Go Solo girl

What is that you really want to do ? What is that makes you happy? What is that you would die doing? What is your inner voice? Well I sometimes ask such kind of stupid questions to myself … Do I get an answer … well its tough but I know Traveling is one thing which i love and it is like living life for me … In group or Solo does not matter, If I want to go somewhere I will go even if it is solo and Trust me its fun to be with yourself.. My funda is simple — If not now then when? Don’t wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect and memorable… When I thought of writing a blog I said to myself why not start sharing my experience with the most special and memorable journey till date. So here I go sharing my adventurous trip which is close to my heart with you all – Switzerland – My dream my love

From deciding to go solo, making all arrangements, managing finances, finally getting there and then exploring the destinations to the fullest… what can i expect more ….. had a blast….Best trip ever

Go Solo girl …. Live your dream … Jaa Sonal Jaa jee le apni Zindagi :p

Why Swiss
As one of the most expensive European countries, Switzerland is skipped over by many budget travelers. Having been here, I can say that before you even get out of the train station, you begin to wonder “how the heck did I spend so much money?!

As a die hard SRK fan I always dreamed of going to switzerland. I love mountains and snow,So when I was in Helsinki and had a schengen visa, I made a list of countries I wanted to Visit in Europe, swiss of course topped the list. But many friends who actually went there said its not that great place to go ,waste money , too expensive, just another alphs, overrated  but still somewhere in my heart I wanted to visit Swiss. Glad that I ignored there advice.

So I started checking on google -> top 10 places to visit in Switzerland. That is how I usually start my research 🙂 The site listed out there top 10, but usually I end up making my own list and came up with the following list

Swiss in a nutshell

• Rhine Falls – The falls are located on the High Rhine between the municipalities of Neuhausen am Rheinfall and Laufen-Uhwiesen, near the town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland. Getting there is quite easy by Train from Zurich to Schaffhausen Railway Station.

Points of Attraction

Boat ride to the Rock…

Worth Castle

• The Jungfrau Region -The Jungfrau  4,158 metres (13,642 ft)) is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the southern canton of Bern and the northern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau, one of the most distinctive sights of the Swiss Alps.

Points of Attraction

The Jungfrau railway is a rack railway which runs 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch (3,454 m), The railway runs almost entirely within the Jungfrau Tunnel, built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains.

Any one for swiss made chocolates by me
they taste awesome

beautifully captured ….. me, lake , mountain and train … What a timing …. PC : self timer

• Interlaken / Lake Thun –
• Lake Thun  is an Alpine lake in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland named after the city of Thun, on its northern shore.

Points of Attraction

Beautiful Lake Thun

A ride on Lake Thun

• Mt titlis -Titlis (also Mount Titlis) is a mountain of the Uri Alps, located on the border between the cantons of Obwalden and Berne. At 3,238 metres above sea level, it is the highest summit of the range north of the Susten Pass, between the Bernese Oberland and Central Switzerland

Points of Attraction

The TITLIS ROTAIR gondola rotates its way up towards the snow-covered summit of TITLIS. The world’s first revolving gondola transports you from the middle station at Stand up to the mountain station at 3,020 metres above sea-level.

The Titlis Cliff Walk is a pedestrian bridge along the cliff of Mount Titlis in the Swiss Alps. Built at around 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level, it is believed to be the highest elevation suspension bridge in Europe.

Ice flyer-the Ice Flyer will carry you and your snow-loving friends from the mountain station to the snow park up on the glacier

• and many more but not going to cover those.. as I didn’t visited it..

Getting Around

Its very easy to get around in Swiss, Swiss public transport is quite easy and awesome. Various types of Swiss pass are available on the official site. I used the Swiss half fare Card, but you can choose as per your need.

This is the best site to check on all the Swiss pass and train time tables. https://www.sbb.ch

Logging

Well Swiss is expensive and has some great and expensive hotels. But there are also plenty of hostels available at reasonable price.

I stayed at 2 locations

• Zurich -Langstars  backpackers Hostel – 1 night – 47.69 CHF per night 6 Bed Female Dorm
• Interlaken- Balmers Herberge – 3 nights CHF35.50 per night 6 Bed Female Dorm

• 

  Balmers Herberge

Feeling Hungry??

Although eating out is pricey in this country, you can keep your budget in check by going to the local supermarkets and buying your own groceries. Best option is to go to most common Coop..There are many indian restaurants at all the major locations where you will get almost everything. But common try something different.

Is it interesting?? Go on …. keep reading my experience in detail……

Swiss Sonal’s way

Next comes whom to Go with, how to go and When to go ? Okay so now I have decided I have to go to Swiss but when and with whom was the next question. So first I checked for the dates -> trick is to club 1 or 2 days leave with a public holiday. 19th June was holiday in Finland Midsummer Eve .Bingo Its a friday and if I take a leave on 18th or 22nd I get 5 days and that is pretty much enough to cover my fav destinations in Swiss. So the dates were final, next I checked the prices for return ticket from http://www.momondo.in this site helped me almost every time to book cheap flight tickets. So after many permutation and combination finally I got a great deal of 179 euro return ticket from Zurich … Wow that was within my budget…

Now whom to go with ? As swiss is very costly If i go with someone it would reduce my expenses.. so I started checking with all my friends and tried convincing them but as movie stars, some had date issues, some had financial reasons and some were simply the lazy ones so now I was left with the only option – Go solo.. At first I thought it would be way too expensive should i completely drop the idea of going to Swiss but my inner voice said no Sonal, this is what you want, this is what you love … Go for it … and that’s exactly what I did I fulfilled my dream and travelled Solo to Swiss..
Going Solo

Who says girls cant travel Solo, Who says you have to save money for Flat/Car/Future(well that can be managed I have done it with all my travels. Who says a particular location is only for lovers and honeymoon destination.. You will get bored if you travel Solo. Its not safe to travel alone… All of the this is bull shit. Do what your heart wants you to do .. of course use your brain as well. Do the research and trust your instincts … Just do what makes you happy 🙂 Why should boys have all the fun….

Was I scared traveling alone ?  -> To be honest even I was scared at first but this is my third trip as I had already been on solo trips twice – first to Tamil nadu in India and second to Barcelona in Spain, I was pretty much used to the idea of traveling solo and  I knew i will do enough research before traveling . After reaching my first destination …. I just forgot everything .. n started enjoying, having fun and making new Friends on my way…. I had never enjoyed so much with anyone else than I enjoyed with my self …. It is altogether a different experience when you travel all alone… you don’t know what is going to happen next … where will you stay … how that city will be … how will people treat you …. and when you are all scared you get to meet some awesome ppl on your way.. and the unexpected happens ….you start enjoying your own company… you don’t feel alone anymore …. and you fall in love with yourself…. It is an awesome experience and I believe everyone should try it and experience the magic of traveling .

I booked my tickets – 18th June Helsinki to Zurich and return on 22nd June Zurich to Helsinki.

Next I had to make a rough itinerary so that accordingly i will decide where i want to stay and how i will commute, here it goes

Day 1 – Helsinki to Zurich – At night stay in hostel in Zurich

Day 2 – Zurich and Rhine Falls- Visit Europe’s largest Waterfall – Rhine falls and just wander in Zurich – Catch Train to Interlaken – Night Stay at Interlaken

Day 3 – Interlaken to Mt Titlis -Night stay at Interlaken

Day 4 – Interlaken to Jungfrau Region – Night Stay at Interlaken

Day 5 – Interlaken – Shopping and lake Thun – Flight back to Helsinki in the evening

So I booked Hostel Langstars in Zurich for 1 night and Balmers Herberge in Interlaken for 4 nights. Both 6 Bed Female Dorm :).

Okie so now the tickets are booked ,hostel is booked ,bags are packed …I am ready to go.

Day 1: The Day

So the day has finally arrived when I am going to my dream location – switzerland.. I was a bit nervous but more excited as I was living my dream .. I checked in my baggage and was waiting for my flight .. the flight was on time..

An indian guy with SLR was sitting next to me, I thought he is also alone and thought of striking a conversation with him, i am usually good at it but not sure somehow i free zed that day may be caz of his good looks ;). Suddenly at 11:30 PM when the flight was about the land we saw this beautiful sun set.

Beautiful Sunset @ 11:30 PM

Perfect time to strike a conversation both of us were busy clicking pics with our respective cameras.

He: Its beautiful, isnt it

Me: Yeah awesome ,best part is it is @ 11:30 PM , So you are going to Zurich?

He: Yes, my friends are siting in the front row, N U.

Oops so he is not alone … but he is damn hot may be he would ask me to join his group :p

Me: Yeah me too but I am traveling alone

He: Ohh brave girl, nice to hear that… have fun and all the best

Me: Yeah you too … Nice talking to you.

I had map of Zurich Airport but was unsure of the train time table but still @ 12:15 PM I was pretty sure i would reach my hostel Langstars, so from the Airport I was waiting for my turn to take single ticket till my stop and luckily i got a free ticket as person standing in front of me was kind enough to give me a free ride. He said i am a guest in his city 🙂 6 francs saved…

I asked for directions and boarded the right train till my station Zurich HB from there I had to catch a tram 31 till Militar/Langstrasse stop, it was already 1 PM. It was raining heavily in Zurich and i was not carrying umbrella but somehow i managed to reach Langstars stop. I was not aware about the area and hostel as i was only going to stay for 1 night.. To my surprise it was area full of bars and drunk people on the road. But I would say Swiss people are very helpful and cooperative even if they are drunk… I started asking directions for my hostel , some said go straight , some said go left, right… uff i was confused the hostel was in front of me but still i was not able to see it. I was roaming with my bags in red light area(not sure but it looked like one). There was a women standing near one of the pub i thought lets ask her.

Me: Excuse me do you have any idea about  Langstars hostel.

She: Do you want to come with me ?

I got scared and realized she was one of them, I started running here and there and praying to God, please help me find the hostel wont ask anything more and just when i was about to cry , I saw a pub named Langstars, I went inside and asked the lady at the bar counter about the hostel, she said just feel the form and the hostel door is back side. Offf I got relieved. I immediately filled the form got the keys. She offered me a welcome drink (drink of my choice from the bar).  Wow anything free is always welcome , after all the drama I seriously needed a drink I had vodaka with Canberry juice and went upstairs to the room, as it was late at night all the girls were sleeping, I also went to my bed and fall asleep.

Day 2 : Zurich – Rhine Falls – Interlaken

Rhine Falls–Largest waterfall in Europe

In the morning at 7AM, Got ready Had heavy breakfast and was all set, took the same bus 31 till Zurich HB. Today I had to book all my onward journey tickets, so I straight away went to tourist information center, she directed me to the ticket booking counter. As I had done some research about the places I wanted to visit and about various Swiss pass , I told her all my plan and as per my requirement she booked the entire journey and provided me all the documents along with map and route details . All she needed was my passport and everything was done.

So today I was going to Rhine Falls – Europe’s largest waterfall.. I was super excited. I boarded the train and my journey began , its pretty easy to travel in Swiss by train after Day 1 you get used to it and can travel on your own without asking anyone. All the trains have large windows , the journey was picturesque. I had to change trains but it was pretty easy as she had provided all the train details as well.

Rhine falls is quite near to the station Schaffhausen, in fact you just need to take the downward steps and you reach Rhine falls. the falls are magnificent … Total width of 150 m (450 ft). There is this Rock in the center of the falls – The Rheinfallfelsen, a large rock, is the remnant of the original limestone cliff flanking the former channel and you can actually climb up this rock which is a must and awesome experience. There is also a Castle named Worth Castle which you can visit. You can take a boat from one side to another side which costs 2 CHF or you can also take 30 min ride on the boat which is around 10 CHF or you take the boat upto the rock which is 8 CHF which i took as it is simply great to climb up the rock.

So I thought instead of simply taking a boat to the other side why not just walk to the other side.. lets do a small hike which i always love.. and believe me that was a best decision as I met some nice people on my way and obviously the view was amazing. I believe in seeing the unseen and exploring the less traveled road.. Well at start no one was there on the way as it goes through the forest but that gave me time to click pics using self timer and to get lost in my thoughts .. Its like meditation…

he joined me and made my pic beautiful

to be continued…………