Day 2 of the weekend and there was not much confusion regarding where we should be heading. We started for Interlaken at about 2pm. The journey this time was a break journey in which we had to change the trains at Bern. The train timings in Switzerland are synchronized to perfection. For us it was from Zurich to Bern, change the train and then from Bern to Interlaken. We reached Bern and within 5 minutes the next train to Interlaken was supposed to start. This time it was delayed by 15 minutes and gave us a little breather. For any new person it is a little tough to get used to this extraordinary sophisticated system. You waste 5 minutes and then you will have to wait for at least half an hour for the next train. One more thing which makes this whole system so amazing is that the time across the country is more or less perfectly synchronized. Also, there is not a delay of a minute (unless of course it is announced) in timings. So if a train is supposed to leave at 2pm then sharp at a minute to 2 the doors will be closed and at 2 the train will depart. No wonder why these people are so famous about there watches. Anybody valuing the time so much deserves the respect in the same proportion.
After changing the trains at Bern, we reached Interlaken at 4pm. It was cloudy and raining most of the time and this time we had no umbrellas with us. Nevertheless we proceeded for River lodge, the place Shweta had booked earlier online for four of us. Unfortunately it was full and we had to come back to station. There was this amazing map of all the lodges and hotels in the area (a very detailed one). It displays the current position of the visitor. Also, to its side, pictures of all the lodges and hotels and hostels are mentioned with a code number. When you press that code number in the machine provided, it beeps a light and the map gives you the exact location of the place you are looking for. To make it better, there is a telephone right besides it. You dial the same code number again in the phone and it connects you directly to the hotel you have dialed for. You can enquire here about the availability of the rooms. And all this free of cost again!! (You can’t help to wonder, if this whole system can ever be implemented in India. And ever and even it is, how long will it function? Some sad facts……..but one day all this will be possible) We called up all the feasible places and got the same answer from everywhere. “We are fully booked!!”. It was only one place which told us that it can accommodate us but we would have had to share a room with 31 other people…….
Next we reached travel guide office and were told that the weather next day wasn’t exactly ideal for visiting Jungfrau as showers and cloudy atmosphere was predicted. Obvious choice was to take a round about Interlaken and catch the last train back.
Interlaken is just like a country side. Though thousands and thousands of visitors visit every year, it is really appreciable the way the government has maintained the beauty of the place. Again you start making comparison with India and some common examples that come to your mind are Shimla and Manali etc. I bet equally beautiful places, but with the volume of people visiting every year, the beauty is diminishing. But here its hardly the case.
A nice couple of hours of walking around the place, some good shops and some real scenic beauty and we were close to call it a day. On our way we had noticed a nice restaurant called Shalimar which announced to serve Alu Mutter and other Indian cuisine. It might sound funny, but just in a week we were bored to death by eating bread everyday. But it turned out to be a little expensive. (3 CHF for a naan and with a thali only one naan or a portion of rice) So we went to another one called Bamboo something. Had some nice Thai food. Also It happened so that Vishal wanted to purchase something from a gift shop for his girlfriend. So the arrangement was that he would meet us in Shalimar in 10 minutes. But we decided to shift the place. Hence Shweta ordered in that restaurant and I waited for him outside Shalimar. 25 minutes passed by and there was no sign of him at 8.15pm. So I joined her for dinner in the hope that we would catch a glimpse of him from that restaurant and we would go back together. But Murphy’s law again and I think it was destined that we would go back separately.
We finished our dinner in a hurry and rushed to station to catch 8.47 train back. There we came to know that it was a bus and not a train and next train was only at 9.25. So we waited. There was this taxi driver and a girl(French I think) who helped us with the time table. Then for train we crossed the rail line and got this warning from an official as to how it is dangerous and how we should not be doing it in Switzerland. He was really caring and nice.
The journey back home was quite uneventful except for the fact that only two of us were together. Back home Vishal had already reached and truly relived that he too had reached safely, we hit the bed!!
After changing the trains at Bern, we reached Interlaken at 4pm. It was cloudy and raining most of the time and this time we had no umbrellas with us. Nevertheless we proceeded for River lodge, the place Shweta had booked earlier online for four of us. Unfortunately it was full and we had to come back to station. There was this amazing map of all the lodges and hotels in the area (a very detailed one). It displays the current position of the visitor. Also, to its side, pictures of all the lodges and hotels and hostels are mentioned with a code number. When you press that code number in the machine provided, it beeps a light and the map gives you the exact location of the place you are looking for. To make it better, there is a telephone right besides it. You dial the same code number again in the phone and it connects you directly to the hotel you have dialed for. You can enquire here about the availability of the rooms. And all this free of cost again!! (You can’t help to wonder, if this whole system can ever be implemented in India. And ever and even it is, how long will it function? Some sad facts……..but one day all this will be possible) We called up all the feasible places and got the same answer from everywhere. “We are fully booked!!”. It was only one place which told us that it can accommodate us but we would have had to share a room with 31 other people…….
Next we reached travel guide office and were told that the weather next day wasn’t exactly ideal for visiting Jungfrau as showers and cloudy atmosphere was predicted. Obvious choice was to take a round about Interlaken and catch the last train back.
Interlaken is just like a country side. Though thousands and thousands of visitors visit every year, it is really appreciable the way the government has maintained the beauty of the place. Again you start making comparison with India and some common examples that come to your mind are Shimla and Manali etc. I bet equally beautiful places, but with the volume of people visiting every year, the beauty is diminishing. But here its hardly the case.
A nice couple of hours of walking around the place, some good shops and some real scenic beauty and we were close to call it a day. On our way we had noticed a nice restaurant called Shalimar which announced to serve Alu Mutter and other Indian cuisine. It might sound funny, but just in a week we were bored to death by eating bread everyday. But it turned out to be a little expensive. (3 CHF for a naan and with a thali only one naan or a portion of rice) So we went to another one called Bamboo something. Had some nice Thai food. Also It happened so that Vishal wanted to purchase something from a gift shop for his girlfriend. So the arrangement was that he would meet us in Shalimar in 10 minutes. But we decided to shift the place. Hence Shweta ordered in that restaurant and I waited for him outside Shalimar. 25 minutes passed by and there was no sign of him at 8.15pm. So I joined her for dinner in the hope that we would catch a glimpse of him from that restaurant and we would go back together. But Murphy’s law again and I think it was destined that we would go back separately.
We finished our dinner in a hurry and rushed to station to catch 8.47 train back. There we came to know that it was a bus and not a train and next train was only at 9.25. So we waited. There was this taxi driver and a girl(French I think) who helped us with the time table. Then for train we crossed the rail line and got this warning from an official as to how it is dangerous and how we should not be doing it in Switzerland. He was really caring and nice.
The journey back home was quite uneventful except for the fact that only two of us were together. Back home Vishal had already reached and truly relived that he too had reached safely, we hit the bed!!
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