my self-recovery getaway
"travel far enough, you meet yourself"
Haaaaallo! It didn't take me too long this time to return with another blog post hehe but it did take me long enough because, oh my god, I took SO many pictures on this trip as you will soon see. Even after picking out the best ones there are still nearly a hundred pictures so I really really hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Just bear in mind that this is a veeeery long blog post though haha so if you're not into reading that much I guess you could just scroll through to look at the pictures.
This trip happened because I had been feeling so down about everything these past couple of months and I decided that I needed a getaway of my own. So I bid for 5 days off, hoping to travel somewhere and that it will help ease my mind and put me back on the right track again.
I packed my bags and headed to one of the most wonderful destinations imaginable - Switzerland! Every time I see some pictures online of a small town with a picturesque mountain backdrops, or of some beautiful scenic lakes, they always turn out to be Switzerland. So when I saw 5 days off on my roster I didn't have to think hard about where I wanted to spend it. I did some research on where exactly I wanted to go and found 2 places that really caught my attention - Oeschinensee and Valle Verzasca. I began to plan my trip based on these 2 places with the help of my friend and her Swiss boyfriend (Big thanks to you naa Eve!) since I had no knowledge of where things are and how best to travel between places.
I looked up some places with Airbnb and decided to stay in Thun and Locarno. My rough plan was to spend 3 days in Thun and travel to nearby places, including Oeschinensee, during those 3 days and spend my last 2 days in Locarno and visit Valle Verzasca. I mainly followed this plan for the rest of the trip but ended up changing a few things as I went because of the weather and the timing of bus/train and such.
Before getting into the trip itself, let me show you some of my travel essentials! I can't go anywhere without bringing along my blue Kanken backpack. I've had it for more than 3 years already and used the crap out of it haha. Inside I have things that people would usually need for a trip like my passport, cameras (in my case, 3 of them lol), wallet, sunnies, a pen (never travel without a pen), some hair ties, some lipsticks, and my phone. Other than that I have some wet wipes, my journal, and my Swiss Pass. I have to say that carrying 3 cameras was quite a challenge for me lol I mainly use my DSLR but sometimes the view I see is just too good I have to use all of them, including my phone as well. Imagine seeing me taking a picture with my DSLR, put it away, then my polaroid camera, put it away, then go pro, put it away, then finally my phone. I swear I had some people looked at me like omg this crazy camera lady what is she doing lolll.
Okay, now let's start with the trip. I dragged myself out of bed (quite literally) at 5.30 am to go to the airport. Successfully got on the flight and arrived in Geneva 6 hours later. My plan was to actually go to Zurich as it is closer to Thun but the flight was full so I had to change to Geneva. But the train from Geneva only took 1 hour more and I didn't mind that much because I love riding on trains and I knew that the view would be amazing. Once I arrived in Geneva, I bought a 4-day Swiss Pass and a sim card straight away because I needed to have internet for navigation (and instagram story, obviously). If you plan to visit many cities during your trip to Switzerland, I highly recommend purchasing a Swiss Pass. It may seem costly but if you do some calculations it can actually be cheaper than buying separate tickets every time you travel. You have unlimited access to train, bus, and boat, plus 50% discount on most cable cars. And if you are into museums, it also gives you free admission to most museums as well!
After sorting out everything, I hopped on the next train headed for Thun. I kept myself entertained throughout a 3-hour ride with a book, some sushis, and pineapples. I seriously don't know why, but every time I travel, these are the 2 things I look for in any supermarket - sushi and pineapple.
Another thing I would recommend you to have when traveling in Switzerland is this app called SBB Mobile. It provides super accurate timetable and information for trains, like which platform to get on and off and stuff. (Again, thank you Eve for this info. You saved my life).
3 hours later I got off the train in Thun and took a bus to get to my airbnb. I found my way alright, thanks to google map. I took a shower, got dressed and was about to head out to explore the town but it decided to rain. very. heavily. It didn't stop until dark so I called it a night and slept like I'd never sleep before in my entire life.
The next day I woke up later than I would like but my excuse was that I was very tired from work and I didn't get any sleep since and I really needed some energy to keep going for the next 5 days. So eventually I kinda forgave myself.
I dedicated today to exploring Thun itself. Thun is a small quiet and lovely city. It was super easy to get around and because I had a Swiss Pass, I didn't mind hopping on and off the bus anytime I felt like it. I went to the tourist information center (like any clueless tourist would do) to get some ideas of where I wanted to visit then I was off to the city!
I walked all the way up to Thun Castle then back down to get to the historic Old Town. After checking out all the cute shops along the street, I looked for a place to eat and stumbled across an Italian restaurant with a perfect view of this beautiful wooden bridge (similar to the one in Luzern!). I really enjoyed having lunch while looking at people attempting to surf here haha.
Afterwards I visited some of the parks and had a chill evening next to Lake Thun, just taking pictures, adding to my journal, and people watching (my favorite thing to do while traveling) and then called it a day.
The third day was the day I was looking forward to the most! I planned to visit 2 places: Oeschinensee and Blausee.
First stop of the day was Oeschinensee. It is in Kandersteg which is about an hour away from Thun by train. I planned on getting there as early as I could because I wanted to have the whole place to myself. So I woke up super early to catch a train and arrived in Kandersteg around 8am. then a short walk from the train station to the cable car station to go up to the lake.
Once you get up there, you will see the Rodelbahn right after you walk out of the cable car station. This was also on my to do list but I kept it for when I come back from the lake.
The walk from the station to Oeschinensee is about 15-20 minutes depending on how fast you walk. I stopped every 2 minutes to take a picture and it still took me 15 minutes lol. The scenery along the way was AMAZING. Everything looks like pictures from internet. I was so overwhelmed by how beautiful everything was. The cows were everywhere on the mountain and the sound of the little bells around their neck ringing in the background made the whole journey so perfect. I felt so calm and relaxed I wanted to stay there foreverrrrr. There pictures are already so great but trust me, nothing can compare to seeing this with your own eyes.
And look how friendly the cows are! hahaha you could literally pet any of them. I had to try very hard to not take a selfie with them.
Once I reached the lake, the scene I saw in front of me just took my breath away. I was speechless. It was SO unreal. All I could think about at that moment was how happy I was that I made it to this trip. Waking up early paid off really well. There were only a few people around so it was very quiet and peaceful. I spent almost 2 hours here just taking in all the scenery around me.
After hours of pure joy, I made my way back to the cable car station to do the next thing on my list - the Rodelbahn! Rodelbahn is a track with a lot of twists and turns built down the side of a mountain where you can sit in a little car racing down as fast as you can while watching a spectacular view around you! It is situated right next to the cable car station. 1 round is for 5 CHF and 5 rounds for 20 CHF. I only did it once just to get the experience and it was great!
Here's my face to show you how much I enjoyed the ride lol
Blausee is a small lake in Kander valley. It got its name, Blausee, from its crystal clear blue water, which was what attracted me to this place. The place is surrounded by a beautiful thick forest making it seem very magical. It is also an organic trout farm which is naturally bred, so you can see trouts swimming around underneath the clear water.
After buying a ticket (8 CHF) from the gift shop, I took a walk along the forest and was met with a sight of the prettiest lake I have ever seen. The first thing I thought when I saw the lake was how much I wanted to jump straight into it haha. The water is sooooo blue. There is a boat tour that you can go on for free. It is a glass bottomed row boat so you can look into the bottom of the lake and enjoy the surroundings from different angles. I didn't get a chance to do it because the line was way too long for my patience.
There are many spots for people to hang out in the park. There is even a playground for children. I walked around the lake and through the forest, taking my time to take about 2,000 pictures and decided it was finally time to leave lol.
One thing I highly recommend you to do is to check the bus timing before doing anything. When you get off somewhere, immediately check when the next bus will come and do the same for the opposite side because sometimes it takes an hour for each one to come and if you miss it, it can really screw up your plan.
I took a bus back to Kandersteg train station and took a train back to Thun. It was late afternoon when I arrived back in Thun so I still had hours before the sun sets. I decided that I would go on a cruise to Interlaken to get the most out of my Swiss Pass. It was so convenient as I could directly board to boat from the city. The boat has 2 decks - upper deck is for premium class and lower is for normal people like me hehe.
I was soooooooo happy I decided to do this because it was so perfect. The final destination is Interlaken but it stops at many places along the way and that gave me the chance to see Spiez as well! I loved every minute of it. Getting to see spectacular views while feeling the cool breeze on my face, I couldn't have asked for more. After about 2 hours, the boat arrived in Interlaken. I took a bus to the other side of the city and walked back towards the train station, getting to do some sightseeing and buy lots and lots of chocolate along the way. Then afterwards took a train back to Thun again and that was it for today.
Waking up early again the next day to pack my bags and say goodbye to Thun. What a lovely city. If I ever crave a peaceful getaway, this will definitely be the place I think of.
Next station - Locarno!
The train from Thun to Locarno takes about 4 hours. I was awake the whole journey because I didn't want to miss any pretty view. After arriving, I walked to the place I booked to leave my stuff and go out to explore the city but the surprise was.. I booked it for the wrong day. In my original plan I was meant to arrive the next day so when I booked the place after I settled with my plan, my head was still thinking it was that day. So now I was like.. shit.. what do I do now? But the owner was suuuuper nice and luckily the room I booked was also available that day so I was ok. Pheww. Hahaha.
So after that chaos, I went out to explore Locarno, without any plan as usual. I walked around the city and then took a cablecar up to Cardada. There were several view points up here and lots of spots for a nice picnic! Then from there I took a chairlift to Cimetta where you could see a 260 view of the city, the mountains and Alpine peaks! After taking in nice views, my crazy self decided to walk back down instead of taking the chairlift. It was a crazy long walk lol I made it to the cablecar panting. After coming back down, I could see the view of Franciscan Santuario della Madonna del Sasso church but I didn't go in.
While I was in Locarno I didn't feel like I was in Switzerland at all. The atmosphere is so different from other cities I have been to. Partly because people here all speak Italian. But also the way of life, the way the people are and everything else just made me think I was actually in Italy haha. So naturally the food was amazing! I had Italian food for every meal!
The loveliest kitchen at the airbnb
Franciscan Santuario della Madonna del Sasso church
On to the next day, which was my last day in Switzerland. I was up early and excited because my plan was to visit Valle Verzasca! I took bus 321 to get to Lavertezzo but instead of getting off where Valle Verzasca is, I got off at the last stop which is Sonogno. The reason I came here was for the village full of these beautiful stone houses! They are so beautiful and unique. I sent the pictures to my mom and she said she wishes she lived in a house like this haha.
Afterwards, instead of taking the bus back to Valle Verzasca, I decided to walk. again. LOL and this time it was an hour and a half walk! At this point of the trip I must have walked around 100K steps already and my feet were asking for mercy. But it was the last day so why not? hahaha. So on foot I went!
The view along the way was well worth it though! The path went through a forest and along the river. However at one point I think I took the wrong way because I was walking on the roadside for at least 30 minutes so I decided to flag down a car because there was no point continuing on foot like that. A very kind Italian man took me in hahaha. We could not communicate to each other at all since I don't know Italian and he doesn't speak much English. I only said "Valle Verzasca?" and he said something and I was like "Si Si Si!" LOL and 2 minutes later he dropped me off. I told him "Grazie mille" and that was about all Italian I know.
Ticino has many many valleys but this one is probably the most beautiful. It has the most magical emerald green water which is so inviting for all swimmers! The beautiful double arches medieval stone bridge is called Ponte Dei Salti. Many people jump straight into river from this bridge! I wanted sooo much to swim but I didn't want to leave my things without anyone watching over it. But I was already so happy just sitting there watching the people jumping in and swimming. I swear if I lived in this area I would come here for a swim every single day.
After that it was time for me to head back to the hotel to get my stuff and take a train to Zurich Airport to catch my flight back to Dubai.
When I was waiting to board the plane, I went up to check out the observation deck. It was a great ending for my trip. I just sat there watching the planes and the sunset, feeling so content with life. Everything at that moment was perfect. I was thankful for everything that had happened that has brought me to this point of life, and just with that, I felt myself gaining more strength to go on.
In the end I couldn't be happier I went on this journey with myself. I had time to wonder, to think about things and to find answers for the questions I had. Got some peace of mind that was very much needed. I hope I will find a chance to do something like this again soon. But for now, this will do :)
Until next time! xx