Feb 9, 2014

Switzerland: Dari hujung ke hujung... (Part I)

Bismillah...

So we were in Interlaken for the night. Had a quick dinner because it was quite late when we arrived. That's the good thing about traveling in summer; we had longer daylight. The sun sets at around 9 pm when we were there so it was really convenient for long drive.


We actually aimed for Trummelbach that morning. It's a famous glacier waterfall inside the mountain. When I said INSIDE, it is literally INSIDE (^^) Actually, we can also go there by train but after kira-kira budget, we finally opted to rent a car; because it is way cheaper to share one vehicle and we don't have to rush to meet the train schedule heeeeee We love to be super flexible and stay for as long as we like at an attraction that we favour upon arrival~ So yeah, we usually don't stick to our itinerary because we can be carried away by nature's beauty...



This is how the road looks like though this don't really show how narrow it is compared to the ones in our country. Tapi betol! luas lagi jalan KK pi Menumbok bha. So I was driving anxiously all the way and became more anxious when we approach the villages because the road is even narrower in those area. But still, I did enjoy the scenery especially the colourful meadows along the way. You can also see people cycling or just trekking on the side of the road. We were in awe, of course, because you don't get to see that in Malaysia, do you? haha Not even in remote areas.. Gaya hidup sehat betol!

And then I drove and drove and drove and suddenly we found ourselves in Rivendell~
Traveling ni memang bikin kuat berangan~

O ya.. Kami menjerit girang!!! "Ya Allah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TEMPAT APA NI!!!!!!??????????? Huargh!!!!!!!!!"

This Rivendell of ours is actually Lauterbrunnen hehe


Staubbach Fall

Lauterburnnen is a small town set in a valley surrounded by overhanging rocky cliffs. And you can see waterfalls of various height and size cascading down these cliffs. It is said there are 72 waterfalls but I didn't count because they were too many haha The pic above is Staubbach Fall; one of the highest waterfall in Europe. The cascade is so high that you can see the water blown by the wind to form mist. The overhanging rock stood to its glory and the free-falling water is what I call PERFECTION... I just stare at it.. sampai sakit tundun.. (that's the back of the neck in Kedayan)



We stroll in the town and took pictures and later continue our journey to the intended place






Actually there is a cable car station there that goes atop the cliff where the stream of the Staubach waterfall is. But we were aiming for another place so we just went straight to Trummelbach...


Along the way to Trummelbach were meadows and meadows and meadows again. And then suddenly you will find paragliders landing on these meadows and that look so cool man! "Cool nye hobby dorang ni.." 
Because these  paragliders are real paragliders who are spending their summer to just paraglide. They are not tourists who wanted to TRY paragliding. I think they just jumped off from some random cliffs above us hahaha


Kalau ikotkan hati, mau jak aku stop and tanya "Dari mana kau terjun??" But masa nda mencukupi... hehe

Selekeh betol! Ini parking lot.. Hehe


Kalo Babah ada ni, mesti kena suro berdiri sebelah signboard haha :p



From the parking lot, we walked to the entrance and there we have to pay CHF 11 to get through the gate; cash only ya. And then we board this very ancient looking funicular which was built before World War I. There was a couple who I presumed have traveled quite a lot and commented that the lift look a lot like the one they rode somewhere else which was also built at about the same time. And the lift operator responded, "But this is Swiss made.. Swiss made is always better.." haha tergelak aku.. It took us to the 6th level and then we have to further climb up to the top waterfall which is literally inside the mountain from there.


The view of Lauterbrunnen Valley



So this is how it looks like from inside the canyon. The walkway is quite slippery from the spray of the powerful waterfall and it is quite noisy because of the echoing sound of the waterfall. But, I love the experience anyway. Just make sure you wear suitable shoes and a jacket since it is quite cold inside and you can get slightly wet.


We are standing on the platform where you can see the 6th chute


The 6th chute. Camera nda canggih thus I can't show you the powerful swirl that formed just below this fall

I don't remember at which level this was.. o_0


I love looking at those shiny shiny granite~ (^^)




This is how the walkway looks like inside. Basah ok and that was why I had my hood on.. Aku rasa claustrophobics patut fikir jugakla masa masok ni hehe




Adoi, ini suda lama, I did read about how this tunnel was made. But I went to too many places that I can't recall clearly which one is which already. But what I'm sure of is the beautiful curves of the canyon are naturally carved by the flow of the waterfall and this tunnel was man-made sebab aku ingat perbualan kami masa tu...

"MashaAllah berusaha nya dorang buat tunnel ni.."
"Memang bukan untuk keuntungan kot.. CHF 11 je weyh..."
"Mungkin dorang just nak share and nak kite appreciate semue ini!"


To me, this is a very precious experience. And I kept saying "Terima kasih pacik2 yang buat tunnel ini!!!"
This is a memorable chance to actually see what is hidden.. From the outside, the view of the falling water is breathtaking~ But to have the chance to see how the glacial water cut its way through hard rocks to form the canyon slots and caves is AWESOME!


This reminds me of how puny my knowledge about the world is.. The world is so amazing~ Sejak travel ni minat aku tentang history, geology and anthropology semakin menjadi-jadi.. Yeah~ Allah's knowledge is Great that we can't grasp it all.. But as we walk on earth, look around; observe, listen and read, we might slowly grab them bit by bit... To grasp all is impossible, but we could try to gain as much as we could.


Before I went to New Zealand my mom said, "Adik! Nanti ambil gambar baring-baring atas bunga lagi!" 


And yeay~ Don't forget to look back~

(^^)

Feb 1, 2014

Eurotrip Switzerland: Geneva-Interlaken

Bismillah...

And so I have to leave this beautiful place with a heavy heart. My tips for you who are planning to go to Chamonix, 1 day is not enough. It's a lovely place where you would just want to sit back and relax. No rush. I'm definitely coming back for the train journey at the glacier and and and get myself a new water bottle as souvenir because I left mine in Geneva airport T_T

Ok cam salah upload tapi malas suda mo reupload hahaha :p

O ya we got this certificate at the souvenir shop. I don't remember whether this is given to everybody or was it because we bought some souvenirs.. Hurm.. I think it's the later haha sorry geng.. Lama suda ni~ Ada lupa2 sikit haha


Anyway, we went back to Geneva that afternoon. Pengalaman dengan pacik driver bus pon lucu. As I mentioned in my previous post, we booked the transfer back to Geneva at the airport. So, that afternoon, the driver couldn't find our chalet and he actually called me. And voila! He speaks no English woooorrr!!!!! So again, ayam cakap sama itik la...

Pacik: Où êtes-vous
GG: We are in AWA hostel
Pacik: !@#$^%$&%^&
GG: It's near the Pharmacy.. Apotheek.. Eyh itu Dutch pulak...
Pacik: !@##$##$%$%^$

I think it took him about 30 minutes to find it because our hostels are hidden behind some buildings and the only road that is accessible to it is very narrow and we never see any vehicle pass since we arrived. I just left the room key at the kitchen and left a note saying that we were in a hurry and apologized to have done that haha

We got a huge coach to ourselves and the driver took a different route to Geneva which I think was even more scenic than the road from which we came because this one was closer to the mountains. The pacik was actually a Muslim so he was excited meeting us. We chatted though I think we replied him wrongly all the time because he was speaking French and we were only guessing what he was saying and just answered sesuka hati kami hahaha

We picked up our rental car at the airport and was lucky that we got an upgrade from a compact car to this four wheel drive without additional charges. We never know why we got the upgrade. But hoyeah! I love the car... Tapi lucu ok nda pandai adjust side mirror sampai panggil pembersih kereta tu ajar everything; from side mirror to the beam to the hand brake to the everything~


And the journey begin.... Well, it was too long since I last drove on the left hand side so it was quite hard to adapt at first. So, we head towards Interlaken that day. We did a quick stop at the Chateau De Canton that evening but it was closed for renovation..


And we did a quick stop in Oberhofen to take a look at this famous castle set on the bank of Lake Thun. Memang cantik! It was already late so, it was closed.

O ya, we actually passed this town called Fribourg which was the most classical-looking town of all the towns that we passed in Switzerland. I really like it! But we didn't stop for coffee or anything there since it was still such a long way to go.

I drove about 200 km ++ that day. And I was grateful that we got an upgrade. The roads are excellently paved, no potholes like in Malaysia. But when you go to the country side, the roads were much narrower and they have lots of tunnel that extend to 3 to 4 km and some of them are winding and uphill so that was quite challenging sebab aku fobia sket dengan tunnel2 ni.. And the roads on cliffs are quite scary sebab divider dia mak aih.. tiang tiang kicil saja ok!!!!!!!!!!!!! Macam picket fence jak aku tengok~


Where we stayed for the night.. Breakfast included so berabis menapau croissant..

But the most meaningful discovery in Interlaken was, drama Melayu yang famous itu (I don't know what's the title but MR was the one who followed it) was not filmed in Interlaken!!!!  Interlaken is a beautiful town but it is not the romantic kind of town. It's a full of activities kind of town. In the morning, you can see many colourful parachutes in the sky; those are paragliders.. And at the reception desk at our hostel, they displayed the caving, canyoning, water rafting, paragliding and even sky diving packages. Kalo banyak masa dan duit pasti aku suda try...



Gambar bukti bukan Google Image.. Okay nanti aku sambung lagi... Pendek saja cerita.. sekali lagi cerita perjalanan saja kan :p


Jan 17, 2014

Mont Blanc~ I'm in love

Bismillah...


Hehe Ceria kan muka aku di pagi hari!!! This was a pic we took on our way to the cable car station. MR was already in her winter coat. She was the most prepared for the climate amongst us!


And this is the view from our room balcony.. Yes, mina san.. that is Mont Blanc! \(^^)/Aku excited betol sampai masuk selumbar dalam kaki masa berdiri di balcony (^^")


On our way to the train station, I went berserk with all the beauty that surrounds me. I started taking pictures from every corner of the town. We were very lucky to have clear sky that day. Back in Paris, it was almost always gloomy except during the last day when the sun was out. If it weren't for the blue sky, we wont be able to capture the nice snow cap there... What a bliss~


Bagai kan mimpi...


Okay enough~
So we bought a combo ticket for the cable car to Mont Blanc and  train ride where you can see the glacier.. tapi nda sempat pon pi naek train!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! T_T cry cry~

There is another cable car that connects Mont Blanc to another peak in Italy. I don't quite remember what the name is but yeah it was actually part of our plan. It was supposedly already opened for public. But I guess, summer came late this year and the weather was unpredictable, so the cable car was still closed at that time. Kecewa jugak la...

But still Mont Blanc memang mengancam!!!!


The queue at the station that morning. Most of the Europeans were there to ski or climb while the Asians were obviously the tourists who came for sight seeing atop the mountain. I was of course eyeing on their gears.. Their ropes, their carabiners, their bags, their windbreakers, their shoes.. Everything! Cantiknya~


Kamu tengok ni pakcik!!! I don't know whether I could even climb stairs if I'm at his age (^^") 


So that is the cable car. No chairs; everybody stand. It's very fast; about 20 minutes.. I think,  that's too fast to ascend to that elevation in such speed. My friends had AMS! But they tried to tolerate with it. It was very scary when the cable car jolt and swing every time it passes the posts. Everybody goes "o0o0o0o0" and "Aaaaaah" haha


The first thing that I did on top of Mont Blanc was.. bergambar dengan lelaki Perancis ini haha O mai~ gedik betol aku dalam pic nih!!!!!!!!!!!

He was actually looking down at the snow below us from the platform so I, meramahkan diri sana, asked

GG: It's a nice day to ski, isn't it?
French guy: No.. Not today..
GG: Why? Everybody is skiing..
French: You see, that smooth layer over there. That's not good for ski. You could fall.. And when you fall, you only fall once...
GG: O0o0o0.. I never know that. Never ski before..

When I asked "Can we take a picture with you?" Boleh boleh dia jawab "NO!" with a serious face.. And then he continued "I was joking," Fuh~ Sikit lagi kuyak!


I don't know how to correctly describe this place. There are lots of buildings at different heights. These buildings are either connected by bridges or by stairs or by lifts or by tunnels. And these buildings have terraces where you can conveniently view the panorama.

While my friends had to deal with nauseous feeling and dizziness, I suddenly became hypothermic. I turned blue and start to shiver uncontrollably. "Gg! Kenape gg biru!? Gg ok x nih?" "Ok je.. tapi sejuk.."

So we spent almost 10 minutes to heat me with MR's heating pads.. Astaga!!!! 

Selesai misi menyelamatkan GG

Dalam menggigil gigil tu sempat jugak aku snap pic dorang nih
So now lets look at some of the pics...


Group pic (^^)



Selfie....


This is one of the best spot to stand on. You can see the small town below, you can see the mountain range opposite Mont Blanc, and you can see the layers and layers of the snow-capped peaks that seems to have no end over the horizon.. Subhanallah...

Standing in such height is when I'll be reminded that I'm just a speck in this massive planet.. It reminds of Allah, the Most Exalted, the Most Knowledgeable.. How can all this be in such a beautiful fashion, in such a beautiful order if it's not for the Great Sustainer and the Magnificence.. .MashaAllah...


From the naked eyes, you could actually see the different shades of blue of the layers of mountains. It is so picturesque that it literally took my breath away..





If you look closely, you'll see there are actually workers on top of the roof. Sweeping off the snow.


We were above the clouds (^^) View from the cafeteria.. 


This is the tunnel that leads to the starting point for skiing. Those macho macho men are preparing their ski gears.. And we just watch them, inquisitive.. Living in the tropics, we don't get to see this at all!


And there goes our macho macho skiers...





The valley below us... (^^)


Muka semakin happy dari yang pagi kan?? Heeee I lost one of my leather glove while on top (^^") and I felt the altitude sickness as I ran up the stairs when I was trying to find it. Pergh! It was uncomfortable. I stopped and took a few steps down the stairs and waited for the dizziness to wear off. Luckily, that worked..

O ya, if you're wondering about halal food; there is one halal Kebab restaurant and an Indian restaurant that serves scrumptious fish briyani!

So next, Switzerland yaw!!!