Aha,the
famed mountain peak of Jungfraujoch was before us and it was a great
spectacle .All around us,we could only see snow and ice covered
peaks.The temperature was around 12 degree and breathing was
labourious since the oxygen was less in the windy air at this
height.It was bright,sunny weather and we found ourselves surrounded
by travellers from around the world.Cameras started clicking the
beautiful natural surroundings.We were all wearing heavy woolens with
headgear to combat the inclement weather.We visited Ice Palace
passing through the Ice Gateway which was a unique experience.The
view from the Sphinx observation terrace was simply spellbound.After
a round of clicking photos,we flet the hunger pangs and headed
towards the Top of Europe Glacier Restaurant.It was amazing to get
hot piping food at such a height and we relished the lunch.Our Ladoos
and khakaras came in handy to munch about,seeing snow all around us
through the big windows.The hot tea and coffee was godsend and drove
away all feelings of bitter cold.
We
met several Indian couples and families who had come from different
parts of the country and felt eleted on seeing our fellow
countrymen.It was also a barometer of India’s rising affluence and
people’s attitude to spend money to see the world.
Some
of us had to take a brief rest,feeling uneasy due to less oxygen in
the air.Sadly,the various adventure attracations were not
operational due to weather constraints.
It
was late afternoon and Now,it was time for us to go back.
We
walked back and boarded the train back to Luzern,with nice feeling of
experiencing the top of europe but with a tinge of sadness too of not
staying any longer .The return leg was more tiring and most of the
members fell off to sleep.It was around 9pm when we reached Luzern
and walked to our hotel.After a fast dinner,we were all in bed at
10pm to recharge our batteries for the upcoming day.
Posted in Blogs, Family, Travel.
Tagged with ice, ice palace, ladoo, luzern, mt jungfrau, sleep, snow.
By sanjay laddha
– June 29, 2010
Our
Train departed Luzern at 0855 hours and the first leg was to reach
Interlaken Ost station at 1055.The route was very scenic,with lush
green fields,wooden houses,clear blue sky tempting us to step out.We
passed 9 stations enroute,with brief stopovers of a minute at each
station.Our train was classified as InterRegio
and it reached on dot 1055 at platform 4.We were a little anxious
because the next train was after a gap of 10 minutes from platform
2A.Our group got down,looked for directions to go to platform
2A,which entailed walking down to a subway and walking up to the new
platform.Since the time was short,we practically ran and reached our
train coach within 7 minutes. This was a Regio train,smaller than the
previous train coach,compact yet comfortable.
As
usual,train departed on time at 1105 from Interlaken Ost and wound
its way past 2 more stations to reach Lauterbrunnen station at 1125
hours.
Our
third leg of journey started in a unique modern cogwheel train from
the same station Lauterbrunnen at 1139 hours and travelling past 4
stations , it chugged into Kleine Scheidegg station,loacted at 2061
mts altitude, at 1224 hours.The terrain has slowly changed from
plains to mountains and the tracks were laid uphill,making the speed
slow.
The
swiss operational efficiency was at display,our tickets were checked
by different ticket checkers in each train.The stations enroute were
spic and span and maintained effciently.
The
last leg commenced from the hill station of Kleine Scheidegg station
by the Jungfrau Raliways at 1230 hours and crossed midway
Eigergletscher station at 1240 and then moving up through the Eiger
tunnel to stop for 5 minutes each at Eigerwand and Eismeer stations
to afford us a view of the snow capped mountains all around us.The
large observation windows got us a great view.The steep climb was
slowly covered by the train through tracks laid by cutting through
the mountains.
The
wait now felt cruel.These coaches were equipped with large LCD
TV,which were playing nicely made video clips of history,features etc
related to Jungfraujoch and surrounding peaks,what precautions to
take,what facilities are available at the peak etc.
Finally,we
stepped onto the famed Mt Jungfraujoch at 1322 hours,after travelling
for 4.27 hours and with 3 train changes.
Posted in Blogs, Family, Kids, Travel.
Tagged with cogwheel, Interlaken Ost, InterRegio, jungfrau, Kleine Scheidegg, Lauterbrunnen, luzern, train.
By sanjay laddha
– June 29, 2010
Our
wait for others to arrive turned into anxiety when the clock started
ticking nearer to the departure time-we were witness,standing on
those platforms of Luzern railway station,how punctual were these
arrivals and departures.If the departure was meant for 0755 hours,the
guard would waive off the train a few seconds before the clock could
strike 0755 and then it will not wait for anyone.We could see a
disabled Swiss man,hobbling anxiously with his crutches to catch the
train and was able to reach the coach just as it was meant to roll
out.The train guard waived him sorry and the train rolled out on
time.The ruthless efficiency of the system was to be seen to be
believed.
Frantic
calls were made for the rest of our group to join us but to no avail
and we were so disappointed to see our train rolling out of the
platform without us.It was a matter of a few minutes delay,as we
Indians are so accustomed to stretch the
time,but this was Switzerland.Rest of us grumbled,growled and got
impatient-the next train was an hour later.It was not too good a sign
to start off on a vacation-but it served a good purpose-we were never
late after that.
The
next 45 minutes were spent in exploring the 2 tier railway
station,with steps,escalators and elevators connecting the two
levels.hopping in and out of supermarkets,fashion stores etc.A visit
to the toilets put us back by 2ChF(Rs 90) individually and the lure
of hot popcorn was not to be ignored by shelling out 3 ChF(Rs 135).
The
weather was cool,and a varied mix of localites were commuting-office
goers,college students,elderly people,people proudly carrying
cycles,walkers with dogs on a leash,cute children wearing all kinds
of sweet clothings.You could spend hours sitting on the platform
benches and watching the sea of humanity pass by.
It
was all very surreal yet real.
The
wait got over and we impatiently jumped into our coaches as soon as
the train rolled in.The Indian traveller’s blood flowing in our veins
could not believe-Aha,the coaches were sparsely populated and you
were spoilt for choice.The elegant and modern train coaches were so
superior to Indian train coaches that you would rub your eyes with
disbelief.
Posted in Family, Kids, Travel.
Tagged with ChF, delay, luzern, mt jungfrau, punctual, swiss, train.
By sanjay laddha
– June 14, 2010
The
second day of our Switzerland stay kicked off the Jungfrau mountain
trip.It is the tallest mountain peak in Switzerland and the return
journey from Luzern would take us the full day.
We
had a good restful sleep the previous night in our comfortable hotel
rooms,snuggled up in cozy bed.The alarm clock in the mobile phones
woke us up at the break of the dawn at 6am.It was still dark outside
and the body was craving for more sleep.The magic of discovering a
new country made us woke up.The coffee maker we carried from India
came in handy to make us feel at home with a hot chai,courtesy the
masala,elaichi variants of dip tea pouches from Tetley.The various
gadgets-mobile phones,camcorders,still cameras,ipods were yanked out
from their chargers-all ready to capture the show after a full night
charge.
The
bathrooms were optimally used so as to make everyone ready in the
least possible time.The bathroom management is quite tricky on
trips-everyone wants to wake up last and be on the breakfast table at
the earliest.We had set ourselves a target of 7am at the breakfast
table and to leave the hotel by 7.30am so as to catch the 7.55 train
to Jungfrau.
I was
the last person to reach the table at 7.20 and gobbled up whatever
came my way.I left the hotel with the first group of family members
at 735 and after crossing the road across the hotel,landed up at the
Luzern mail railway station.The main concourse was a sea of
people,swiss people going about their daily lives.from the big
electronic digital display boards, I checked out the platform from
which the fastest train to Jungfrau would be departing.
Now,the
train family passes we were carrying needed to be validated and
additional tickets to be bought for Jungfrau visit.The ticket
counters were located in the level below us and after showing the
lady at the counter our passes she issued additional tickets after
charging ChF 300 for 5 persons.
Now,we
were all set to board the luxury train.
Posted in Family, Kids, Travel.
Tagged with bathroom, family pass, jungfrau, luzern, tea, tetley.
By sanjay laddha
– June 9, 2010
Our
Luzern stay was at a nice,cosy, four star property - Hotel
Continental Park.The hotel was a mere 5 minutes walk from the main
Luzern Railway station.The area around the station was surrounded by
all kinds of hotels,shops,cafe etc.These was a pier next to the
railway station which used to operate hourly boat rides on the
river.The water was clean with pretty ducks frolicking in the
river.We decided to take a city tour of Luzern,in a battery operated
vehicle,which has been remodelled as a tram car.The vehicle had rows
of benches,in front of which were listening posts,which enabled the
travellers to listen to commentary about the various highlight of the
trip in 10 different languages,including,surprisingly,Hindi too.Other
languages were English,Spanish,German,French etc.The tram operator
was all in one guy.He sold the tickets,collected cash,checked
travellers,issued headphones,collected them back and also drove the
vehicle.I was reminded of situation back home,where the same job
would be done by 2 to 3 persons.We took our seats on the tram car and
the tour started.For next 1 hour,we travelled to various landmarks
of the city and the commentary in English and Hindi was very
informative and exhaustive.It was an enjoyable trip ,exploring nooks
and corners of Luzern.Getting down from the tramcar,we enjoyed Swiss
icecreams ,which were out of the world.A walk bought us back to our
hotel towards the end of the evening.We called it a day,to recoup our
energy and get ready for the next day.
Posted in Family, Travel.
Tagged with city tour, hotel, luzern, railway station.
By sanjay laddha
– May 23, 2010
While
travelling from Zurich airport railway station to Luzern railway
station by a double decker train,we were astonished to find a tea
vendor rolling in the coach with a trolley,selling hot/cold
beverages.The hot coffee was beig retailed at CHF 3,equivalent to
about Rs 150.
While the train
was kept spot clean and the quality of seating system was
excellent,the train virtually travelled without any noise or
jerking-It was as if we were travelling over a smooth highway on a
mercedes benz car.The intermediate stations were announced in English
and the local language and the stopover was for a very bried
timeperiod of 15-20 seconds.The train coach gate would only open if
there is a passenger wishing to disembark or a passenger at the
platform wanting to board the train.Any one of them would press a
red switch located nearby the gates,both inside and outside the
coach.
The train
passed through the city of Zurich and different kinds of residential
units,office blocks could be seen.After it left Zurich,the landscape
changed to give us a glimpse of the real beauty of Switzerland.The
green cover alongwith beautiful lakes captured our attention.
Finally,the
train rolled into the last and final station of Luzern.
The
station complex was a big building with underground level for shops
,ticketing offices etc.We transferred our luggage onto the trolleys
kept at the station by paying charges and consulted our google map
for the exact direction to our hotel.As we came out and crossed the
streets,we could see the traffic was very disciplined,with seperate
lanes for even cycles also.
It
took us hardly 10 minutes to reach our hotel by walking and the check
was a very smooth affair and in next 10 minutes,we were resting in
our rooms.
Posted in Family, Kids, Travel.
Tagged with luzern, zurich.
By sanjay laddha
– May 16, 2010
We missed the
scheduled direct train from Zurich Airport’s railway station to
Luzern railway station due to airport delay and the next direct train
was an hour away.The time was right to grab our lunch.The commercial
complex at Zurich Airport’s railway station was having all the
amenities that a traveller would need-Money exchange,ticketing
counter,toilets,restaurants,provisions,book store,travel desk etc.The
neat and clean,sprawling, airconditioned commercial complex was
indeed inviting enough for our refuel break.It was a great
lunch,replete with puris,aloo ki sabji,achar,bhujia amidst such nice
setting.I shopped around for a mineral water bottle and had to shell
out the local curreny Swiss Frank-SFr 1.50 for half a litre
bottle,which is equivalent to Rs 125.These five star prices were a
reminder to us that Switzerland is truly one of the costliest places
to travel to.
After
refuelling,we headed towards the train ticketing counter for
validation of our Swiss rail passes,which had been purchased in
India.The variety of passes-one day,3 day,consecutive,family
pass,grandparents pass etc are sure to confuse the traveller and you
have to take time out to understand which pass would really suit
your purpose.
We travelled one
level down to board our train after the passes were validated. A
few minutes later,the train rolled in and the beauty of it took away
our breath.The train coaches were unlike anything we have seen in
India.You need to press a red button beside the train gates to open
the hydraulic operated gates.The wide and large landing space was
meant for keeping luggage,with special provision to hang bicycles.It
was a two tier train,with a steel staircase leading up to the higher
level.The kids went bersek with joy and starting exploring nooks and
corners of the coach.
Posted in Family, Kids, Travel.
Tagged with luzern, rail, rail pass, zurich.
By sanjay laddha
– May 9, 2010
The
Swissair flight made a smooth landing at the Zurich international
airport.We went through the immigration really fast and gathered
around the conveyer belt to collect our luggage.After thorough
checking,it was discovered in the final count that one suitcase was
missing.It rang alarm bell because it contained winter clothing and
foodstuff too.We immediately rushed to the lost baggage
counter,located nearby the conveyer belt area,dismayed and
apprehensive about what would happen if the baggage was not traced.
The Swissair
official at the counter calmly heard us out,apologised
that we are being inconvenienced and showed us a chart showing colour
photos of different types of suitcases and asked us to identify which
make or model resembled our lost baggage.We were nonplussed when he
asked whether the suitcase belonged to a man or a woman- what
difference does it make to a lost baggage? The answer surprised us -
he gave us a complimentary gents bag, since our man’s baggage was not
traceable. Meanwhile,he searched in the airline’s online computer
system on the basis of our booking luggage tag and said most probably
the lugagge has been mistakenly left at London heathrow airport and
should fly down by the same evening to Zurich.A computerised receipt
of the lost baggage was handed over,with a request to confirm same
day evening over phone the exact status of the same.
To our huge relief
and amazement-the lost baggage was hand delivered to our Luzern hotel
next day afternoon without any charges .This incident proved to us
the oft heard world class standards of swiss efficiency and
hospitality.
We walked out of
the airport building,towing our 15 suitcases on airport
trolleys,crossed over a road and entered the opposite building
housing the Zurich airport train station at the basement.We were in
a hurry, since our direct train to Luzern was due to leave in some
time.In our hurry,we forgot to look for elevator
and I decided to put the luggage trolley on to the escalator
going down and immediately regretted the decision.It was very
difficult to bear the weight of the luggage tilted downwards,with the
suitcases precariously perched over each other,
which may fly off any moment and hit the person travelling down on
the escalator. Luckily, nothing happened and I reached the lower
level safely.
Posted in Family, Travel.
Tagged with lost baggage, swissair, zurich.
By sanjay laddha
– May 3, 2010
The Heathrow Airport at London was a breath of fresh air.Huge area,lots and lots of passengers routing their their global journey thru’ this prestigious aerodrome.We had just rushed out of our Jet Airways mumbai flight and were scheduled to catch the Swissair flight to Zurich in next 100 minutes.The official Heathrow website,a great website with loads of useful info,had foretelled us that this changeover requires a change of terminals and we need to provision for 90 minutes for the switchover.The arrival flight being already delayed by 15 minutes,we had to really rush to make the connection.The good part was the baggage was well taken care of,with the alliance of Jet & Swissair.The worrying part was with a big family of 11 members,we have to be nimble footed.Papa & Mummy availed of the wheelchair assistance services and 9 of us walked hard to catch the inter terminal transfer coach.We boarded the well maintained coach,it glided thru the cargo hold and dropped us off at the departure terminal.We rushed towards the immigration checking-which unlike India,was very thorough.Ladies and kids were more thoroughly checked.The footwear was taken off,the jackets were off and the body search was professional.After this last final hurdle,we crashed down to the waiting lounge of the swissair-only to discover the flight has been delayed due to bad weather over Swiss skies and the flight was delayed by over 45 minutes.There were more than 20 newspapers and magazines for our timepass at the waiting area,alongwith pay-as-you-go Internet pc,toffee dispensing machines etc.The Glass and steel structure was very well maintained,the toilets spotless clean.There was not a single strand of trash to be found throughout our travel thru the Heathrow airport.More than 100 passengers,mostly europeans and americans were sitting in the waiting lounge,yet the silence was errie-the airport’s airconditioning can be heard -all of these was a culture shock.
At last,the flight departure was announced and we all filed in a que to get abroad the swissair aircraft.The airhostess offered us a piece of swiss chocolates and a glass of cold drink- the morning breakfast- to refuel us till Zurich.
Posted in Family, Travel.
Tagged with heathrow, immigrations, jet airways, london, swissair.
By sanjay laddha
– April 26, 2010
While the Inter-terminus coach was winding its way thru the airports,it was a night full of activity at the Mumbai airports-the coach was following dotted lines on the road marked for its travel thru the restricted area of the airport-we can see private aircrafts getting ready for take off, big aircrafts getting towed away to parking bays,international aircrafts being loaded with cargo,people running about doing their respective jobs.It was a great insight to be had for what goes inside India’s busiest airports.
By the time the coach reached the international terminus departure gates,we were running short of time.We rushed and the Jet Airways staff were there to help us-they guided us to the immigration area.Immigration took its own sweet time and as soon as we came out of the immigration gates,the Jet guy said-Run,Your flight is only being held for your group.We actually ran a couple of yards,landing up panting at the aircraft gates.Here again the passport and documents were checked and we were so relieved that Hey,now we can board our flight-at last.
This was a direct flight from Mumbai to London.The craft was really good,loaded with personal Video screen,comfortable reclining seats in Economy class.The flight was full and we settled down after putting the luggage in the overhead compartment.The overnight flight afforded us a restful bout of sleep and we were raring to go to catch our Swissair flight to Zurich.After a hearty breakfast,we landed 15 minutes late than scheduled time at London’s Heathrow airport.We had to really move fast to catch our connecting flight and there was no time to waste.
Posted in Family, Travel.
Tagged with heathrow, jet airways, london, mumbai, swissair.
By sanjay laddha
– April 18, 2010
