Sunday, August 29, 2010

AKULA WAS HERE : RHINE FALLS, SCHAFFHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND

When I was in Vancouver, Canada, I wanted to go visit the Niagara Falls. But since it was so far (driving non stop would take me about 2 days) and the very expensive air tickets costs (2 adults, 3 children) deterred me from going there.


Being here in Europe, taking cue from Switzerland's Tourism website I went to see Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe. I first saw this falls in Amazing Race, the reality TV series where the contestants have to cross the river the big rock in the middle of the falls, climbed to the top and retrieve the race clue in the cluebox . I remember thinking it must be so cool to actually be there on top of the rock amidst the thunderous gushing waters on both sides.

Located near the town of Schaffhausen in the north of Switzerland and near the German border, the Rhine Falls is 150 metres wide, 23 metres high and the average volume of water that rush through this nature's monster are 700 m3 per second.



The entrance was easy to find and after parking the car, we went to buy the tickets at the counter. Major currencies accepted.

Trails leading to the river and waterfalls are paved and was quite easy to follow. We crossed a rail bridge to get to the other side of the river where there were boats to bring deliver you up close and personal to the Rhine falls.







I, of course wasted no time to get to the rock. "Rugi kalau tak experience pegi lepak kat batu besar tu jap". My love one and daughters decided not to go since she and I thought it looked a bit dangerous for young children to climb it.

The boat revved up its engine, fighting the strong current to land us at a wooden jetty at the bottom of our rocky destination. Surprisingly, we were sheltered well enough by it walls from the mist of waters around us that we did not get wet. The metal stairs to the top were narrow and slippery. Who says traffic jam happened only on the road? It occurred here too, since the viewing platform was so small it can only accomodate about 10 people at any one time. So we have to stand and que up on the stairs until someone up there decided they had soaked up enough views, experiences or whatever and leave, and gave other eagerly waiting crowd a chance to do the same.

I was finally up there on the jotting rock in the middle of Rhine falls. The views were quite awesome, the sound of roaring water easily drowned any voices and the rushing waters were spectacular to look at. I wasted no time and snapped the obligatory pics. After about 20 minutes, I made the way down to wait for the pick up boat. It was a really cool experience.

I meet up with my family, took the boat to cross to the side and climbed the inclining path to by the cliff to where we parked our car

Another good outing day.



4 comments:

  1. cantiknya, tq for sharing. last april when i was in zurich, ada sorang kawan(swiss lady) dok suruh pi visit rhine fall ni, katanya cantik. sayangnya tak cukup masa, hopefully kitorang(saya dengan husband) ada rezeki untuk ke sini nanti, ada 3 hours tour ke sini, next spring we ll be there again insyaAllah. teringin sangat nak pergi tengok.
    gambar2 ni semua pakai dslr ke? lawa.

    btw, boleh tumpang tanya; kalau nak naik glacier express and i stay kat zurich, is it possible untuk naik ke st moritz and zermatt kemudian balik semula ke zurich on the same day?

    lagi satu itu hari i ada ikut satu tour ke interlaken+wengen+kleine scheideg and grindelwald harga about chf100++, lalu dekat lauterbrunnen kejap jer, i dengan suami nak pergi lauterbrunnen sebenarnya. tapi bila check ticket train(without tour) nak ke lauterbrunnen sahaja dah 100chf++.
    ada ke cara lain yang lebih barbaloi untuk ke lauterbrunnen saja?
    sori banyak tanya.tq ya.

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  2. Lady of Leisure: Thanks for reading. Yes, Gambar ni pakai DSLR. Saya minat ambik gambar as a hobby. Glacier express tu rasanya tak boleh balik on the same day kot naik ketapi, unless dari Zermatt you balik ke Zeurich naik train biasa, bas, or kereta. Tiring, but possible.

    Zermatt to Zurich by car is about 4 -5 hours.

    Train tickets is generally expensive in Swtizerland unless you travel regularly and buy their discount cards valid for a specific duration. Rasanya tak de alternative transportation other than train top Lauterbrunnen, but try to ask the best price from the SBB office. hey will usually give you a good advice on how to get arounf the complex Swiss transportation discounts system. Hope this helps.

    Thanks again for reading.

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  3. i see.. cantik semua gambar2, stil remember gambar2 tulips yang u post dulu, pun lawa2.

    tq so much for your advice and tips. selalu i ikut suami pergi kerja tapi tak lama, ada masa dalam sehari atau dua saja untuk jalan2 sebab tu i selalu ikut daily tour/excursion je. last year 3 kali ke sana tapi masih tak puas, husband i dok wonder i tak jemu ke, i dont know why i love swiss so much, berbanding tempat2 lain yg i dah pegi. there s something about switzerland nih.. hihi.
    untung u and your family sebab duduk di sana. im sure u enjoy staying there. anyway, tq again for the tips and advice, sangat membantu. have a blessed ramadhan ahead to u and family.

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  4. Lady of leisure: Glad to help. Boleh la dok kat sini sementara tu ambik opportunity untuk travel. Selamat menyambut Ramadhan.

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