Between Heaven and Earth

Finally seen the fairyland-like Switzerland.

And the beauty of this country that host most of the Alps, beckons me back... For my own hiking holiday...

No wonder my mum was so excited for the entire month when i told her i wanna bring her along, and how her face fell whenever there wasn't news about the ticket balloting status, and when my leave change may also jeopardise the trip.

Though the idea came to me as long as almost 2 months ago, i've been procrastinating the research for the trip til the day i'm due to leave for Zurich at night. =9

First day was supposed to be the Rhine Falls aka Schuffhausen. But thanks to the "expert" directions concierge gave the 3 of us, they sent us to god-knows-where. To another town call Rhinefellen 1 hour train ride away, situated at the border of Switzerland and Germany, thinking we wanna see the Rhine river. Our destination, the waterfalls, is in the opposite direction. *Smack my forehead*

No wonder when we asked for directions at the train station when we arrived @ Rhinefellen, the first thing the man commented which completely puzzled us was," That's like North and South Korea."

LOL. Thought he was racist or what... But we soon understood why, after he showed us the map.

It was too late to travel all the way back to Schuffhausen and the train tickets aren't exactly cheap. Thus the 3 chest-fallen us just walked around trying to make the best out of the trip. Turns out it wasn't completely wasted afterall cos ..........

we were in Switzerland one moment (see the flag on the right behind me) ..........


a short while later, after crossing this bridge, with those cottages behind me still Switzerland........


we are in Germany! See the plate reading "Deutchland"? ;)


No passports required, no custom checks, in fact noone guarding. You could just walked over the bridge as if it was connecting Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio. *WoW* But we didn't realised it that fast. Wasn't until we were on Germany's side then we noticed the houses on 2 sides of the river bank carry different country's flag.

Nothing much there, strolled around and after an hour, back to the train station, headed back for Zurich. But we are simply amazed with the discovery we made =9


Jungfraujoch, the next day.
(pronounced as "Yong-frau-yoke")

Named the "Roof of Europe", not because it's the highest peak but rather the highest place, a train can fetch us to. The train station stands at 3454m above sea level.

Managed to capture the famous 3 peaks while on the coach. From left to right, it's Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.


After the coach had sped by many of such serene towns......


We arrived at Interlaken, the town nearest to Jungfraujoch. Interlaken, literally means 'In between lakes', as it is situated between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun.

On the cogwheel, the journey up. Simply stunning.


The tourguide's very experienced and he knows exactly where, at which point of the train ride, which angle, will make a good picture ;P


The first station, in the hollows of Eiger mountain.


View out of and down the infamous Eiger North Wall.

Again, suggested by the tourguide. The famous Jungfraubahnen.


With mum in the Ice palace.


Actually it wasn't really cold out there. With such strong sun bearing down on us, very soon we started to feel warm in our jackets.




Breath-taking? ;P


And talk about leeching on other people's effort.
Thanks to whoever who 'built' this headless snowman wannabe, for the picture =p




Stupid Doug says i look like Michael Jackson here. Of all pple, MJ ?!?!?!!!


Doesn't these pics look like i paid bomb to take in a studio? The scenery look so surreal.



Oh- word of caution, sunglass is a necessity up there. Almost went blind with the intense glare of whiteness, and after a while our eyes starts to hurt. Thank god i did my research and found this piece of advice. For once, my aviator shades weren't just there to look cool. LOL ;P



The huskies' residence, halfway down the mountain.

Wanted to try the huskies ride up at Jungfraujoch, but because they "knock off" at 3 pm, there wasn't much time for us. It's either picture taking, exploring the place or Q-ing to ride them, given the short 2 hours we have up there. Hiak~


All i can say is: Magnificent.





That's it.

Back to the town. Crossing more of such on our return journey.


Looking at these places, i wondered very often what these people do during their free time. Obviously these places don't have cinemas, shopping centres, fancy restaurants, archades, clubs blar blar blar.... the normal entertainment sources in every cities.

Along the way, i found some answers to my questions. We saw people hiking, kayaking along rivers, sun tanning in their backyards, playing with their enormous pet dog(s), chilling out with a cold beer, mountain biking etc etc. And i was actually pretty envious of them. Such a beautiful place to residence in, being so close to nature.

I often condemn myself as the spoilt city kid, whom is so used to the fast paced life in city that i can hardly sit still for long. But everything is about getting use to. Never thought I'll find myself very lure by the tranquility of nature, with such a beautiful backdrop for a very different kind of lifestyle. *Thinking*