i am at the top of europe !!!

07-Sep-08 was a splendid sunday, on this day i was at the top of europe - Jungfraujoch (english equivalent means "the virgin saddle"). also for the first time in my life i saw snow, not only tat i also got to feel it, touch it and throw it.

the day started early, the tour group gathered at 820am around Sihlquai bus station and the tour bus set off at 830am sharp. i woke up kinda late tat morning and almost cant make it cos i had a hard time looking for the bus station to assemble. when i got there just in time, the tour guide was like asking me "are u lee?". i found out about this day tour (199 chf) on the zurich tourism website before i came here and made a reservation via email. i was quite impressed that they actually remembered my booking even though i had not made any payment online yet.

we first set off to Interlaken by bus which already took us 2 hours or so. thereafter at Interlaken, we had a short 20 min break to walk around, get some sourvenirs & postcards and we also got to eat free chocolate (very fine and yummy) heee. during the break, i realised tat there were 2 other asian chinese in our group, but i cant tell if they are from singapore until i hear them speak subsequently. they were kinda "dao" intially and kept very much to themselves ... looking at them then, really set me wondering if i also behave as such when i travelled in group.

after the break, the bus sent us to the train station and we board the train tat will bring us up the mountain. the ride got colder as we get higher up the mountain and after a while we were travelling in a tunnel. the asian girls still din spoke much. in fact, they only started to open when they heard that i am also from singapore as i was chatting with our guide. our tour guide, kid, is a thai who came here to switzerland since 1995. he is a very humorous and caring guide, always giving us directions on where to take the best pictures, helping us to take quick snaps and during lunch, he even "chop" windows seats for us. everyone in the tour group enjoyed his company and enjoyed talking with him... though he is kinda "gay" hahaha

oh ya, there was a very special tour member in our group. she is an old swiss lady whom the guide told us that tat was her fifth time up the mountain. the old lady enjoyed his tour so much that she will only join his tour group up jungfraujoch. an accident happened back in her 3rd excursion up the mountain, she slipped and fell down in the ice palace. the fall was so bad that a helicopter was sent up the mountain to fetch her down!!! wat surprises me was tat after such a bad experience, she is now here again. she must be very rich looking at her cartier rings and rolex watch, but according to the guide she is staying alone by herself which is why she like joining such tour to enjoy the company of others. hmm penny for thought - money certainly cant buy happiness and company.


the train made a couple of stops in between the ride. during these breaks, we could go to the restroom, take some pictures and have a look of the view outside. when we reached to top of europe, *gasp* the view took my breath away - right in front of me were snow-capped alps against blue blue sky. i always thought tat i can only see such stuff on pictures, waha "never says never".

main highlights up the mountain:
Sphinx at 11,760 ft above sea level - snow, snow and snow, it's freezing cold and most importantly i need my shades !!!

Ice Palace - walking very carefully on ice (especially after hearing the helicopter story) and again it's cold. the ice sculptures here are so pretty, however it's a pity we cant get good pictures of them.

Plateau - open area for us to walk on snow and to take pictures, again shade is a must-have.


it was already 2+ then, everyone were starving and started making their way to the cafeteria. i took a quick bite - some fries and hot chocolate. seeing that i was alone, the guide offered to share with me his window seat. our nex meeting time was 320pm and after tat we will be making our way back to zurich (yea imagine the travelling alone already took up one-third of the day). so after lunch, i quickly took off to another highlight - the Snow Disk Run that i very much wanted to see. i was glad that i made it there, the view was exhilarating and we can see people ski-ing, taking snow disk run ... if i only could stay longer i will definitely wanna try those !!!

on the return journey, most people dozed off on the ride. it was such a contrasting sight compared to this morning when everyone was so eagerly taking pictures on the way up the mountain, but now ... (there is an exception though there was one caucasian woman who keep snaping picture when everyone around her are already taking their naps. it was quite interesting to see this from the back of the bus heh heh). maybe tats human nature, we only provide our attention for stuff that goes up, but not vice versa.

the day ended with a dinner with jas and may yee, the 2 other singaporean who coincidentally were staying in the same hotel as me ... we shared a kebab pizza and for the price, i mus say the food is relatively good (the kebab was abit too salty). after dinner, we then bid farewell as they will be going for more day tours in the nex few days and i will be back to school :)

well who knows, i might run into them again in singapore haha.