Swiss Trip 2010

It all started with a phone call! A childhood friend of mine called me from Zurich and told me that she is planning to head back to India by August this year. That her husband will finish his Phd by then and that she had hoped that I and rest of her family would have made it to Zurich while she was still there. This statement kind of triggered an idea. I had just received my salary and I was thinking of spending it on traveling. What better place to go to than Switzerland??

I have never traveled abroad and this would be my first trip. “My first trip abroad and that’s to Switzerland”!! This did have a nice ring to it!!

I made up my mind to do the trip. My friend was ecstatic! She started planning my trip within Switzerland even before I could tell my family of my intentions!! Fortunately, my family was very supportive. They urged me to check with a cousin of mine who works with Thomas Cook for my Visa. I did that.

The Visa work started. I had decided on a one week trip, which got extended due to the lack of availability of the best ticket fares. I now had a twelve day trip, including the days of travel. I got all the documents for the visa ready and submitted them through Thomas Cook, two weeks ahead of my date of travel – 24th June. However, I got called for a visa interview at Mumbai just three days before the date of travel. I thought that I might have to postpone the trip thanks to the visa delays. However, the visa interview went off well and they sent me the stamped passport on the day of my travel to Zurich.

My first international trip and I was totally unprepared! No planning as to what I will do once I reach there, no packing done until just six hours before boarding time, no international calling cards, no idea what to carry abroad..nothing!

Quite interesting I must say – Starting with Nothing!!

I boarded the flight to Dubai from Hyderabad at 4 am on 24th June. I was on a Hyderabad-Dubai-Zurich flight. The flight was uneventful. Landed in Dubai at early morning hours there. I must say that the skyline of Dubai was exciting! Such a contrast of colors. High rises in the backdrop of dark mountains, vast amounts of yellow sand, orange morning skies and deep blue waters.

Though my destination was Switzerland, I felt that Dubai was my first true international destination. Such a bustling airport! People of all skin colors and dresses mixing in a haphazard fashion – coming through a multitude of departure gates and going to different boarding gates - browsing through the various duty free shops lined up – fascinating I must say!

After a couple of hours in Dubai, I boarded the flight to Zurich. I reached Zurich at 4PM their time. The first experience of an underground rail car was truly mind blowing! The funny thing though was a mooing sound of a cow (heard it is their traditional sound!) that beeps through the radio. The immigration check went off smoothly, with the security check person wishing me a happy stay at Switzerland!
My friend Ranjani met me at the airport. It was lovely to meet her after a year of talking over phone and facebook! She told me to choose between a quick transport to her place on a bus or a more scenic, more time taking way to reach her place on a tram. Ofcourse, for me, there was no choice! I went for the tram. I was in no hurry whatsoever to reach the house. I have started seeing the new place!

The first thing I noticed on arrival was the precision in timing of the arrival and departure of the tram. The tram reached at 4:36PM and left at the same time. They apparently timed it to wait at the stop for 59 seconds! The thought of ever flagging a bus or a tram by waving to the driver just flew out of the window ;)

My friend stays at a place called Orelikon in Zurich, which is a 20 minute tram ride from the airport. A very beautiful location I must add. On the way, my friend was giving me a non-stop commentary on the place, the life-styles of the people, the huge list of rules we must follow to rent an apartment etc. It was really funny how we end up grudgingly following stricter rules in a foreign land when all our lives we try to avoid some simple ones in our motherland!

I did not carry a watch while going to Swiss and I now realize that as one of my biggest mistakes! Everything is time bound there! The transport system, the church bells, the timers on ovens, the usage of the loo!! You name it, and the service will be time bound for sure! My first day disorientation started with time too. I knew I reached Orelikon around 5PM. After a shower and some snacks, I was waiting for it to get dark. My friends’ husband Gautham came home from his University at about 7.30PM and it was still broad daylight! We had dinner around 8.30PM and the sun hadn’t set yet. I was tired but could not sleep L. I was still waiting to see dusk! Around 10PM that evening, I slept with a blanket covered over my head, since the light still permeated through the huge glass windows.

I woke the next day as the first rays of light hit me through the windows. I now realize it was too early – 4.30AM to be precise! I learnt over the next day to keep the shutters closed! I am definitely not a morning person !

I had thought of the first day of landing as my travel planning and shopping day, since I did not have time for both thanks to my visa. And I did both. My friend took me to SBB – Information bureau of the Swiss railways I guess. Never managed to get the full form of that! I purchased a six day flexi pass for 392 francs. Felt it was a little steep for six days travel within Switzerland. But I was still in a trance. The true use of the pass had not gotten through my thick skull yet!

With the pass carefully tucked in my purse, we went shopping for some shirts. I was hoping to wear my friends’ clothes while I was there, but realized that she has started wearing spaghettis and sleeve-less tops, which were definitely not my style! So, I started checking out all the stores close to the main Zurich rail station called the Zurich Haupt Bahnoff (HB). It is one of the major shopping centers in Zurich. And fortunately for me, almost all the shop windows touted “Sales/Soldi/Soldes” signs on them! And like every other girl in a candy store, I went nuts – shopping!!

I got a few tops and trousers and went back to Orelikon. With the daylight still evident at 7PM, Ranju and I went walking through the streets in Orelikon. I tried one of my new shirts and walked through some lovely football fields. There was beauty all around. Even at the center of the city!

26th June was a Saturday and it was time to use my flexi pass for the first time. Mind you, I still did not get the true benefits of the pass. I was going trekking with my friends and a few of their friends to the AletschGlacier, one of the largest glaciers of Europe. My friends were doing all the thinking and I was just tagging along. We had an early 6AM start and we all met at Zurich HB. From there, we took a train to Betten. Ofcourse, there was a stop at Wisp, from where we had to take a connecting train to Betten.

We got into a huge cable car that took us till Bettemeralp. We walked through the beautiful town of Bettemeralp and got into another cable car that would take us close to the peak, Bettemerhorn, from where we could view the Aletsch Glacier. Both the rides were awe-inspiring.

The gang planned to take an eleven kilometer trek down to the Aletsch Glacier and around the mountain on whose peak we were standing. While I was really not ready for such a long trek, I went along not wanting to burst their bubble. We had just started the long walk, when we reached our first obstacle - a huge stretch of snow! And that was when it hit me that my very Indian walking shoes will not see me to the end of this trek! At the very first obstacle, my shoe went right into the snow. I retrieved my shoe, told my friends to go ahead, while I returned to base – Bettemeralp. They were disappointed, but realized that my shoes would not really have made it through the snow.

I was a little scared to be on my own at that moment, when I was waving to my friends while they continued on their trek. I just took my backpack and my pass and started walking back to Bettemeralp. My first thought was to reach a lake which I had seen while going up on the cable car. So, I took the cable car back down and started snapping pictures! I was on my own, but exhilarated!

As my cable car reached the stop and I got down, I realized I did not have a round-trip cable car ticket! I went to the counter and asked them to give me a ticket for the journey I just made. The guy at the counter looked at my ticket and said “I make it free for you”!! It was my first experience at the generosity of strangers! The return fare was 24 Francs and I was speechless! I thanked him profusely and went on my quest to reach the lake.

Summer brings out a lot of people out of their homes – young and old alike. The lake did attract a few people, but was not crowded - hardly that. I just could not help compare our Hussain Sagar lake to that, thinking had this lake been in Hyderabad, we would have had to reserve a place to sit close to it! I looked into my backpack sitting on the shore. Saw a few pieces of cake, my camera, a face wash, and my pass in it. It was then that I really looked at my flexi pass. There was a map in the pouch that came with the ticket. And that map clearly showed the entire transport that I can use in Switzerland. Lo and Behold! This pass would enable me to travel on all public transport – rail, bus, tram and boat at no additional costs! I just need to flash the pass as everything is already paid for on the six days that I can choose to travel! It was a revelation to the lone traveler!

I got up from where I was sitting at the lake, determined to make the most use of my 392 Francs! I looked at the way back, got into the next cable car down to Betten and got onto the first train to Wisp. Boarded a connecting train to Zurich from Wisp and then looked into my map for my favorite form of transport – Boats! I found the closest lake was in the Interlaken region, where I was already in. I got down at a town called Spiez.

Empowered with the map, a backpack, a smile and my non-existent German, I went in search of the boat. The train station at Spiez was on a mountain top. I had to find my way to the bottom of the mountain to reach the lake. I walked through a maze of beautiful gardens to reach the same. Oh, and before I forget, I met a Chinese teenager there, whom I requested to take a picture of mine, with Spiez as a backdrop. It is my favorite picture till date, and is now my profile picture on facebook!

Spiez was on a full summer weekend fiesta! There were people everywhere - clad in shorts and tees and bikinis – enjoying the summer near the water front. There were barbeques and games and for the first time on reaching Swiss – noise! Bliss to my Indian ears :D

I stopped a few strangers, asked them if they new English, and on getting a positive response, asked them the way to the boat. I managed to find it without much hassles. On confirming that I can travel on the boat using my pass, I was tempted by the choice of gelatos near the waiting area. I purchased a pistachio gelato and dug into it with all the relish of a child! This was one of my most memorable ice-creams I must add!

The boat arrived and I was thrilled! Why? Well, the captain of the boat was mouth-watering!!! ;) And so were his fellow stewards. I guess the men in uniform thing works always!

The boat was to travel from Spiez to Thun, from where I had intended to catch a train to Zurich. The journey in the Interlaken Lake was beautiful. I have never seen such blue waters and this splash of color was just fabulous. The villages around the lake reminded me of Kerala. Infact, most of the Swiss architecture reminds me of Kerala - the use of tiles and wood. Even the trees, flowers..everything. Except the snow and people ofcourse!

On reaching Thun, I went across to the railway station and found that my train was still an hour away. So, I went back to the water. I have always had a fascination towards water and Switzerland has some of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen in my life. I just could not get enough of it. (This also explains the tan I sport now!)

I found a beautiful grassy spot by the lake – unencumbered by people or animals – well apart from a lone duck that was trying to get some pictures of itself that is! I set up base there for the hour and dipped my feet into the ice-cold water. Was a heavenly experience!

I reluctantly let go of this place, which I now claim as I piece of Switzerland, and dragged myself to the train station. Caught a train to Bern. While I did get out in Bern, I felt it was just another city and did not feel like exploring it much. I freshened up there and just caught the next train to Zurich – to wait for my friends arrival from their trek.

My friends reached at about 9PM after their 11 km trek. I have to tell you that the Swiss enjoy their summers to the fill. After some hot Lasagna, we went through the photographs we have taken and then called it a day. I fell into a deep and dreamy sleep shortly after I hit the bed that night.

The next day was a Sunday and being a lazy bum as usual, I asked my friends to have a great time and sent them off on their Grindelwald trip, while I lazed at home. They planned on taking a 45 second ride that goes at a speed of 84km/h on a 800m stretch from one hill to another. They have guts! I just enjoyed a lazy Sunday, did some cleaning and washing and some facebooking! And, ofcourse planning for the next day’s trip.

My fascination of water made me hunt for the next big lakes or rivers that I could take a boat ride on. I found that the whole north-east part of Switzerland can be covered in a one day trip. I got out at 6AM on Monday (28th June) and started towards Romanshorn. (I have not yet figured out why they call that place Romans – Horn). I got onto a boat at Romanshorn and went to Konstanz (the Swiss-German Border). Konstanz is Kreuzlingen in Switzerland. This is my claim to have visited Germany ;)

I had lunch at Konstanz and then took the next boat to Schaffhausen. This was a really long boat ride – 3 hours in total!! It ended at Schaffhausen where the largest waterfall in Europe is – It is called the Rhine Falls. The water was so beautiful that I wanted to swim in the river. So, I asked people around for a place to swim and they guided me to a place where the river was cut off using some giant poles and we can pay to swim in that! My joy knew no bounds! I had packed a swimsuit just for this kind of luck and I was ready! I only had half an hour and I freaked out (expression for had tons of fun!!)!

My day ended on the train ride back from Schaffhausen to Zurich. And that was the end to my second day on my flexi trip.

The next day, that is the 29th of June was meant for the ride on Glacier Express. It is a train that goes from a town called Zermat to St. Moritz, in the south of Switzerland. It is an eight hour train journey and the train goes through snow and mountain highs. I had to catch the Glacier Express at 10:13AM at Zermat, which was about a three hour train journey from Zurich. So, I woke up early on Tuesday, got out at 6AM again and reached Zermat after two changes – at Bern and Wisp. On the connecting train from Wisp, I heard an elderly couple speak Telugu next to me! I asked them to join me in the journey. They happened to be traveling from the USA. They were settled in Florida and were having a fifteen day vacation in Europe. We had a good time talking in Tinglish and shared quite a few laughs. We got down at Zermat, exchanged email ids and went on our different ways.

I took a stroll in Zermat since I still had about half an hour to get into the Glacier Express. Zermat is filled with beautiful houses sporting flowers from every window. Such a sweet little town. I was also surprised to see Mougli, Baloo and Bhageera of Jungle Book painted on the windows of a play school – Kindersplatz! Zermat is also famous for its sports – I have seen people ride in a small seat hanging from the helicopter! I don’t think I have the guts for the same :D

After clicking a few pictures, it was time to head back to the station to catch the Glacier Express. The train was on the platform and was a beauty to look at. It had huge glass windows reaching all the way to the ceiling. I got into the allotted seat and was curious to know who my fellow travelers were. An elderly English gentleman sat in front of me, but the seat next to him and mine remained unoccupied. We started the journey by clicking photos of each other with our cameras.

The Glacier Express took us through some stunning views of Switzerland. Clear blue waters, snow capped mountains, quaint little towns, huge rock like formations, green farms – the real Swiss experience!

I ended the journey at Chur instead of St. Moritz, since it was already 6PM and I wanted to get to Zurich before 10PM. I promised the gentleman next to me the pictures I had taken on the Glacier Express since his camera had stopped working. We had shared a bottle of Swiss white wine in our five hour journey till Chur and had exchanged quite a few stories by then! I took his card and wished him a good journey and went my way from Chur. Chur was a beautiful town to explore though I spent only half an hour there. I took a train to Zurich from Chur and so ended my third day on the flexi pass.

After a tiring two days of travel, I took 30th off as a rest day. I spent the day at Orelikon watching ‘Friends’ on online channels. In the evening, I went exploring the Zurich Lake with friends.

One of the main places I wanted to visit was Geneva. Reason? United Nations European Head Quarters! So, the next use of the flexi pass was made on 1st July, on my journey towards Geneva. My idea was to go to Newchatel, and take a boat to Yves-von-Bain, a train from there to Geneva, a boat from Geneva to Lausanne and a train back from Lausanne to Zurich. However, my plans went bust when I missed the first boat from Newchatel to Yves-ver-Bain. I had to take a train to Geneva instead. But, every cloud has a silver lining, and in my case, the silver lining came in the form of a Gujarati Chef! I met this person near the shore and we got chatting. He took him to his restaurant where he fed me dhokla and chai. He made my day – cant forget you Kishan Bhai!!

I landed in Geneva at 11AM. Started walking through the streets of Geneva, with only a plan to reach UN. Unfortunately, I did not carry a Geneva map. So, when I ended up on commercial street by fluke, I just could not believe my luck! I met another Indian there who told me that UN office was just a few blocks away. He even offered to drive me there, but I refused, wanting to walk the commercial street! So, I strolled towards UN, passing ISO and ITU on the way. After years of reading about all these organizations, it was quite thrilling to be standing in front of their offices! (I guess it’s the same feeling one gets when one meets his/her favorite actors – say Amitabh Bachan?)

I found my way to UN and got a stranger to take a picture of mine next to the letters “United Nations”!! I then read a board in French that there were guided tours available. I confirmed with the guard at the gate and went in search of the entry for guided tours. On the way I found Mahatma Gandhi’s statue enjoying a lovely garden!
After a strict security check and a 10 franc pass, I entered the United Nations Geneva office! Our guide was a lady who spoke fluent English and French. We later learn that each and every employee at UN needs to know both these languages fluently! My fellow curious tourists and I enjoyed the beautiful paintings in the corridors, and the lovely meeting rooms. There are over 400 meeting rooms. I wondered how they got any work done! I ended up making a friend out of a Chinese girl there. We started with clicking pictures of each other and ended up sharing quite a lot of information about each other. It was surprising how parallel our lives were running – we both were into development research! We ended up adding each other on facebook :D

After my UN tour, I wanted to get to the Geneva Lake where I could see the largest fountain of Europe. I went there with the thought of catching a boat to Lausanne. To my immense disappointment, there was only one boat trip to Lausanne and that leaves at 9AM every morning. So, at 5.30PM, I sat at the lake front, had a piece of cake, fed the crumbs to tiny birds that flocked to me and pinched myself to remind me that I had really been to the UN!!

Zurich fest was being held on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of July. I stayed at Zurich on the 2nd planning the use of the 2 days left on the flexi pass. My view of the helicopters ensnared me with the idea of getting into one. I had always wanted to ride in a helicopter but never managed to. So, I browsed the net, found a couple of companies offering chopper rides and called them up. I found that the very first company I called was a standard one and they were offering a ride in the Interlaken-Jungfrau region at 220 francs. I jumped at the chance and booked a flight for the 5th. I wanted it to be the culmination of all my travel and so wanted it to be the last trip on my flexi pass.

Having gotten the helicopter ride in place, I decided to go towards the Italian side of Switzerland on my one remaining day. I had already seen the German and French influence on Switzerland (Konstanz and Geneva respectively). So, I decided to get to Lugano on the 3rd. I took an early morning train to Lugano. It was an uneventful journey. I reached Lugano at lunch time. I went exploring the beautiful town and as usual reached the huge lake that borders Italy. I took a boat to Porlezza in Italy. It was an awesome boat ride. I thought of going till Tirano and taking a train from Tirano to St. Moritz, but realized that Italian was a tough language and that it would take me over five hours to reach Tirano. I did not want to take the risk of being lost in Italy.

On reaching Porlezza, I went exploring the town. I had about an hour there, before the boat made the return journey to Lugano. I had an excellent gelato there – pineapple flavor. My mouth waters even today, just remembering the juicy gelato! After going trigger happy in my part of Italy, I boarded the boat back to Lugano and then the train back to Zurich.

I felt something was different on the train from Lugano to Zurich. Instead of my usual fellow “old” passengers, I see quite a few youngsters. Many of them had beers in their hands! I was wondering what this was about, when my friend called me to remind me that I had to meet them at the Zurich Lake for the Zurich Fest! And that was the reason for so many youngsters in the train. They were all headed to the Zurich Fest!!

Zurich Fest was like our regular Indian mela. There were stalls of all kinds on the streets – Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian food stalls, games, clothes and accessories, giant wheel and other rides. My friends and I walked through the maze of stalls, ate a lot of crap and waited on the bridge for the fireworks to begin. And the wait was worth it! At 12 in the midnight, the sky was lit with a mind-boggling array of fireworks – all being burst to the tune of music being played on the loud speakers! The fireworks were being lit from helicopters in the sky and from the boats in the water, and everything was coordinated. Timing, I think, is one of Switzerland’s forte. No wonder their watches are so famous!

We headed home at 3AM and crashed till 9 the next morning. I spent a lazy day doing practically nothing. My best Sundays are usually spent like that ! Anyway, I was preparing myself for the ride of my life – my chopper ride the next day!

I was up early on the 5th July morning. I was packed and ready to hit the road at 5.30AM!! Excited like a kid at Christmas or Diwali! I caught a train to Interlaken and then a bus to Gsteigwiler. I reached BOHAG, my chopper company at 2PM. My chopper ride was scheduled at 2.30PM. I met my fellow travelers – a Swiss father and his two teenage sons. We got on to the helicopter at 2.30 and started ascending to 7500 ft!

The view from the helicopter is just indescribable – I could use words like fantabulous, magnificent, awesome and all of them would still fall short of the reality! It was really the “high”-light of my journey!! We went around the Jungfrau peaks and touched a height of 10000 ft! It was incredible to be in the clouds. (AP CM Rajsekhar Reddy was lucky to die in the chopper crash! What a way to go! You are half way to heaven anyway!)

After getting off the chopper, I walked back all the way to Interlaken since there were no bus rides. Took a boat from Interlaken to Thun on Thunreese, the boat on which I had ridden the first day from Spiez to Thun. I was ridiculously happy to meet the same crew. I guess I was already high, thanks to my chopper ride! From Thun I took a train back to Zurich and ended my Swiss sojourns in the same way I started it!

That’s it about my Swiss travels. I spent 6th shopping for souvenirs and chocolates for friends and family and boarded the flight the same evening with a heavy heart. I hope to spend more time in this lovely organized and safe country someday in the near future…