Switzerland: A Clear View Of The Toblerone Mountain

December 2014

Matterhorn or known as the Toblerone mountain

Hey, there!
Remember me? :p

So yeah, I've been neglecting my blog lately. I have dozens of stories to tell and hundreds of pictures to share from my previous trips. But I just couldn't force myself to sit still and write because there's too much stuff running in my mind randomly. I've been away from online world for couple months now and only updating daily on Instagram. A part of me is disappointed of myself because lately I easily get panic attack and nervous breakdown. The strange thing is that even though travelling has been a huge part of my life since I was born, lately I don't enjoy it as much. Perhaps the claustrophobia and aerophobia has wore me out. I don't recognise myself anymore. I'm still looking the best way to cure it though, whether it's having hypnotherapy sessions, seeing a psychiatrist or learning to relax by practising yoga. I'm open to any suggestions from you, guys :)

Matterhorn railway station

Alright then, I better cut the pouring heart session and will share one of my Swiss trip highlights. I had been wanting to visit Zermatt since forever. And while it's one of the prettiest cities in Switzerland, it's also one of the most expensive too. During my student life in Switzerland 15 years ago, I didn't have much money to splurge. So I was happy to finally made it to Zermatt this time. The city is heaven to snow lover and the Gornergrat railway is one of most popular activities to do. The Gornergrat railway station is situated at an altitude of 3089 m, which makes it the second highest railway in Europe after the Jungfrau and the highest open-air railway of the continent.

all aboard!

beautiful village

I've said it a thousand times before that I love travelling by train. I find the steady sound of train moving is a very soothing back sound as I admiring the view outside my window. And Switzerland offers numerous railway routes with spectacular scenery along the way. The journey I took from Zermatt to Gornergrat is no exception as well. I love looking at the Swiss chalets with it's snow-covered roof in some village I passed through. Such a pretty scenery. And I was so lucky that I got to see the Matterhorn in a full view because of the clear weather.

it's white everywhere

breathtaking view outside

the final station

super clear day!

In what feels like a blink of an eye, the train stopped in Gornergrat station (it's actually about 30 minutes ride). Though it was minus 10 degree Celsius up there, to me it felt quite warm because of the bright sunshine. My White Christmas couldn't get any more perfect than this! Oh, by the way Swiss Pass will come handy if you ever plan to explore Switzerland. It entitles you to unlimited travel on consecutive days throughout the rail, bus and boat Swiss travel system network. Apart from that, it offers 50% reduction on most mountain railways and cable cars and free entrance also free entrance to hundreds museums and exhibitions. I didn't get one so I had to fork out CHF 86 for this train ride. Boohoo :(

my White Christmas

the chapel atop Gornergrat

view from 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat

Atop Gornergrat there's a hotel which was built between 1897 and 1907. The name is 3100 Kulm hotel at Gornegrat. It's not only one of these rare and unique accommodations but the highest altitude hotel in the Swiss Alps. The scenery is so spectacular for sure because it's surrounded by 29 peaks of the massive ridge separating Switzerland from Italy. Now, this is my kind of hotel I'd love to spend my honeymoon at *daydreaming*



FREEBIES!

I am a chocoholic. To me travelling to Switzerland always means bringing back a suitcase full of my favourite Swiss chocolate. And of course I'll share some for you, guys! One of the chocolates is even bigger than my head! teehee :D
I have 3 packages of chocolate, fridge magnet, keychain and postcard from Switzerland.

all of these were air flown from Switzerland specially for you :p

Only 3 easy steps to join:

1. Make sure you have followed my instagram @debbzie_leksono or twitter @twitdebbzie 
2. Tweet this sentence >>> #GiveAway Swiss chocolate, keychain, magnet & postcard!  Join on www.debbzie.com | cc: @twitdebbzie
3. Don't forget to leave your email address and twitter or instagram user ID on the comment box below. 

All email address will be drawn randomly and 3 lucky winners will receive this Swiss souvenirs.

Closing date: 1 April 2015

I wish the best of luck for youuuu :)

Update: Congratzzzz to the winners @sefiiin @ammamamo @iqbalrois !!! :D

France: Catacombs of Paris - Life Under The City Of Lights

Paris, December 2014


Do you know there is another Paris under Paris?

While exploring the vibrant city of Paris, you might not realise that underneath your foot lies millions of bodies who once lived. It's another side of Paris....the darker one that not all tourists are willing to visit.

I didn't know this place existed on my first visit to Paris back in 2001. I found out about it few years later after I watched 'Catacombs' the movie and started to gather some informations about it. But it wasn't until my third trip to this city that I finally managed to visit it. In the 17th century, this city was facing a major problem about where to bury the death people. Some of the cemeteries which held more than 30 generations of human remain were overstuffed to the point cemetery walls broke open and spilling rotting bodies onto the streets. And of course the awful smell was tormenting people who lived in that area. It also caused some disease that the government had to find a way to relocate all the corpse. The solution was the centuries old tunnels that had existed beneath the street of Paris since the 13th centuries. The tunnels is approximately 300 km long and was dug as quarries, sewers also limestone mine.

a small entrance door

I got some free metro tickets from the hotel I was staying at, so I hop on the train to Denfert-Rochereau station. It was on Tuesday around 1pm and the queue outside the Catacombs entrance door was kinda crazy. I went there with my family (Dad, Mom and sister) and spent more than 2 hours queueing under the rain and cold (7 °C) before we finally made it to the ticket counter.  It's a good thing that they only allow some number of people into the tunnel at a time. So it won't be too crowded inside.

130 steps down

The tour is unsuitable for people with heart or respiratory problems, those of a nervous disposition, claustrophobic and young children.

I've always knew I'm a bit claustrophobic but I've been to some caves before and I handled it well. So I confidently thought I would be okay to explore this catacombs and ignored the warnings. To reach the 20 meters deep tunnels or equivalent to a five storey building, I had to go down 130 steps in a tight spiral staircase. By the time I reached the bottom, my knees were already weak and I was feeling dizzy.

dimly lit tunnel

another tunnel

The maze-like tunnels is dimly lit, the air is humid and dusty. As I walked further inside the tunnel, I felt that my breath became heavy for lacking of oxygen. I walked alone, a couple metres ahead my family, the only sound I heard was only my foot against the damp gravel path and waters dripping from the ceiling. Every time I reach another turn, I was hoping to finally reach the main tunnel where all the bones are stacked .....sadly, only to find another tunnel to pass. It started to feel like walking inside a never ending tunnel or a maze with no exit. Suddenly I heard some muffled voices....something like a lot of people whispering on my ear in the same time.....

and more tunnel....I was alone here

"Huh? What?" I turned my head to the back, thinking that my family were saying something. But I saw them walking quite far behind me and I was alone in the middle of the empty tunnel.

Feeling confused, I stopped walking. It was when I started to feel an icy cold tingling sensation spreading from my fingertips to my arm and very fast to all over my body. A very strange feeling. It felt like I lost control over my body and my gut telling me to run. My body started to shake as I was having a breath difficulties.

"Help!" I tried to scream but I couldn't hear my own voice. My head was spinning and my vision got blurry.

"Oh no! Are you okay?" I heard Mom's voice as she grabbed my arm. I was about to fall because my legs were weak, so I leaned against the cold wall.

"Please...take me out. I can't breath." I started hyperventilating. It seems like the ceiling was getting lower and the walls were about to crush me in the middle. Yes, I was having the worst case of panic attack in my life. There was no way to run, I was in the middle of the route. It's an one entrance and one exit tunnel. I couldn't go back.

"Breath slowly. Relax!" Mom and Dad were holding my arm as I was about to faint.

I was trying to breathe slowly while thinking about some happy stuff to calm myself down. Thinking about my cute and funny dogs at home.  Thinking about places that makes me happy. Luckily, after a while it started to work!  Gradually my head stopped spinning, I got my vision back and I was strong enough to stand on my foot. And a couple minutes later, I had not completely felling fine but was able to walk again. Phew! That was one hell scariest things I've ever experienced!

some sculpture

vandalism! 

some parts are completely dark

and more tunnels...

Stop! This is the empire of death!

After what it felt like forever, I finally reached the entrance with "Arrête! C'est ici L'empire de la Mort!" written above it. "Stop! This is the empire of death!" This is where the visitors can look at the bones and skulls in a close distance. Some people even touched and made fun of the bones while taking selfie. Such a disrespect thing to do! Everyone of them was once a living person and had a name. I found it quite disturbing to play around with the remains of dead people. 

neatly stacked bones

I wonder what happened to your head?

The 300 km long tunnel is the final resting place for more than 6 million Parisians but only 2 km are open for public. Even though it's illegal to access most areas, secret entrances exist throughout Paris and it's possible to enter the catacombs via sewers, metro and certain manholes. Some urban explorer or called as Cataphile often illegally enter the catacombs just for fun while they actually could get lost easily, died and will never be discovered. It must be a horrible way to die. Dying slowly while millions of skulls staring at you in an empty yet powerful stares.

bones are everywhere

catacombs of Paris

more and more narrow tunnels before the exit

83 steep and tight spiral steps

Finding the exit door is another journey through the 'never ending tunnels'. I had to stop a couple time to sit and catch my breath because I was starting to have a breath difficulties again. At the end of the tunnel, there was still 83 steep and tight spiral steps to climb. And finally, voila! Suddenly I found myself on a normal and busy street of Paris again. As if the experience I've just had was just a surreal dream. At the exit door, a guard will examine every visitor's bag because apparently some people had tried to steal the bones.

souvenir shop

"So how was your trip in the catacombs?" The shop's owner asked me as I purchased some souvenirs across the exit door.

"I love the catacombs but I almost passed out for having a panic attack. I didn't know that my claustrophobia is that bad. It never happened before."

"Oh, dear! Glad you made it out of the catacombs just alright. We have several cases every month where firefighters help people getting out from the tunnel." He smiled at me sympathetically.


Yeah, I was so relieved to get out safe and sound. I was just feeling really disappointed with myself. I lugged my heavy DSLR camera and tripods as I wanted to take some good quality photos of the catacombs. But after the incident, I didn't have enough energy and mood to work with my camera. I was just relying on my pocket camera. So I really am not happy with blurred and noisy images in this post.

Though one thing that I learned after visiting the catacombs is trying to stay humble. There's no need to brag and overly proud about how great or how rich or how powerful we are. Because after the death, it doesn't matter anymore. In the end, we will all become only a pile of bones just like everybody else.


* The Catacombs of Paris is open daily from 10am to 8pm, except Mondays and public holidays.
Admission fee 10€ per person.