First day at Swiss

Landing in Zurich makes you realize, yes you have come now to a western city. Our flight was a non stop one. The first thing we had to do was collect our baggage. As soon as we came out of the craft we moved along with the crowd through a couple of escalators to be led to a mini train. The train whisked us along foe quite a way ( say about 5 to 6 km) and landed us at a terminal. There again we had to move up in a escalator then a mall and further down finally to reach the baggage claim area. The entire proceeding though looking complicated is done with out any confusion. Checking our baggage and clearing the immigration and customs with out much hassle we were out of the airport.

On coming out of the airport we found ourselves plonk! at the railway station. We held the Euro railway passes for movement. So just looking at the name we boarded the right train from Zurich airport itself to Zermot.The entire Switzerland has a very efficient ,sophisticated train system which goes through a long tunnels made along the Alps and the railway lines are laid till the mountain peaks. So all the traveler or the passenger has to do is to sit relax ,look at the view and with out a sweat reach any part of Switzerland including mountain peaks.Our first journey called for a long travel. We had landed in Zurich which is middle of Swiss.

Now our first halt was at Zermot the southern most corner of Switzerland very close to Italy border. Hence this amounted for a travel of about 300 kms. We were armed with the timetable and stations enroute. We had calculated the journey will take about five hrs. But as we got the fast train the GlacierExpress starting at 7.45 a.m from Zurich going at a good speed and the train was whisking through long stretches of the land. We reached Berne the capital of Switzerland and then to Visp. Enroute we saw how orderly and uniformly developed the entire country is. Everywhere you can see the mountains traveling with you. But all along there are pleasant single houses as well various factories , well laid out lying side with out any clutter.

The people are mostly anglo saxon with ruddy healthy complexion and build. Hardly very few are able to speak in English. They speak mostly German or French. Only people dealing with tourist know a little bit of English. At Visp we changed train. From then on for an hr . or so the scenery around and the pace of the train changed as we were steadily climbing. It was all along Alps and the valley of Alps, so beautiful and picturesque. It was more fantastic then any picture can convey. The weather was just perfect, sunny with long meadows amidst beautiful country side houses. Each one of them decorated with beautiful flower baskets (real ones). The flowers were in full bloom . The whole place looked as though it is made up for the visitors.

We reached Zermot around twelve noon. we fell in love with the place as soon as we landed there. It is a small township below the towering Alps mountain. The Zermot itself is at an altitude of about 10.000 ft. In that altitude & latitude the vegetation is getting increasingly sparse. En route there were lot of pine trees and pine forest. But around Zermot the mountains are almost bare and imposing giving me the familiar feel of being in Ladakh.The town is unbelievably cute, clean and perfect. Like many mountain towns it is a one street town with few by lanes. Almost the entire place is hotels. But protruding form each and every balcony are bunches and bunches of fresh flowers of different hues giving the entire place a look of a beautiful lady dressed up. The only kind of vehicles are handful of electric cars and tongos driven by healthy hefty horses. Our hotel was an equally cute one called Hotel Butterfly ( a chain of Best western hotel) - a 3 star one. , Nicely furnished with all works , a TV and a sit out facing the mountains. We were provided with a kettle in which we could make our own tea , coffee as well heat the ready to eat meals bought by us.After organising ourselves in the hotel room and then taking meals and a bit of rest we went out by 3.00 p.m to explore the place and we were in for a surprise.

Just across to our hotel on reaching the station we were told there is a 3.36 p.m train to Matterhorn one of the well known peaks of Alps. Actually we did not hold a train pass for it but on spot we decided we should make it to Matterhorn though it was not in the itinerary. It later proved to be a good decision. We bought tickets for 76 francs swapping the card as it was not provided by yatra.com people. We did get a Euro concession of 50%.The trip indeed was memorable. The train went winding through some of the steep pathways of Alps showing us a panorama of gorges and valleys down below as were inching like a lizard. The train has a middle toothed grip with which it inches forward carrying all of us carefully in the rail car. The Alps ranges and glaciers travelling along with us were real magnificent.The last station in the route is Garnergrat which took half an hr to reach from Zermot travel ling at 15 km an hr. From Garnergrat we could see all the glaciers at close quarters. people continuesly leave the train and go for trekking from diff places. The railways here is known as Garnergrat railways.It is a real Engineering marvel. It makes every one to reach the 4480 m above 14,000ft Materhorn peak in the Alps with out breaking a sweat. I felt we must do like this in the Himalayas which can help more people to appreciate the grandeur and beauty of the mountains.

We returned to Zermot back in a couple of hrs and were strolling the streets for an hr. The sunset here late only by 7.30 to 8.00 p.m. However the shops close down by 6.00 p.m to 7.00 p.m driving us back to the hotel. We had a sumptuous meal at the hotel thanks to our provisions. Heated the food packets in the kettle and had a hot dinner.

Third day at Swiss

10- 10- 08

The morning of 10th at Interlaken dawned to a cloudy weather. Getting out of the Verandah in the 4th floor of Oberland hotel facing the Jungfrajoch peak at 3453m ( 13 to 14teen thousand ft.) ,it gave us a bleak outlook for the day. This was the day we had planned our excursion to the peak a 21/2 hr journey one way by train. Very soon it started raining adding to our misgivings. We initially thought of skipping the entire programme and got ready by 8.00 a.m for the inhouse breakfast. By now we were ready what to expect for the breakfast and how to pick up from the assorted spread out. It was first juice( multi juices), most of it so fresh with out sugar it was slightly bitter for Indian taste. Then multi cereal with milk and multi breads (Rye,plain, spherical etc.) with cheese, butter honey etc. Then multi fruits canned and fresh. There was clear sign stating no take always which was a deterrent to our idea of picking some cheese and butter for lunch. There were a lot of Indians too in the dining space. Very gradually the Indian presence is felt.

Taking our breakfast we felt the weather clearing. Further enquiry in the reception gave us confidence to take up the excursion to Jungfrajoch. Soon we rushed to the room in the 4th floor picked our essentials for the journey, the railway pass, camera, water , food for the way, note pads and started a brisk walk to Interlaken east ( about 15teen minutes along a huge park on one side and array of shops on other side) we reached the station.

The unique experience of the day started then. From Interlaken east it takes about 21/2 hrs to reach the lap of Alpine glaciers and the highest peak of the Alps Jungfraujoch. We have to change twice the train after an hr of brisk run. The changes in the train is to accommodate smaller trains suitable for the steep climb along the mountains.

At Interlaken we were at a height of 1860 ft. By the time we reached Luternrunner we had climbed 2612 ft that is about 800ft quite effortlessly in 40 minutes. From Lauterbrunner at 2612 ft we had to do a straight climb to Kleine Scheidegg at 6762 ft that is about 4000ft climb in a stiff gradient. It took an hrs time when we were passing through some spectacular scenery. The huge Alps rocky face along with some most beautiful pristine valleys were spreading in fornt of us like a unbelievable picture postcard.
From Kliene scheidegg at 6762 ft we changed train again to navigate to the peak Jungfrajoch at 1133 ft. It is real stupendous. Imagine you are on a train ride to Everest peak. It was an experience similar to that. At 5000ft climb from the last station to the peak is a unbelievable Engineering marvel of the world. I think every citizen of the world should see to appreciate human ingenuity and effort can achieve the impossible. Our job was to look out of the windows and marvel natures work.

At Jungfrojach – Europes highest railway station) we were right into the glacier from where all the mighty rivers flow down.
At the peak we had some more surprises waiting for us. As soon as we enter the place, the top of the Alps from the railway station there is a well laid out Cafeteria where people can buy food and eat comfortably. There is also an Indian joint called Bollywood restaurant where they were serving buffet lunch for27 F (ie) more than Rs1000/ per plate. We decided to skip the Indian food for one thing it may sit heavily for further movement and also we didn’t want to shell down lots of money for food. We then went to continental restaurant and had croissant ( a kind of bread), cakes and 2 cup of hot tea. We found half the tourist out there are Indians that explains the Indian restaurant at such ht.
After eats we went to the magnificent Ice palace. They have carved pathways like tunnels right into a glacier with lighting and enough space for people to move around. Further all along sculptures made of Ice like polar bear, Igloo and other huge figures are etched and kept. It was quite an exciting experience to walk through the ice caves right through the glaciers.
Next adventure out there was going through a speed lift to a height of a peak called Monch at 13,500 ft. The place is called spinz observatory. Coming out of the lift gives us the feeling we are on top of all the alpine ranges. From there we can come out in the open galleries around and get the feel of the icy wind surrounded very closely by the snow capped mountain peaks. The glacier in front of us was Aletsch.

Next is an opening to glacier where many walk along and a lot of skiing was also taking place. We just got the feel of it and returned. I guess we should go more properly protected for the adventure and we were under prepared.

All this moving around the peaks and glaciers took about 21/2 hrs and we rushed back to catch the 2.30 p.m train. The fare for this roundabout trip back to Interlaken east is 155 francs( About Rs.6000) But the Euro pass will half the amount to 50%. Again the back journey took about 3 hrs along the mountainous trail changing trains etc. Landing in Interlaken east again a brisk 15teen minutes back to Interlaken west and on to hotel Oberland by 6.00 p.m.

It was then the entire days activity caught up in our system. After a bit of rest and refreshing bath we went for our ready to eat dinner of Bisibela bath, Bhindi fry , dal fry + yogurt and bananas brought from the super market near by. The tariff for the hotel oberland for twin bed – 3 star fesility is 230F ( Rs. 10,000)

Fourth day in Swiss

11/8/08
The morning we decided to take it comfortably to regain the energy after the hectic Jungfrojaun mountain trip. That made us skip the walk to the lake. We thought we will have a deko of the lake while traveling by train.

As I had mentioned the place is endowed with two mega lakes, one Thunersee and another brinezersee. We had crossed Thunersee while entering into Interlaken town now while coming out of the town and traveling to Lucerne we had to cross the Brinezersee. Even if we had strolled we could have done so only in a corner of the lake. It took more than 15teen minutes to travel by train along one lake at a good speed. To have such huge glacial pure water lakes in midst of Alps is a real boon to the place to promote tourism and the people here have done a superb job of it. In spite of all these developments and conveniences they have retained the environment absolutely pollution free by opting for electrical emission free rail roads and houses around cutely made of logwood jelling with the natural setting.

We left hotel Oberland after our usual fill of inhouse breakfast. But by now the same menu was paling off a bit.. Having the breakfast , collected the 50 franc deposit for getting the kettle and left to the station. We caught the Interlaken east 10.04 train to Luzern and settled nicely for 2 hr travel along various lakes. We were now drastically climbing down from Interlaken to Luzern down to the plain grounds. The chill was also pretty less. We packed in out cats, wore half sleeves and the weather was increasingly becoming like India Feb, march weather.

Our train now was cruising thorugh another glacier lakecalled Lungersee ( the post name see seems to denote lake)

As we reached Luzerne the scene was getting little more prosaic. The leisurely country houses and meadows were giving way to more urban setting with multi storey structures, factories etc. We felt we are moving to one of Indian cities but a bit more organized and clean.
Getting out of the station Lucerne for a while we felt a bit stranded with all the unfamiliar anglo saxon crowd moving around. Now we had to get our moorings in the city and find our NH hotel Lucerne. Asking me to take a of the luggage Venkat went in search of Tourist information office and after a while came armed with details.

Our hotel was near by but we require a transport to reach there. We opted for the bus though it may entail for a little bit of walk to the hotel;. Here buses are large elongated ones each one like a railway compartment. It has automatic opening and closing.

We located our No.1 bus and found the ride was free due to our Euro pass . On reaching the hotel we had to wait for an hr. for our room to get vacant , so sitting in the reception frontage we went through Lucerne details and marked the places to visit.

Lucerne has its huge lake right in the middle of the town, its main feature and lot of ole Architecture buildings – Gothic style.

Our room was in the 5th floor the room space getting increasingly smaller but neat one with a sit out in the front. After setting our luggage and having our lunch we decided to move out to see the city as the sun was shining and weather was good.

The first thing we saw was the lake close by. There were lot of boats there for single users and some beautiful white swans moving in the lake. After jaunting along the lake we then went to the long wooden bridge build in medieval times with a stone cellar in the middle of the canal whree prisinars of the war used to be kept. There were lot of painting too depicting the old wars.

Fifth day in Swiss

12/9/08

From our cubic led hotel room no.584 NH hotel Lucerne , the day didn’t seem to dawn only. It was a cloudy day and we slept into the day till 6.30 a.m only to get up with a start as we were scheduled to catch the 9.22 launch, the first lap of the journey to Mount Pilatus.

This was a trip we had not really anticipated in this grand way. It was only on coming to Lucerne and going through the brochures we could Mount Pitatus can be traveled as a Golden triangle. From Lucerne township along the huge lakes adjacent , a large motar boat will be carting us to a place called Alpnachstad. The boat ride carrying about 200 people is a 90 minute ride along most picturesque landscape dotted with many small towns. Then it is a steep climb for one hr by a small mini train to Mount Pitaltus ( at 7000 ft). Then journey back to Lucerne by a cable car.

We had not dreamt that our excursion pass given by Yatra.com to Mt. Pilatus will entail all these. But on enquiry the precious day we were told it can be accommodated. Hence this trip is the real bonus to us.

Lucerne is actually like a peninsula surrounded on all 3 sides by lake waters. The Lake surrounding Lucerne is called Viuerwaldstattersee. As we started moving out of Lucerne into the lake waters we found after every 10 minutes there is a Lucerne like township Now our boat was halting for a short while in every township. The anchoret of our ship is a girl. She was hauling the rope to the hooks to make the boat halt. Inside the atmosphere was real bohemian. There was a eating joint with many table and chairs around. People were sitting casually around the table eating drinking or chatting not like Indian launches where people are properly seated. Very soon people started moving around to the open along the ale and frontage and enjoying the balmy weather and scenery. After a while the boat moved along a strait ( a narrow patch of water way) and entered into the next lake Alpanacher see.

Here everything is so open just from where we were sitting in a well like portion below we could stand on the railings around and see the working of the huge pistons and engine and could understand clearly how this boat’s engine is working. The mornings threatening weather cleared up luckily and we could stand in the haul at the front and enjoy the beautiful scenery around.
Soon we reached the end of the 90 minutes ferry to the base of Mount Pilatus.

The mini train for going up the mountains were just in front of us in the slopes waiting for us. We literally had to rush out of the ferry to get into the trains as there was only 5 minutes gap.

These trains are the worlds steepest cogwheel train and are recorded in the guniees book of world record for the steep gradient they negotiate. Each train is a 45 seater railway car inching up the 6km vertical climb in a remarkably athletic way as a lizard would climb a vertical wall at an incline of 48 degrees. It seems these railways were started in 1898 and electrified in 1937.
Unfortunately half way through we were immersed in clouds and any further view was obstructed. But we could feel the thrilling experience of inching up to Mount Pilatus.
At Mount Pilatus too the weather did not clear. But as proximal view was there we started moving around. The place seems to be trekkers paradise not too high too and suitable for novice trekkers too. We found a trail going through long caves . The trail was for 30 minutes and we went through it and got some idea of trekking. As it was raining any long climbing trails wont give us an advantage of a view.
We were meeting here a variety of nationalities, some from Spain, England, Australia and lot of Indians too.
After loitering in the area for couple of hrs and having our lunch of Thepla and Apricots we scouted for a while in the souvenir shops there and located a nice buy for Venkat. A small casket containing many alpine stones like quartz, Amethyst ,Jasper ( Interesting on Geological point of view) and decided to return picking up the cable car route.

The prospect of traveling back in cable car was appearing a bit apprehensive as by then we were surrounded completely by thick layer of clouds and visibility was limited. However as cable cars were plying nevertheless we thought it should be safe and alright. The Euro pass was again taking us through the ride or the regular fare of the trip was 98 F ( about Rs 4000) a 30 minute ride from Mount Pilatus to Kriene ( the station to get down). The most part of the ride was along thick pine forests. We were grazing through the top of the pine trees and soon it opened to the valley and lakes. Now the visibility improved and we could see the beautiful landscape below as a bird flies. We were dropped in Kriene ( a township similar to Lucerne) .From here we had to walk for a while along the residential areas of Krine to catch the big trolly bus to Lucerne ( again the bus ride was on the Euro pass)

It is really astonishing to find these residential localities as though swept by a magic wand, so neat and trim buildings, well laid out side walks with pleasant greenery, flowers at every place, well laid out roads but not a soul around toiling to maintain this perfect place.

We returned to Lucerne by 3.15 p.m The bus dropped us right in front of the hotel. Lucerne is in fact an old settlement having many historical gothic type monuments. We visited one right close to our hotel. A huge lion carved in a single piece of rock. There were many tourist hovering there. They claim it is most photographed piece of rock etching.. A monument erected for some departed soldiers in a war of 18th century. We also took some photographs and again went around looking for things in the souvenir shops. We bought some famous Swiss army knives. Every thing else is so costly when we do the conversion from swiss franc to Rs.-- A cup of tea costs -3.50 F= Rs.140 , one cone icecream costs -3.6F= Rs 150/ Good hotels costs 200 f = Rs 8000 to Rs 10000/.
To go to toilet at places we had to pay 2f= Rs 80. A cup of plain curds costs 1 f – Rs 40. So it was a wise thing we carted our food or else sizeable amount we would have ended up for eating only.

After a bit of rest, around 7.30 p.m again we walked to the station a km and half far to enquire about the timings of our next days Zurich trip. We got to see then Lucerne by night. They have so tastefully lighted the place the lake side monuments and the weather was breezing and it was a pleasant walk except our leg muscles were getting sore with all these sudden activities over the last few days. After soaking in the Lucerne for a while we returned to the hotel back and settled for the night.

Night it was dinner of Bisibelabath and matar panner. Here in this hotel they didn’t give us our ubiquitous kettle. Hence we were heating our dinner by dipping them in hot water coming from the tap for a while.About this Lucerne hotel few things we appreciated. One was the bath area which is generally a tub is cordoned off by semi transparent plastic doors giving us the privacy and allowing us not to spill the water outside. Here using the bathrooms requires planning and method. The bathrooms are stone dry and you are supposed to keep it that way even after use. Any water can be spilt only in the bathtub or washbasin. Hence lot of planning has to be done even to wash plain undies. Then to dry them also is a job as it should be done most unobtrusively. Further in the hotel there was one cubicle for bath another for lavatory. But in the toilet there were no taps a situation foreign to Indian needs. But having the bath and commode separate was some solace.

Sixth day at Swiss

13/9 /08

Today we were to move to Zurich from Luzerne. Our trip in swiss started from southern most tip of Switzerland at Zermot and was progressively moving northwards. At Zurich we were moving away from Alps.

The morning we found the rain clouds were thick looming in the sky. We decided to take the 11.10 train to Zurich which is about 45 minutes ride from Luzerne. So we had a leisurely breakfast after bath, prayer etc. and got ourselves ready for the Zurich trip telling good bye to Luzerne NH hotel.
For station we took a bus. By today our Euro rail pass was over and we were on our own to buy tickets. For bus travel the tickets are picked up by oneself by putting money in the slot machine. Our ticket to station costed 2.80 Franc(Rs 110) each. There just opposite to the bus stop we found an Indian restaurant called Kanchi proving the Indian presence in these places. Landing in station we first enquired as to where the hotel Montana at Zurich is . We were informed the hotel is just close to the station . Then we bought the railway tickets which again costed 23 francs ( Rs 920) each. Thus with out a Euro pass the travel costs will be exactly double. Yatra.com in fact had promised us to give a eight day Euro pass apart form the excursion for which they had given passes. However till last minute they failed to deliver it. On questioning they have promised to refund the amount. Let us see what happens.
At Luzerne we boarded the train at 11.35 and reached Zurich by 12.20 a.m

Zurich is the economic capital of Switzerland like Bombay in India. We could make it out even as approaching Zurich. The city atmosphere is very clear. Near Zurich multi storey buildings , factories line up the path. The trains are real sleek and comfortable. The one we boarded was double decker with food twin seats.
Hotel Montanna was close to the station. We could walk it over. Our room was in the 5th floor , the top one. This also a 3 star one belonging to Best western chain.

As soon as we entered the hotel, we made enquires about any city tours. We were told a trip starts from the near by bus terminal at 2.00 p.m We thought we should avail of it. As Zurich being a big city and with paucity of time we felt this is the only way to see the city quickly. After loading the things inside the hotel and having our lunch of thepla and fruits. We rushed out but to our dismay it was drizzling continuesly. We then borrowed an umbrella from the reception ( thanks to the reception clerks friendliness) and marched to the bus station near by. However on reaching there we found the 2 O clock buses fully booked for the city tour inspite of the bad weather, perhaps being weekend tourist have arrived. But they told us as a special case they are plying buses again at 4 O clock . Hence we quickly booked our tickets for the same and returned to the hotel to rest a little ( hotel is just close by)

Our city tour started promptly at 4.15 p.m We were close to the drivers seat ( each seat was armed with a ear phone through which commentary about Zurich we could listen in any language of our choice. Naturally we opted for English.)

( The people here mostly speak one swiss German & it is really difficult to find English speaking people except among tourist and receptionist etc.). The trip was real enriching as they gave us some good idea of how Zurich town developed and about people along with showing the sights of new town, old town, the river, bridges and lakes adjacent.

Here some salient features-
In Zurich town before 200 yrs only 20,000 people were living now the count is 3.3 lakhs people.
The modern Zurich was build between 1825- 1925
40% of the population here are Catholics, 40% are protestrians and rest other religions.
The lake of Zurich situated in the middle of the town is 40km long and 4km wide.
Apart from the lake the river Sial and river Limat flows through Zurich & Sial is the second longest river in Switzerland.
Railways are important feature in Zurich. It started in 1847 and presently there are 17teen stations in Zurich.
Zurich is the Economic hub of Switzerland. It has two world renowned financial services- Banking and Insurance.
We were shown the most important banking buildings where all the worlds money is locked up
Perhaps using all this money the modern Switzerland has developed with its excellent infrastructure.
The Zurich university is quite in thing in the city, nearly 10% of the population are involved in study and research.
The education system here is laid back. Children are admitted to school only by age of seven.
However the place has produced 25 Noble laurels. Albert Einstein is from this region. Some thing in the place & system promotes great thinking to bring out noble laureates.
70% of the population here stay in rented houses as the housing is owned by big business houses.
The city is choka block filled with medival structures converted to modern buildings
The city has 100 churches, 8 synagogue ( Jews prayer house) and one mosque, so much for the fervor of the people. In fact we find a bible kept in every hotel room we stay perhaps to awaken some religious feeling.
The city boosts large no of museum. However we may not get to see any one of them.
At Zurich we were in mid Switzerland. People at home speak at home a language called Swiss German which does not have a script. Hence they pick up the script of German, Italian, French depending on the place proximal in Switzerland.
The per capita income of Switzerland is max in the world about 37,00o $ while that of India is 375 $.

We returned back after the city tour by 6.30 p.m The day was still young. We had a cup of tea in the room itself by bringing a kettle of hot water from the restaurant below. The rest of the works for tea we had it with us.
The room space and services were a come down progressively as were moving from smaller places to city set up though all hotel belongs to Best western chain. The room gets stuffy in a short while . It is not air cooled or ventilated. Hence like in India we opened the windows and doors for a while to allow cross ventilation and fresh breeze.

Here in Zurich city the most surprising thing I found was there are rows and rows of buildings, large areas of them but as you travel for kms one can’t find a single human presence. No windows open with somebody peeping out, no clothes drying out. It looks like a place in fairy tale where a child finds houses well made up without anybody around.

As I mentioned since the day was young, here the sunsets only by 8O clock we went again for a jaunt outside hoping to do some shopping. However here all shops on sat close by 5O clock . Other days by 6.00 op.m. People root leisure and enjoyment. The only joints open were eating joints.
We decided to try out at Macdonalds as Veg. food will be available there. It was filled with youngsters. We had a Veg. burger with the ubiquitous potato finger chips and a large glass of coke which costed 10F. This was to make a record to have at least one eat outside apart from the breakers which we were having daily in the mornings.
We reached the hotel and retired for the night. We had a Rhine fall excursion next day morning.

Seventh day at Swiss

14/9/08

Today is the last day of our trip. We were holding the Euro pass for going to Rhine water falls about 44km north of Zurich close to German border.

We were asked to report by 9.30 a.m in the bus depo close to the hotel. Morning the weather was still cloudy with light drizzle. We got ready by 8.10 p.m and went for breaker down. At hotel Montana this was the first break fast . But the menu was same.
The menu of cereals and bread with fruit juices had started tiring us. Such kind of breakfast can be arranged for any number of people with out hassle as all items are pre prepared. There are no items like in India freshly prepared. Having the breakfast we picked the camera & other things from hotel room and rushed to the bus stand. The bus was waiting readily there with a lady guide but with very few passengers. There were in all only 6 couples out of which 3 pair were Indians. ( The outside temp was 14`c.) In fact we were told in Switzerland presently max. tourist are from India. It is we who are boosting their economy further! I suppose Indians have a fascination for Switzerland & it is well worth it as the place have really a lot to offer in sight seeing & learning experience, especially the management of the hill country and engineering skills are something to marvel about.

There natural resources are very little. With the milk they produce they have become world leaders in chees and chocolates.In watch making and selling again they lead the world. Their ingenuity of developing banking which gives them access to all the worlds money is also to be understood.

The Rhine trip started in time at 9.35 a.m inspite of lack of passengers .The lady guide Rhinata ( an elderly lady ) chose to speak in English as that was the common language in the bus. We found the trip costs 42 Francs. In an hrs time by 10.35 a.m we were at Rhine falls. As we were moving north the weather cleared up giving us hope to have a good weather near the water fall. The way from Zurich to the town Schaffausen near Rhine falls was beautiful. Our bus was routed through the airport to pick up any passengers there but there were none. The lady guide was telling us many information about Swiss life.

Some economic information of interest are
Most of the working people in Zurich stay out of the town as rentals are costly in Zurich town.
The people in service end up paying 18% of their income for rent, 14% for income tax 22% for insurance.
A decent apartment in country site costs 1500 to 2500 francs. Hence you can find out an avg. income re for good living ( about 9 to 10,000 francs per month) ( about 4 lakh Rs)
About 10% of the population are below poverty line
About 150 yrs back the place had 60% farmers. Now only 5% are farmers still they produce 60% req of food for the people. Rest is imported
The old farm houses did not have any heating. The stable and cow shed is to be in the ground floor helping in heating the place.
The total population of Switzerland is 7.6 million (76 lakhs) with the land area of 40,000 sq.km with its borders traversing 5 countries. Though all these countries were involved in world wars Switzerland remained neutral and thrived. This political neutrality and stability made it mecca of banking.

The Rhine falls were a great sight indeed. It is actually twin falls divided by a small mound in the Rhine river not at a very great height, one of 23m ht. & another of 13m. In fact they are more like rapids. But the force of water is so high that it comes down in cascades foaming and frothing.

Our guide told us for 6 francs each we can opt for a boat ride which will take us to the mouth of the waterfall. From where we can climb up the small mound/hillock and get closer view and feel of the water fall. As the weather had spruced up becoming more sunny we decided to take the boat ride along with the Bengali couple with whom we became friendly by then.

We took the boat ride which is just a 10 minutes ride to the water fall. Now we were adjacent to the fall & what a good feeling. Everybody were thrilled and happy to get the water spray on themselves & see the gushing waters in close quarters. It was a photo session for every one especially after climbing up the hillock where we could get a good view of the entire scenery. We were given just one hr for our rounds to the water fall. We hence returned back by 10.30 after taking some time to shop in the sounier shops as Zurich shops were closed on Sunday.

Returning back to hotel ,had our lunch & rest. Again at 4.00 p.m went for enquires and shopping to the station near by which alone is operating in full swing through the week .We found next day we had to leave early to catch the train to airport with a reporting time 2hrs before flight.

So we returned back to hotel with India in our minds. As a thanks giving told Rudram & all suthams in the hotel room. Venkat had his dinner ( Bisibelabath) while for me it was a fasting evening being Sunday.

Then we packed our things & found it had become pretty light with most of the food packets having been consumed.

The eighth day at Swiss

The temperature in Switzerland during our stay was always hovering above 10 c. Though the temp was not significantly low still there was a constant chill in the air. It might be due to Alpine glaciers surrounding us & the wind blows from there.
By late Oct. to Nov the entire place must be getting wrapped up in ice & life should be slowing down considerably. Perhaps the long leisure which people get , over 6 months should help them introspect think and become genius. I suppose Indian life is too rushed to put in real innovative thinking – A rumination.

Well I am on to my commentaries of Swiss life before the memories starts dimming. But here we are on the last day of travel.

We got up at 5.30 a.m got ready & went for breakfast in the ground floor. After breaker ( had a light one) keeping space for one which may be served in Aircrafr. Then checked out of our room in the hotel. Just when checking out a Srilankan tamilian liobby housekeeper spotted us and greeted us warmly in tamil. We found Zurich has lot of Srilankans especially tamilians who have come has refugees more than 15teen yrs back. This lady has migrated to this place 17teen yrs back but still she holds the tamil Srilankan flavour. She had nose ring, gold ear tops & gold chain etc.

After checking out handing back the computer card ( at present key for opening hotel rooms is become obsolete. Every where we were given computer card to open & close which can be modified & duplicated as they want). We started lugging our luggage to the station about 200 yds away. The distance too short for any transport. Hence we dragged the luggage to the station got our tickets to Zurich airport-6F. The 7.40 train was just waiting in platform 13. We boarded the jam packed train to the airport.

Airport is one place you can find lots & lots of people. The swiss airline was fully booked . Inspite of coming to the airport in good time because of the expanse of the airport where we have to move from gate to gate for different procedures like checking luggage, pass port checking, checking hand baggage etc. Hand baggage checking was very stringent one . We had to leave behind the water bottle & the moistener cream which we had in the hand baggage as liquids are not allowed . Any way we learn from experience. We should have packed them in the main luggage.

Again we got the aisle seat only. I suppose people do tele booking. This even though we had come early we found good seat were already booked.
Here we are in the Aero plane when I am writing this settling for the 8 hr travel back to India.

The flight reached India pretty late by 9.50 p.m ( Indian time) . Coming out of the flight, baggage collection, customs check & passport stamping took another one hr.

Then we decided to exchange the remaining Swiss currency at Airport only back to Indian money. After the exchange with Thomas cook we went for a prepaid taxi.
At Bombay there was a stiff downpour of rains. Coming out with our luggage we were back to stark reality of India. No shade to protect us. The taxi standing at some far off corner. Pushing through the crowd we had to search for the taxi to take us back home. However the taxi driver was a upright muslim old man in flowing kurta & white cap. He with patience drove in the night in the pouring rain, crossing near Shivaji park several late Ganapathy moria procession ( late latifs as the immersion was over the previous day. The entire Bombay at the late hr of 11.30 p.m humming with life.

The familiar sights brought in our psyche a sense of belonging in tune with the scene and people around. You feel it is home coming at last.