Spiez before taking the 15 minute train ride to Interlaken Ost (East).
After buying the rail pass and making the reservation, we went to the coop supermarket to shop for groceries and dinner. SY initially saw a spring chicken offer going at 2 CHF (SGD$2.70) for one whole chicken and immediately set his eyes on buying it. After he asked for one whole chicken, the lady at the counter wrapped it up and weighed it. Before she pressed for the price, SY gave her a 2 CHF coin, but immediately after she pressed the weighing machine to display the actual price of 8.65 CHF (SGD$12), he was stunned and declined, telling the lady he didn’t want it anymore after finding out the price was 2 CHF per 100g. Embarrassed, he walked away to another counter, bought 2 croissants to satisfy his immediate hunger, before we all returned to buy the half chicken for 1.30 CHF per 100g nonetheless.
We brought everything back to our hostel for dinner, and after we finished, they retired to the beds while I decided there was no time to waste and headed straight out to take some night shots of Basel and the river.
15th June - Basel Day 2 / Zurich / Luzern
The intercontinental Breakfast (included in the price) served in the hostel was superb, with a spread of 3 cereals, bread, ham, cheese, orange juice, and an excellent coffee machine. Leaving our luggage behind in the hostel so that we could take a quick stroll around Basel before leaving, we later returned to leave on the next train to Zurich at 12.20pm.
We arrived in Zurich, placed our backpacks in the lockers for 5 CHF (SGD$7) each, and decided to sightsee the city on tram, since our rail pass entitled us to unlimited travel on almost everything. Without any map or idea of what to see or do in Zurich, we just boarded one tram and changed to another until we hit the river/lake and alighted. With an amazing view and scorching weather (averaging 38 degrees celcius), we took some pictures and left the lake area to walk about the town.
We left Zurich on the 4.40pm train to Luzern, and arrived at our backpackers’ hostel after a long 20 minutes walk from the main station. Once again, we were delighted to know that a 4 bed dorm greeted us, so we had some privacy again for 29 CHF (SGD$39). Moreover, every room had a personal balcony and security lockers within the room. The only drawback was that breakfast was not included, but it was perfect for our plan since we wanted to check out before 9am so as to catch the first boat out of Luzern to Fluelen at 9.20am.
With some energy left, we decided to catch some more daylight and head out to explore Luzern with whatever time we had remaining. We passed by the shore and saw many beach-makers, all decked in swimwear enjoying the grass, sand, and water. One of my regrets there and then was leaving my swimwear behind in Denmark, else I would have jumped into the welcoming waters immediately. We walked all across town, forgetting our rail pass allowed us unlimited travel too, so in our return trip from the opposite side of the lake we took the bus back to the main train station. By then, everyone was hungry and started hunting for the supermarket to no avail. SY and YH succumbed to an 8 CHF (SGD$11) kebab, while Grace and I were not starving enough to part with that kind of money. We headed back to our hostel, and found out that there was a kitchen facility we could use fortunately. So the instant Mexican rice packet I bought in Prague for 30 CZK (SGD$2) could finally be put to good use. After we finished dinner, I stumbled upon a shelf full of games, and took the carom board for us four to play. All of us were excited with the fact that our hostel provided such free service, and also with this game we almost forgotten existed.
16th June - Luzern – Fluelen – Goshenen – Andermatt – Brig – Spiez – Interlaken Ost
The next day, we woke up, checked out, and headed for the pier to board the Wilhelm Tell Express, starting with a boat trip towards Fluelen. We took a connecting train to Goshenen and Andermatt before boarding the Glacier Express train where we made reservations for our seats. Since it was summer, we didn’t expect to see any glaciers, and SY even commented how it was a “Solar Express” instead because the cabin itself seemed rather stuffy. We transited again at Brig and Spiez before reaching our final destination of Interlaken Ost.
Back in Denmark, Grace and I had chosen to book the 4 bed-mixed-dorm in the hostel called “Funny Farm”, as opposed to the hotel by the same name. For 31 CHF (SGD$42) per person per night, we were pretty disappointed when we got to our room and saw the conditions worse than what we stayed in back at Basel and Luzern. Moreover, there was no key/lock for our room! And we thought it was the first joke the Funny Farm staff played on us! Thankfully, we’ve lived in “worse” conditions and were optimistic about our stay, so we didn’t complain that much. Thanks to Grace, she had brought along a small padlock, and we used that to lock our room from the outside when we left the room.
We headed out to the big coop supermarket to shop for food and dinner, and shared the cost of bread and ham to make sandwiches for dinner. We came back to the hostel and chilled outside the terrace, discussing our plans for the next day in Interlaken, before we heard and saw a group of at least 5 girls and 3 guys walk in, looking and sounding so much like typical Singaporeans. When they sat down at the table next to ours and started to talk, we knew at once they were Singaporeans. As if the world wasn’t small enough.
What was weird was the fact that no one dared to approach the other. We both knew each group was Singaporean, but all the while we kept muttering under our breath about the actions of the other group. SY, YH, Grace and I were “appalled” to hear such immature youths discussing about trivial stuff. It wasn’t long before we decided to leave after SY couldn’t control his laughter-restraining button.
17th June - Interlaken Day 2
Breakfast in Funny Farm was plain, with just bread, butter and jam, along with coffee or tea. Again, we saw one guy wearing a NUS IVP Takwando T-shirt, and his parents sitting at the table far behind. We were just amazed how Singaporeans seem to be everywhere!
Prior to leaving Denmark, I had arranged to meet Jiayin in Interlaken, knowing she would be visiting Switzerland and Austria this July together with her 4 other friends. So that Saturday morning, I headed to Interlaken West to meet up with her and her friends, while Grace, SY, and YH returned to their beds until I informed them of my intended plans. After landing on Zurich via Singapore Airlines (JY’s mum also works in SQ), Jiayin joined her friends to Luzern, and then to Interlaken, before checking in to Happy Inn Lodge, the hostel we almost booked but didn’t, thinking Funny Farm offered more in terms of facilities (which they did, swimming pool, tennis court, bar, pseudo rock-climbing wall etc, except we didn’t utilize them).
Since they were only going to visit Jungfrau (the highest point in the Swiss Alps and Europe for that matter) on Sunday, their plan for Saturday was just to walk around town. So I messaged SY, suggesting we head up Jungfrau today since we already came all the way to Switzerland. After an hour of walking along the main street with Jiayin and friends, I left them at the Casino Kursal to meet SY and gang at Interlaken Ost at noon. After a quick rosti+sausage lunch (11 CHF = SGD$14) at the coop restaurant, we headed back to the station to buy our tickets up Jungfrau for 78.50 CHF (SGD$106), a half price fare since our Swiss Youth Pass didn’t include the trains around the Jungfrau region, but entitled us to a 50% off the fares.
In reaching Jungfrau, we first took a train from Interlaken Ost to Wengen, and then to Lauterbrunnen, change to Kleine Scheideg, and then board a posh carpeted train from Kleine Scheideg (2061m/6762ft) up to Jungfrau, Top of Europe (3571m/11782ft).
The Jungfrau Railway was built by Adolf Guyer-Zeller, both an adventurer and an artist, more importantly, a pioneer committed to technological progress. Construction of the Jungfrau Railway was estimated to take seven years at a cost of CHF 10 million. But due to technical problems, supply problems, extreme environmental and climatic conditions, both forecasts were well of the mark. Construction instead took 16 years and costs CHF 15 million.
The Jungfrau Railway was the first cogwheel railway to use the “Strub” system. Today the 100 year-old racks are gradually being replaced by lamella racks made by Von Roll.
Sitting in the train which took us up the meandering route up the mountain, we were greeted with a spectacular view of the snow-capped-cloud-blanketed-mountain range, before the train burrowed through the mountain for the next 30 minutes, stopping once along the way for a panaromic view out of the mountain from the inside, and another time at the first contact with the glaciers. The final 10 minutes of the journey took us nearer to the peak, and we emerged end of the tracks, still “underground”, and inside the mountain.
We first explored the insides of the Ice Palace, and headed up towards the open plateau near the Jungfrau summit, where I finally realized some hopes of chilly weather. (As mentioned all along, I love the cold and didn’t at all mind the snow for the 2 months of winter in Denmark). So when I emerged into the open plateau with that day’s temperature hovering at 2 degrees celcius and 43 km/h winds, it was akin to reliving the Danish weather once again. Moreover, it was a refreshing change in the climate especially after traveling for the past 2 weeks around Paris, Prague and Basel in 30 plus degrees daytime temperatures and the scorching heat.
When the rest started complaining of the cold, it was time to leave the open and head back inside the mountain, and take the lift up to the Sphinx Observatory, where we got a better view of Europe basically. Standing atop the metal scaffoldings overhanging the cliffs, it was a rush of adrenalin where I felt my knees turn jelly. Yet, the awe-inspiring and breathtaking view injected enthusiasm and serenity all at once. Luckily we were there in the evening, where hoards of people were absent and most places were empty. Picturesque moments aplenty, we snapped away and filled our memory cards with priceless moments, ready to show our family and friends back home what they missed and should make up for.
By 5.30pm, we were ready to leave Jungfrau to catch the last train, the Jungfraubahnen, down towards Kleine Scheideg, and change trains back to Grinderwald, and finally down to Interlaken Ost.
18th June - Interlaken Day 3 – Montreux – Geneva
We checked out of Funny Farm, and left to take a train towards Montreux before reaching Geneva in the evening. After taking a regional train from Interlaken West to Zweisimmen, we hopped aboard the Golden Pass Line from Zweisimmen to Montreux, with no expectations of our 2nd class cabin to be as posh as a 1st class one. This is where I’m blogging up till right now, since I have 1.5 hours on board this posh train with lacquered wooden interiors and table lamps. More importantly, the panoramic view of the mountain ranges and incredible valleys along this undulating journey explains why our 188 CHF Swiss Rail Pass costs that much.
At Montreux, we got off to walk beside the lake, and enjoy the scenery this little but beautiful town had to offer. At the end of the walk, I saw an old man with his Shetland Sheep dog (I think, because it was the Lassie kind of dog), and proceeded to take a video of his clever dog rolling about the grass. When he saw me, he hand-signaled to me that a picture costs CHF 10, but meant it as a joke after he caught me by surprise. We started this friendly conversation in our own languages, and he explained that he used to stay in Milan, Italy, before he decided Switzerland was a much better place to live in. I told him I was on my way there, along with Rome, Padova, and around. He gestured to me, warning me about pickpockets and con men despite the Catholic country of Italy. I took one picture with his dog, David, before taking my leave because of the impending bad weather.
We collected our backpacks from the train station, and headed to Geneva on a 1 hour train ride. When we arrived in Geneva, we decided we had had enough of spending money on depositing our bags in the lockers and lugged it all around town. With no maps and no tourist information in sight, we just walked in no particular direction until we saw the lake from a distance. We found a nice bench and set up “camp”, where SY and Grace volunteered to guard our bags while YH and I wanted to walk about town, taking in whatever sights Geneva had to offer, if any. Fortunately, there happened to be some music and culture festival taking place at some part of the city, which made Geneva exciting after all, with carnivals, stages, performing artistes and all. Otherwise Geneva was just as dead as any other city after 6pm.
When we finally walked enough, we headed back to meet Grace and SY to grab our bags and head to the airport. Thinking it might be better to reach the airport and find dinner there, we left Geneva around 9pm, and found the airport almost empty with few arriving flights and many shops closed. We regretted not getting dinner in town and rushed to the convenience store to spend our last few Swiss francs on biscuits and ice cream. Luckily, I wasn’t that hungry, and decided there was not so much of an inherent need to spend my last 10 CHF. SY, YH, and especially Grace, bought lots of chocolate, thinking they weren’t going to spend any more of their Swiss francs, but were mildly disappointed they did when we found the café open early the next morning.
The decision to sleep overnight at the Geneva airport on Sunday stemmed from the fact that our morning flight to Rome Ciampino was scheduled to depart at 6.45am, so there was no point if we paid for a hostel to sleep that few hours and travel to the airport. Unlike London Stansted where there were 24-hour cafes and many overnight campers, the Geneva airport was dead after midnight. We managed to catch some winks and woke up at 4am the next morning after the noise from the cleaning staff and their machines awoke us from snooze. We checked in at 4.30am, and proceeded into the departure lounge to await our flight.
In summary, Prague was beautiful, with nice scenery, cheap food and friendly people who can speak decent English. We arrived on Monday, 12th June, around 2.30pm in the afternoon, and were impressed with the clean and new-looking airport. Although it was my 2nd visit to Prague, the last being in 1997 with my parents, it felt different this time traveling independently with friends. Right from the moment we arrived, we knew things were cheap and this was where we needed to treat ourselves. The 15 minutes bus ride on bus number 100 from the airport to Zlicin station, followed by a transfer in the metro to Nadroni Trida cost only 20 CZK for 3 zones (SGD$1.40). No other airport transfer cost cheaper than that.
We got off in town and walked a couple of streets down to our accommodation, Steve’s Guesthouse, which I had booked for 8 of us (Qiuchan and her two friends arranged with me a month ago to come Prague and sought help in booking the same hostel, and emailed them to assign one entire dorm room to the 8 of us). The rates were extremely good for an 8 bed mixed dorm with attached bathroom, kitchen, and internet access within the room; we only paid 700 CZK per person (SGD$50) for 2 nights! With Fred, Edelene and Elaine joining us in Prague, they too requested to join us in our dorm room since there was an adjacent 4 bedroom which was empty, making our total Singaporean strength in Prague 11!
We headed out to look for lunch, and found a Chinese restaurant near the station and not too expensive either. I ordered a sweet-and-sour-pork-rice set that cost me only 69 CZK (SGD$5), and enjoyed it thoroughly. After lunch we walked towards the Old Town Square, which has since been transformed into one giant arena with large LCD screens and food/drink booths to cater to World Cup fans. I met Qiuchan and her friend Edwina (who traveled all the way from Melbourne to tour with her in Europe), as well as Fred, Edelene and Elaine, before they left to find a late lunch.
With some recollection of the place, I led Grace, YH, SY and LC towards the major attractions in Prague. In several hours, I showed them the Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, and more or less covered Prague (yes it’s pretty small!). At dinner time, the rest wanted to eat Chinese food again and this time, LC led us to different restaurant, where I ordered a fish-with-mixed-vegetables-meal for 125 CZL (SGD$9). After a long day, we returned to Steve’s Guesthouse to retire.
13th June - Prague Day 2
With the major parts of Prague visited, Grace, SY, YH and LC’s plan was to shop, while I joined the UK faction of Fred, Edelene, Elaine, Belinda QC and Edwina to visit Mala Strana, a town with a hill on the other side of the river, opposite the Prague Castle. QC and Edwina had planned to bungee, but they found out they didn’t operate on Tuesday and so joined us to shop and climb the hill instead - but not before lunch at Karavella (along Michelska street). With every intention to sample Czech food, almost all of us ordered “goulash”, an authentic Czech cuisine, comprising tender lamb served on a plate flooded with gravy and slices of bread, costing only 92 CZK (SGD$6.60). Hunger satisfied!
After lunch the 2 factions split again, with Fred and I and the 5 girls crossing the Charles Bridge towards Mala Strana, where we had intended to climb the hill. Attempting to cut corners, we decided to take a short cut by trekking up the hill on treaded paths, reaching the peak in almost an hour, tired but not if we had to take pictures. At the top, only QC and Edwina paid 40 CZK (SGD$3) to climb up the Petrin Observation Tower, Prague’s own Eiffel, for a fantastic view, while we 5 decided to save that money and hang around.
The way down was made even more interesting, when we again tried to take a different short cut, and winded up at a short cliff with a steep slope. When I gave the green light, and convinced the others it was easier than making one big detour, they followed suit, and slid down the slope, with Fred and I assisting the descent. Who would have expected such an adventure in Prague?!
At night, I headed out to take some night shots of Prague, and met this old Czech couple along the way, who said they lived in Prague 6 (pretty out of town). At first they asked if we knew the score for the World Cup match that Tuesday, assuming we were Koreans. When I clarified we were Singaporeans, the old man’s eyes glimmered with delight, and mentioned to us he had flown with Czechoslovakian Airlines before to Bombay and Singapore, and stayed in Sea View Hotel back when he was still 24 years old. He remembered places like Change Alley, Sentosa, Changi, before mentioning that he would like to send us pictures so we could see what Singapore looked like during his time. What a small world!
14th June - Prague Day 3
Departure to Basel at 1.15pm.
14th June - Basel Day 1
What I found unique upon touchdown in Basel-Mulhouse Airport was the arrival hall where one sign points towards an exit in France/Germany, and the other sign pointing to the Swiss exit. Basel is the meeting point of 3 countries, as mentioned above. SY, YH, Grace and myself took bus number 50 to the main train station, Bahnhof SBB, for approximately 2.80 Euros (SGDS$5.60), after which we started looking for our hostel. What impressed upon us on the first day in Switzerland was the warm and friendly nature of the locals. When I was holding on to a map and appearing a tad lost, this gentleman approached us without fear or favor and asked if we need help with directions. Moreover, at the train station, 2 different counter staff also took time and effort to attend to our requests and explain all the terms and conditions should we decide to buy the Swiss Rail Pass. The service standard was really top-notch, and Singapore comes far from it.
Thankfully, my prior reservation at the Basel Youth City Hostel for just 33 CHF per person per night (SGD$45) earned us a new 4-bed shared dorm to ourselves. After settling in, we discussed our intended route through the Swiss Alps and concluded it was only worthwhile to buy the Swiss Rail Pass for Youths (under 26 years old only) for 188 CHF (SGD$254) for 4 consecutive days of travel. This allowed flexibility in taking any train all about Switzerland except the Jungfrau region, which we would need to pay 50% of the tickets if we wanted to. After Basel, we would hit Zurich, spend a couple hours, proceed to Luzern to spend the night, and then hit Interlaken for 2 days. But instead of taking a direct train from Luzern to Interlaken, we chose to go about the long clockwise route about the Jungfrau region because we wanted to make full use of our rail pass and take the Wilhelm Tell Express (3 hour boat ride from Luzern to Fluelen and another connecting train to Goshenen and Andermatt), and board one of the 11 scenic trains through the Alps, the Glacier Express, from Andermatt to Brig, which required us to make reservations (15 CHF or SGD$20 each). From Brig, we would transit to Spiez before taking the 15 minute train ride to Interlaken Ost (East).
After buying the rail pass and making the reservation, we went to the coop supermarket to shop for groceries and dinner. SY initially saw a spring chicken offer going at 2 CHF (SGD$2.70) for one whole chicken and immediately set his eyes on buying it. After he asked for one whole chicken, the lady at the counter wrapped it up and weighed it. Before she pressed for the price, SY gave her a 2 CHF coin, but immediately after she pressed the weighing machine to display the actual price of 8.65 CHF (SGD$12), he was stunned and declined, telling the lady he didn’t want it anymore after finding out the price was 2 CHF per 100g. Embarrassed, he walked away to another counter, bought 2 croissants to satisfy his immediate hunger, before we all returned to buy the half chicken for 1.30 CHF per 100g nonetheless.
We brought everything back to our hostel for dinner, and after we finished, they retired to the beds while I decided there was no time to waste and headed straight out to take some night shots of Basel and the river.
15th June - Basel Day 2 / Zurich / Luzern
The intercontinental Breakfast (included in the price) served in the hostel was superb, with a spread of 3 cereals, bread, ham, cheese, orange juice, and an excellent coffee machine. Leaving our luggage behind in the hostel so that we could take a quick stroll around Basel before leaving, we later returned to leave on the next train to Zurich at 12.20pm.
We arrived in Zurich, placed our backpacks in the lockers for 5 CHF (SGD$7) each, and decided to sightsee the city on tram, since our rail pass entitled us to unlimited travel on almost everything. Without any map or idea of what to see or do in Zurich, we just boarded one tram and changed to another until we hit the river/lake and alighted. With an amazing view and scorching weather (averaging 38 degrees celcius), we took some pictures and left the lake area to walk about the town.
We left Zurich on the 4.40pm train to Luzern, and arrived at our backpackers’ hostel after a long 20 minutes walk from the main station. Once again, we were delighted to know that a 4 bed dorm greeted us, so we had some privacy again for 29 CHF (SGD$39). Moreover, every room had a personal balcony and security lockers within the room. The only drawback was that breakfast was not included, but it was perfect for our plan since we wanted to check out before 9am so as to catch the first boat out of Luzern to Fluelen at 9.20am.
With some energy left, we decided to catch some more daylight and head out to explore Luzern with whatever time we had remaining. We passed by the shore and saw many beach-makers, all decked in swimwear enjoying the grass, sand, and water. One of my regrets there and then was leaving my swimwear behind in Denmark, else I would have jumped into the welcoming waters immediately. We walked all across town, forgetting our rail pass allowed us unlimited travel too, so in our return trip from the opposite side of the lake we took the bus back to the main train station. By then, everyone was hungry and started hunting for the supermarket to no avail. SY and YH succumbed to an 8 CHF (SGD$11) kebab, while Grace and I were not starving enough to part with that kind of money. We headed back to our hostel, and found out that there was a kitchen facility we could use fortunately. So the instant Mexican rice packet I bought in Prague for 30 CZK (SGD$2) could finally be put to good use. After we finished dinner, I stumbled upon a shelf full of games, and took the carom board for us four to play. All of us were excited with the fact that our hostel provided such free service, and also with this game we almost forgotten existed.
16th June - Luzern – Fluelen – Goshenen – Andermatt – Brig – Spiez – Interlaken Ost
The next day, we woke up, checked out, and headed for the pier to board the Wilhelm Tell Express, starting with a boat trip towards Fluelen. We took a connecting train to Goshenen and Andermatt before boarding the Glacier Express train where we made reservations for our seats. Since it was summer, we didn’t expect to see any glaciers, and SY even commented how it was a “Solar Express” instead because the cabin itself seemed rather stuffy. We transited again at Brig and Spiez before reaching our final destination of Interlaken Ost.
Back in Denmark, Grace and I had chosen to book the 4 bed-mixed-dorm in the hostel called “Funny Farm”, as opposed to the hotel by the same name. For 31 CHF (SGD$42) per person per night, we were pretty disappointed when we got to our room and saw the conditions worse than what we stayed in back at Basel and Luzern. Moreover, there was no key/lock for our room! And we thought it was the first joke the Funny Farm staff played on us! Thankfully, we’ve lived in “worse” conditions and were optimistic about our stay, so we didn’t complain that much. Thanks to Grace, she had brought along a small padlock, and we used that to lock our room from the outside when we left the room.
We headed out to the big coop supermarket to shop for food and dinner, and shared the cost of bread and ham to make sandwiches for dinner. We came back to the hostel and chilled outside the terrace, discussing our plans for the next day in Interlaken, before we heard and saw a group of at least 5 girls and 3 guys walk in, looking and sounding so much like typical Singaporeans. When they sat down at the table next to ours and started to talk, we knew at once they were Singaporeans. As if the world wasn’t small enough.
What was weird was the fact that no one dared to approach the other. We both knew each group was Singaporean, but all the while we kept muttering under our breath about the actions of the other group. SY, YH, Grace and I were “appalled” to hear such immature youths discussing about trivial stuff. It wasn’t long before we decided to leave after SY couldn’t control his laughter-restraining button.
17th June - Interlaken Day 2
Breakfast in Funny Farm was plain, with just bread, butter and jam, along with coffee or tea. Again, we saw one guy wearing a NUS IVP Takwando T-shirt, and his parents sitting at the table far behind. We were just amazed how Singaporeans seem to be everywhere!
Prior to leaving Denmark, I had arranged to meet Jiayin in Interlaken, knowing she would be visiting Switzerland and Austria this July together with her 4 other friends. So that Saturday morning, I headed to Interlaken West to meet up with her and her friends, while Grace, SY, and YH returned to their beds until I informed them of my intended plans. After landing on Zurich via Singapore Airlines (JY’s mum also works in SQ), Jiayin joined her friends to Luzern, and then to Interlaken, before checking in to Happy Inn Lodge, the hostel we almost booked but didn’t, thinking Funny Farm offered more in terms of facilities (which they did, swimming pool, tennis court, bar, pseudo rock-climbing wall etc, except we didn’t utilize them).
Since they were only going to visit Jungfrau (the highest point in the Swiss Alps and Europe for that matter) on Sunday, their plan for Saturday was just to walk around town. So I messaged SY, suggesting we head up Jungfrau today since we already came all the way to Switzerland. After an hour of walking along the main street with Jiayin and friends, I left them at the Casino Kursal to meet SY and gang at Interlaken Ost at noon. After a quick rosti+sausage lunch (11 CHF = SGD$14) at the coop restaurant, we headed back to the station to buy our tickets up Jungfrau for 78.50 CHF (SGD$106), a half price fare since our Swiss Youth Pass didn’t include the trains around the Jungfrau region, but entitled us to a 50% off the fares.
In reaching Jungfrau, we first took a train from Interlaken Ost to Wengen, and then to Lauterbrunnen, change to Kleine Scheideg, and then board a posh carpeted train from Kleine Scheideg (2061m/6762ft) up to Jungfrau, Top of Europe (3571m/11782ft).
The Jungfrau Railway was built by Adolf Guyer-Zeller, both an adventurer and an artist, more importantly, a pioneer committed to technological progress. Construction of the Jungfrau Railway was estimated to take seven years at a cost of CHF 10 million. But due to technical problems, supply problems, extreme environmental and climatic conditions, both forecasts were well of the mark. Construction instead took 16 years and costs CHF 15 million.
The Jungfrau Railway was the first cogwheel railway to use the “Strub” system. Today the 100 year-old racks are gradually being replaced by lamella racks made by Von Roll.
Sitting in the train which took us up the meandering route up the mountain, we were greeted with a spectacular view of the snow-capped-cloud-blanketed-mountain range, before the train burrowed through the mountain for the next 30 minutes, stopping once along the way for a panaromic view out of the mountain from the inside, and another time at the first contact with the glaciers. The final 10 minutes of the journey took us nearer to the peak, and we emerged end of the tracks, still “underground”, and inside the mountain.
We first explored the insides of the Ice Palace, and headed up towards the open plateau near the Jungfrau summit, where I finally realized some hopes of chilly weather. (As mentioned all along, I love the cold and didn’t at all mind the snow for the 2 months of winter in Denmark). So when I emerged into the open plateau with that day’s temperature hovering at 2 degrees celcius and 43 km/h winds, it was akin to reliving the Danish weather once again. Moreover, it was a refreshing change in the climate especially after traveling for the past 2 weeks around Paris, Prague and Basel in 30 plus degrees daytime temperatures and the scorching heat.
When the rest started complaining of the cold, it was time to leave the open and head back inside the mountain, and take the lift up to the Sphinx Observatory, where we got a better view of Europe basically. Standing atop the metal scaffoldings overhanging the cliffs, it was a rush of adrenalin where I felt my knees turn jelly. Yet, the awe-inspiring and breathtaking view injected enthusiasm and serenity all at once. Luckily we were there in the evening, where hoards of people were absent and most places were empty. Picturesque moments aplenty, we snapped away and filled our memory cards with priceless moments, ready to show our family and friends back home what they missed and should make up for.
By 5.30pm, we were ready to leave Jungfrau to catch the last train, the Jungfraubahnen, down towards Kleine Scheideg, and change trains back to Grinderwald, and finally down to Interlaken Ost.
18th June - Interlaken Day 3 – Montreux – Geneva
We checked out of Funny Farm, and left to take a train towards Montreux before reaching Geneva in the evening. After taking a regional train from Interlaken West to Zweisimmen, we hopped aboard the Golden Pass Line from Zweisimmen to Montreux, with no expectations of our 2nd class cabin to be as posh as a 1st class one. This is where I’m blogging up till right now, since I have 1.5 hours on board this posh train with lacquered wooden interiors and table lamps. More importantly, the panoramic view of the mountain ranges and incredible valleys along this undulating journey explains why our 188 CHF Swiss Rail Pass costs that much.
At Montreux, we got off to walk beside the lake, and enjoy the scenery this little but beautiful town had to offer. At the end of the walk, I saw an old man with his Shetland Sheep dog (I think, because it was the Lassie kind of dog), and proceeded to take a video of his clever dog rolling about the grass. When he saw me, he hand-signaled to me that a picture costs CHF 10, but meant it as a joke after he caught me by surprise. We started this friendly conversation in our own languages, and he explained that he used to stay in Milan, Italy, before he decided Switzerland was a much better place to live in. I told him I was on my way there, along with Rome, Padova, and around. He gestured to me, warning me about pickpockets and con men despite the Catholic country of Italy. I took one picture with his dog, David, before taking my leave because of the impending bad weather.
We collected our backpacks from the train station, and headed to Geneva on a 1 hour train ride. When we arrived in Geneva, we decided we had had enough of spending money on depositing our bags in the lockers and lugged it all around town. With no maps and no tourist information in sight, we just walked in no particular direction until we saw the lake from a distance. We found a nice bench and set up “camp”, where SY and Grace volunteered to guard our bags while YH and I wanted to walk about town, taking in whatever sights Geneva had to offer, if any. Fortunately, there happened to be some music and culture festival taking place at some part of the city, which made Geneva exciting after all, with carnivals, stages, performing artistes and all. Otherwise Geneva was just as dead as any other city after 6pm.
When we finally walked enough, we headed back to meet Grace and SY to grab our bags and head to the airport. Thinking it might be better to reach the airport and find dinner there, we left Geneva around 9pm, and found the airport almost empty with few arriving flights and many shops closed. We regretted not getting dinner in town and rushed to the convenience store to spend our last few Swiss francs on biscuits and ice cream. Luckily, I wasn’t that hungry, and decided there was not so much of an inherent need to spend my last 10 CHF. SY, YH, and especially Grace, bought lots of chocolate, thinking they weren’t going to spend any more of their Swiss francs, but were mildly disappointed they did when we found the café open early the next morning.
The decision to sleep overnight at the Geneva airport on Sunday stemmed from the fact that our morning flight to Rome Ciampino was scheduled to depart at 6.45am, so there was no point if we paid for a hostel to sleep that few hours and travel to the airport. Unlike London Stansted where there were 24-hour cafes and many overnight campers, the Geneva airport was dead after midnight. We managed to catch some winks and woke up at 4am the next morning after the noise from the cleaning staff and their machines awoke us from snooze. We checked in at 4.30am, and proceeded into the departure lounge to await our flight.
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