20 May 2018, Sunday
For once, we started the day with a proper breakfast. This was our first hotel stay for the trip (as opposed to Airbnb apartments for the past 19 days), and it felt really good to be pampered with a buffet spread and freshly ground coffee for our first meal of the day. There was a good selection of ham, cheese, eggs, toast, cereals, fruits, yogurt, tea and milk, and we sure had our fill. I also liked that the hotel published a daily newsletter providing weather updates and the latest news, very cool.
It was going to be an exciting day ahead as we would be crossing the border to Germany for a day trip to Berchtesgaden and Lake Königssee. Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the Bavarian Alps in southeastern Germany. The nearest big German city is Munich but Berchtesgaden is much closer to Salzburg as it is located right next to the border of the two countries. Königssee is a lake within the Berchtesgaden National Park and it is Germany’s third deepest lake. From what I had read and seen online, it is a place of outstanding beauty and this was one of my most highly-anticipated stops. It would end up being one of my favourite days for the entire trip.
At about 7:30am, we left our hotel to take bus 840 to Berchtesgaden. According to Google Maps, the bus stop was located at Karl-Wurmb-Strasse, outside the FORUM 1 shopping mall. It was just 2 minutes’ walk from our hotel and 1 minute walk from Salzburg Hbf. However, when we reached Karl-Wurmb-Strasse, we couldn’t find the bus stop. We walked up and down the street several times but couldn’t locate it. We also asked passers-by but they didn’t seem to know either. As it was a Sunday morning, it was quiet on the streets as well.
Finally, after about 15 minutes of searching, we found it. It was there all along! The bus stop was actually located under the sheltered walkway of the FORUM 1 mall building, marked by a post with two small signs – one said “Busleiste G Regionalbus” and the other said “H” in big lettering and “Salzburg Hbf. (Forum 1). Linie: 111, 260, 270, 840” in small letterings. There were also timetables for the bus timings attached to the pole. However, it was quite inconspicuous as there were no seats or benches, and no obvious signs that it was a bus stop.
Relieved, we stood at the bus stop at 7:50am to wait for bus 840 to arrive. Shortly after that, a few other people came and we formed a short queue. While waiting, I studied the timetable again and to my horror, it seemed to indicate that the first bus starts only at 9:15am on Sunday. I wondered if the timetable was correct. But then again, there were other people in the queue. Could it be that they were all equally unaware of the first bus timing, and we’d have to stand here for more than an hour to board the bus at 9:15am?
We decided to wait and see. Thankfully, at 8:09am, bus 840 appeared and pulled up at the bus stop. I was super relieved when we boarded and the driver confirmed that it was going to Berchtesgaden. We bought our tickets on board and paid in cash. It cost €10.20 (S$16.60) for a day ticket, so it covered the return journey as well. Tagesticket Erwachsen means “day ticket” and “adult” respectively. It includes unlimited travel on DB buses so it is quite reasonably priced. At 8:15am, the bus moved off and we were on our way to Berchtesgaden!
The journey was very scenic as we passed by small towns, rivers and hills, green fields with cows and sheep grazing happily. However, as we approached the Austria-Germany border, we became quite anxious because we were not sure if there would be immigration checks at the border. We had brought our passports along, of course. But after our tense experience at the Hungary-Austria border three days ago with our case of the disappeared Athens passport entry stamps (read more about it here), we were afraid that we would have to explain the whole story to the authorities again.
I monitored our location on Google Maps during the ride, but the border came and went and the bus kept going without stopping. In fact, I didn’t even manage to see any signboards indicating that we had left Austria and entered Germany. As the bus travelled further into German territory, I felt relieved once again. It had been quite a morning with a few false starts!
The bus ride took just 45 minutes and we arrived at Berchtesgaden Hbf at 9am. Here, we alighted the bus and joined the queue to transfer to bus 841 to Königssee. There were a lot more people here at Berchtesgaden. They were either staying here at Berchtesgaden or they came by train from Munich, but more likely the latter. At 9:10am, bus 841 arrived and we got on board. We didn’t have to pay for the ride as it was covered under our day ticket. The bus departed Berchtesgaden Hbf at 9:15am and we arrived at Königssee about 10 minutes later.
After alighting from the bus, we walked a short distance to the boat docking station, where we purchased our tickets for the electric boat to Salet. It costs €18.50 (S$30) for an adult return ticket, inclusive of a stop at St. Bartholomä.
At about 9:45am, we boarded the boat, together with about 50 others. As it was an electric boat, it glided smoothly and noiselessly across the emerald green waters of Lake Königssee. The lake was formed by glaciers during the last ice age, so the surrounding cliffs were steep, just like a fjord. There was still some morning mist and clouds hovering in the air, painting a very beautiful and surreal picture as I looked out of the windows.
About 10 minutes into the ride, the boat came to a stop. The boatman explained that it was an old tradition of more than 80 years to play a trumpet during the boat ride to let visitors hear the echo bouncing back from the mountain walls. He pulled out a trumpet from a case and started to play a tune. He paused in between the musical phrases to allow us to hear the echo. He was just playing at a normal volume but we could still hear the echo quite clearly, amazing!
Following that brief intermission (after which, the boatman passed around a hat for tips), we continued our onward journey. At about 10:15am, we arrived at St. Bartholomä. We alighted here to transfer to another boat to take us to Salet. For the second leg, there was no more trumpet playing so we proceeded directly and arrived at Salet about 15 minutes later.
Lake Königssee was beautiful but our main objective was to go to Lake Obersee, an even more beautiful lake located about 20 minutes’ walk from Salet. As we made our way to Lake Obersee, we were astounded by the wondrous sight of the Alpine mountain scenery surrounding us. The grass and trees were so green, and the air was so fresh and still, it was simply heavenly bliss.
When we reached the edge of Lake Obersee, it was another take-my-breath-away moment. The water in the lake was so still it formed a perfect mirror, flawlessly reflecting the steep mountain cliffs surrounding it. The water was super clear and it gradually turned into a darker shade of green the deeper the lake got. There was just too much beauty to handle…the majestic mountains, the misty clouds, the calming waters, the soothing greenery all around…everything was just picture perfect.
We spent a great deal of time taking photographs as every angle seemed to be even better than the one before. Luckily, it wasn’t very crowded at the time so we had space to roam about and pick our favourite spots.
Our next objective was to go to Fischunkelalm, the patch of green grass at the opposite end of Lake Obersee. There are no boats at Lake Obersee (thank goodness for that) so the only way to get to Fischunkelalm is to trek there.
The trek was very therapeutic as we walked through a lush forest trail. It reminded me of the time at Meteora in Greece as our guide led us through the forest, and he termed it “forest bathing”. The toughest part came about halfway through, when we had to climb up some stone steps and certain sections were quite slippery.
We reached Fischunkelalm at about 12pm. Some people carried on to trek to Röthbach waterfall but we elected to end our trek here. We passed a large green field with plenty of cows before reaching a wooden house restaurant, which served refreshments. We bought a glass of fresh milk (€2) and a cheese and toast platter (€4.50) and took a seat at one of the wooden benches. As we rested our feet, we took in the wonderful view before us. It was such a beautiful moment, to be surrounded by nature of the finest order.
After about half an hour, we decided to head back to Salet, via the same way we came. When we reached the opposite end of the lake at about 1:10pm, it was even more crowded then. Many other visitors had just arrived and were about to explore the wonders of Lake Obersee. We continued walking to Salet and took the electric boat, alighting at St. Bartholomä (aka St. Bartholomew).
The Church of St. Bartholomä is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church named after Saint Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. It is a tiny church but its onion shaped domes and red roofs are very distinctive. It looked like one of the Orthodox churches in Russia.
It was even more crowded here at St. Bartholomä and the restaurants were fully packed as it was lunchtime. Apparently, the famous dish here is the smoked trout. We decided to have our lunch back at the docking station because it was too crowded here. There was also a long queue to board the electric boat but thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long.
The return boat ride back was smooth and there was no more trumpet blowing demonstration. We arrived at the boat docking station at about 3:05pm. As we were quite famished by then, we picked the first restaurant we saw, which was Restaurant Seehaus. Since we were in Germany, I ordered a curry bratwurst, one of Germany’s most popular dishes.
With food in our tummies, we were revitalised for the return journey. We reached Salzburg Hbf at about 5pm. As it was a Sunday, all the shops were closed so we didn’t venture any further. We went to the SPAR supermarket to buy some food for a simple dinner and retreated to our hotel to spend the night relaxing.
It had been a wonderful day and we enjoyed Lake Königssee and Lake Obersee thoroughly. Dad said that Lake Obersee was even more beautiful than Jiuzhaigou in the Sichuan Province of China, which says a lot. I’m so glad I included Berchtesgaden in the itinerary and that mum and dad enjoyed it. That really made my day.