Zurich & Gentlemen’s Clubs

Zurich was my last stop in Switzerland before deciding either to head north towards Germany or East towards Austria. Train tickets price determined my choice and on the first day in Zurich I had secured the most expensive cheapest ticket out of Switzerland bound for Salzburg, Austria in two days time. The ticket cost 104 CHF

I headed for the City Backpackers Hostel a short walk from the train station. What I did not expect to see was the amount of advertisement on Gentlemen’s clubs and the big signboard on Adult Cinema with its nice photographic smack in such central location. 

I for one thought Zurich was a business city with wealthy international businessmen and would be the high class niche area. Perceptions could sure skew heavily when you are from another part of the world.

Should I enter and check it out? You don’t get these back in Asia … not like these …

Alas one perception was right and everything was downright expensive. I resorted to sightseeing instead.

The train station is located nicely at the tip of Lake Zurich or the river that runs to it and the old town is a mess of cobbled stone to turf road and climbs up and down terrains with no ends. 

Zurich itself I found it was old messy yet pretty at the same time. The river seam to mark the invisible divider where to the west you would have the high end niche market remarkable restaurants with stunning menus which I could not afford and to the east the nightclubs and bars and more residential and local as you span further from the train station.

Zurich City 

Expensive Watch Shop

The Swiss I have to salute when it come to watches or clocks. Just walking around you will see all the Swiss made watches in heavily decorated high end shops but unless you are in the social class I doubt any would know the brands of watches they sell. 

Window shopping for watches it seams to me brands like Rolex and Tag Heuer or Oris for that matter were cheap watches. I could not believe the price on those Swiss watches which would have cost me my whole backpacking trip and more.

Cuckoo clock was another very expensive item but fascinating as it was a dying art. Each to its own unique design and make was beautiful but no souvenir for me. My dad asked me to find him one when I was there and all I could do was walk on. 

My consolation was a Swiss army knife which I bought for practical purpose.

Swiss army Knife & Free Spoon

Walking around Zurich there is no shortage of sights to be seen. Favorite’s pastime was to stand on the bridge by the river and see the Swans swim and nurse their feathers. Church, city halls and the maze type layout of the town made it nice for exploring.

Switzerland was my getaway from my travels. There were no hiccups with trains or lodgings or food for that matter. Everything was perfect and beautiful but expensive no doubt.
It was time to move on as my traveling itch for adventure has started up again.

Lucerne - Mount Pilatus & Temptations of a Gambler

Finally getting restless from my ‘Holiday from a Holiday’ I moved on to the next place in Switzerland, Lucerne.

I was starting to believe that all cities in Europe were small in comparison to Asia. You needed some kind of transportation either subway/MRT/metro/underground back home with a combination of buses to get to most places and here I was surviving on foot other than long distance travel.

Lion Monument in Lucerne

I stayed at the ‘Lion Lodge Lucerne Hostel” a nice place within walking distance of the central but secluded enough to be peaceful. Companian was getting quiet too since Florence and I was starting to long for a bit of company. 

Dorm mates were two cute asian girls which did not went past the standard introductions of a backpacker. Hence I don't even remember where they were from.

Lucerne had few things of interest such as the Lion Monument which was carve out of the mountain on a single rock. The Lion sad in its nature looked to be dying and was a memorial to the massacre of Swiss guards during the 1792 French Revolution. 

The Chapel Bridge was also not to be missed; it's said to be the oldest Woodbridge in Europe and is beautifully lighted up at night. I avoided all museums as funds in Swiss franc were running low.

Top of Mount Pilatus 

Missing the chance of Mount Schilthorn I choose to do an excursion to nearby Mount Pilatus instead. Short train ride I reach the base of the mountain which entrance tickets pointed to 68 CHF. 

F*ck … I sadly departed with my money and hope it would be worth it. The ride up was by cogwheel railway and the steepest one at that in the world. A unique of its kind and I felt slightly better in the money spent.

The journey was slow and noisy hearing all the wheels and cables working hard to get the entire tourist up the mountain. Slowly but fast enough to feel the change in altitude making your ears popped. 

The view was always good from high ground and I stayed there a long time enjoying just the view and weather making that ticket earns its money.

View from Mount Pilatus 

Engineering Marvel of Steepest Cog or Rack Railroad in the World 

Pilatus-Bahn Train Station 

I met new company too awkwardly enough. A Chinese girl was trying so hard to take her own mugshot that I offered a hand. Click click …. She did not stop asking me to take pictures for an hour after that first shot. 

She was from China doing an exchange program to Sweeden and was on a short holiday. She actually did a day trip from Zurich which was my next destination after Lucerne.

A new friend in Lucerne 

Chapel Bridge & A Friend

Chatting and getting to know each other I couldn’t help notice a familiar slang in the English. More poking and I found out she was an undergrad of NUS my former university on the exchange program.

Hahaha … I just laugh meekly when she remarked how small the world is.

Another new aquintance made the company a trio. An asian guy who grew up in Holland who would not stop talking in cantonese or mandarine. His first languege was supprisingly Dutch.

My fully packed picnic lunch was shared with her and many more picture shots later we headed back to Lucerne. I gave the small tour to her for the Lion Monument and The Chapel Bridge and part ways as she headed back to Zurich.

Temptations of a Gambler

When I first reach Lucerne I had noted the small Casino location marked on the map and decidedly filled myself with activities steering clear of the place. After sending her off on the train back to Zurich I was alone and it was the last night in Lucerne too.

If I ever imagine the devil and angel on my left and right shoulder that was definitely the time. Oh how much I was moral guilt conscious of considering treating the casino as an ATM machine when my fund was about to finish. 

There was always a chance you loose money and not just win and I was fully aware of that. I however decided since it was my last night in Lucerne and next stop was to be Zurich there would be probably one more casino there as well. 

I mean I have seen one in every town I visited in Switzerland so why not the bigger city Zurich. I would latter find there was no casino to my desperate findings inside the city maps or my bad attempt in wrong keywords searching for a hope of casino in Zurich. 

I never did found the casino in Zurich thou I now know there is a few there. I carried my itch out of Zurich and Switzerland with a spare 100 CHF.

The Blur Mountain Hiker from Interlaken to Mürren

It’s all about the cheap thrills sometimes. Europe on a Shoestring may appeal to some adventurous people who wants to see Europe at all cost and others would shun it feeling its silly for traveling all the way to Paris and not paying the ticket fee to see the Mona Lisa. 

Still cheap thrills could still be enjoyable and helps fill in the gap between money spending attractions. I fall into the “I love cheap thrills” category but will still spend money on attractions if I think it’s priceless. 

I have a very weird notion of priceless however, for going up the tallest mountain in Europe Jungfrau is not one of them but entering the Borghese Gallery is.

That said, how could I not go up a mountain when I am in Switzerland? It’s almost nonsense to think that someone would go there and not been up one of its many ranging mountains. It is one of Switzerland selling points after all for tourism; Mountains and beautiful landscape scenery.

I decided to go for a hiking trip.

Start Of Journey

The hostel at Interlaken helped me plot a route with a hiking map which they dish out for free. Most of the route was more meant for summer periods but are still doable during the mid-October season when I was there. 

My final target was Mürren where I could pay the lesser evil fee to take a cable car up to Schilthorn Peak. Checking the map some stops were marked for eateries where I could go for lunch or tea break.



I started my journey late into the morning and decided to ignore the advice given of taking the train to Lauterbrunnen before kicking into the hiking trial. 

I walked instead to the Lauterbrunnen which took about two hours which was cool and quiet. Passed by many cow farms and said a few hello’s to the local farmers. I was definitely out of place being Asian but people were friendly enough.

End of road walk and into the hiking trail. What I did not know at that point in time was that trails were divided into difficulty where if you see markers on trees bearing colors stripes in this order:

Top-White – Middle Red– Bottom White

It was meant for Mountain Trails. I later found out the recommended requirement to go on those trials which was proper hiking boots, physically fit and a good knowledge of dangers of mountain hiking.

I SURVIVED ….. ( 10 HOURS HIKING )

Starting the trail was surreal. Previous walking along the turf road was gone and all I could see was a dirt path and a sign post pointing the start point of the trail. I started off thinking there would be a rest place just round the corner according to the map where I could grab lunch. 

It was a steep initial hike and I could see the town becoming smaller with every pause I took to look around.

Junction …. Left or right? With no sign post but only dirt trail to lead the way, I consulted my trusty compass app downloaded into my smart phone before the start of travels. 

Base on map it was easy to gauge my bearings and turn left into the direction of Mürren. The town below was disappearing quickly and tree lines were changing an obvious sign of how high I was hiking.

Interlaken 547 above sea level
Mürren 1400 above sea level

Town got very small 

Lunch time came as pass and it was about 2 pm and I still could not locate the rest place. I never did manage to locate the place in the end, meaning I had no lunch that day. 

My paranoid of getting stranded with no food since Greece was the only thing that saved me. I had developed a ritual of carrying a big chocolate bar and a bottle of water regardless where I went. 

The chocolate was ration very slowly only a few bites every half hour to keep me going and water drank directly from the rivers I came across.

After nearly 6 hours after I first started from Interlaken ( 3 hours Hiking ) I was starting to wonder if I was lost. The journey was beautiful, totally secluded but I was starting to worry I wont be able to get back before dark and my rations was running out too. 

To note I had not even seen a single soul since I ventured into the hiking trail.

Waterfall along Hiking Trail

To head back means 3 hours of hike and the idea of the town should be near by now kept me on the trail. An hour later I heard noises …. Oh Shit …. Wild animal ??? There was nothing I could do but continue on walking as quietly as possible. 

Turning a corner I saw ….. A Fellow Hiker

First soul I saw in 4 hours into the trail. I asked him if the town was up ahead and he said yes. About an hour hike he said. That was my last few hour of sunlight too I saw. 

With the new assurance I was no longer lost I made my journey to the town Mürren. I reach the town nearly 5 pm in the evening and the sun was setting very low. I walk around trying to find the main road or any transportation that would bring me back to Interlaken.

To my horror this was a town where no cars could come up because there was no road wide enough. No public transportation. It took me nearly 10 hours to get here and I was worried about tracking back at night. 

More question asking for help while eyeing the emergency hotels around that I knew would cut deep into my budget. To my relief there was a cable car station going down to another town not in the map where I could get a bus and a train back to the hostel.

As I waited for the cable car to arrive I was smiling to myself. Mini adventure completed but not successful as I was too late to ride the cable car up to the peak of Schilthorn.

Cheap Thrills …

We All Need a Break from a Holiday – Interlaken

I need a holiday from my holiday.

Crazy as it sounds backpacking can be very tiring. From non stop travel to sightseeing to constant brain usage of trying to figure out a map, looking for food, doing laundry and all the crazy survivor skills, I was so damm tired.

Interlaken Ost

I had also spend six hours “working” in Grand Casino Bern. So with new found sponsor I had to research for new excursions and plotted a route from Bern to Interlaken. Small town, very small and checked into the most luxurious hostel I have ever been to.

Backpackers Villa Sonnenhof

The Villa in that name was not a joke. This place was definitely the best hostel I have stayed in my whole journey and even those yet to come. 

They serve buffet breakfast, gave free laundry which was huge for me, spacious lounge, had TV room, garden, table tennis, large multiple kitchen, large personal lockers and even great staff to help guide you with things to do from dare devil activities to leisure getaways. 

They also have these tokens given for every night you stay which could work the Hot Chocolate / Tea / Coffee dispenser machine. Those were premium stuff all included into your price of stay.

I was on holiday from my travels sipping hot chocolate and enjoying the beautiful view of snow capped mountain top at the hostel just writing into my journal.

Swiss Rosti

Big fat wallet from Bern winnings also allowed me for once after a long time to dine in a restaurant. Marché Restaurant was present in Singapore and as much as I had visited them for the Rosti a traditional Swiss food made of shredded potato pan fried to perfection this was on a whole new level. Yum …

The Town & the Gambler

Interlaken was a bustling …. One street town …. Some souvenir shops, diner places, a big open field garden and …. Oh No … a Casino.

It was the perfect countryside if you minus the casino. That was like a thorn into my flesh every night with nothing much to do. I gave in one of those nights in thinking I could work for more travel expenses but loss 100 CHF. 

It was still a big Green in my book from Bern’s winning but I wasn’t about to waste my hard work and cut my trip short. Allocated gambling budget gone, I resided to enjoy the relaxed life but made a mental note to move on once I get too bored.

Capital of Switzerland – Bern & The Gambler Awakens

Train from Milan to Bern 

Train ticket from Milan to Bern was an excruciating 65 euro but I soon realized even within the non-border-less Europe travel between countries was not going to be cheap. Switzerland was everything precise with the train arriving and departing on time.

Money was a new problem for me too since I was only spending euro currency so far and this was the first where I needed another. I took some chance and arrived in Bern without a single CHF currency in hand. Nearest ATM and withdrew CHF thankfully avoiding all the money changer.

Bern Old Town

Bern was a small town for a capital. One of my main targets for reaching Bern was to visit the Einstein House where he developed the theory of relativity. The house was surprisingly small, very small and was almost empty. 

A little disappointing as there was not much to be seen but still fascinating to see how great mind required so little a material comfort.

The cost of travel was going up as well and I was confined to Berne backpackers - Hotel Glocke a nice place where you could cook your own food and stretch the budget a little. The hostel had a little picture on the wall which is shown on the right.

“When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Tourist”

Picture at Berne Backpackers Hostel 

Cheep thrills were all I did in Bern. I got a free bike rental which was part of the welcoming tourist into Bern and toured the city and as far outskirts my leg would bring me. 

The city is truly beautiful being circled by the river and life here was at a very slow pace. By 4 pm almost everything closes and shops don’t open before noon.

To my excitement I have now seen a living bear which was house at the open park near the river. Long walks and more long walks …. Switzerland was truly calming.

Bern Clock Tower 

I had underestimated the cost of traveling Switzerland. The first withdrawal of CHF money was not going to last me even a week. I had a choice to either get more money out to see more of Switzerland or head straight for Zurich and get out into Austria or Germany for that matter.

Bern however had a casino.

With the little money I had there were decision to make. Plus there was nothing much to do either after 5 pm where everything was close. 

I took a walk at night everything seamed deserted and headed for the Grand Casino Bern. This would be the start of my gambling antics around the world. Something I am not proud off but if I would to do it again I doubt I would do it any differently.

My casino experiences however before Bern were not a virgin one. I had in my younger days work in a casino as a croupier and after graduating and working as an engineer I would frequent them monthly with a small budget. 

I looked at them like adult video games. Kids go to the arcade and spend maybe 50 bucks once a month well adults go to casino and maybe spend 150 bucks a month. Just make sure you have enough self control to quit when the times up.

There was also a chance of doubling your money ....

I went in with a mission to work not play. I had to make enough CHF to sustain more visits and time in Switzerland or I would have to leave the country much sooner if I lost what little money I have.

Six hours of work later I came out with double the money I withdrew on the first day in Switzerland. Happy and relieved I returned to the hostel and re-planned my travels in Switzerland having more budget now than ever. I could now visit Interlaken and Lucerne and Zurich and have a nice local Swiss meal.