Different kind of beautiful Chapter 14: Wonderfully lost in Stunning Hallstatt

Travelogue: 11th June 2015

We are up early this morning because we would be travelling out of the city of Salzburg. We hopped on the train after we grabbed our breakfast because we were so excited to make our way to  our destination.

Munching on the train while looking out of the window for scenic views, this is why we love the train rides here.

We finally arrived in Hallstatt train station at 11.30 am.

One of the staff at the ferry was joking loudly that the Hallstatt train station is the ‘biggest’ train station in Europe. Lol.

He is ‘right’. There was only one machine for us to buy tickets thus there was a long queue. Imagine if that one machine broke down, all of us would have to shamelessly take a free ride on the train.

We had to take a ferry to Hallstatt.

The sound of the nature was so loud. A loud silence. I was instantly in love with the view.

Hallstatt, Upper Austria, is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria.. It is located near the Hallstätter See (a lake). I was armed with my camera because I really wanted to capture the best pictures of beautiful Hallstatt.

The region around Lake Hallstatt is actually a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage and I can see why! The moment the village by the lake could be seen, everyone on the ferry started to remain silent. Most took photos of the scenery non stop while others simply stared in awe.

The minute we set our foot in the jetty, we could not wait to explore! We set out to look for the viewpoint and started walking.

And so we walked and walked. Everything was so beautiful, I felt that whatever was captured by my camera could not do the place any justice.

Actually we could not locate the viewpoint because everything was beautiful from different angles. We did not realize that we walked pass it.

Found it.

The picturesque village on the lake with the same name owes its existence to the rich salt deposit of salt in the mountain of Hallstatt. 7000 years ago, as the prehistoric humans from Hallstatt began to take the salt from the salt mine who would of guessed, that this little village would give its name to a period in history – the Hallstatt period (800-400 BC). Rich findings in Hallstatt and the upper valley of Hallstatt gave this village international recognition; even today discoveries are still made in the salt mountain of Hallstatt. Source here. 

After taking like 1000 photos and selfies, we made our way to the other side of the village.

We were on the way to the ‘five finger’ view point so we were looking for the cable car mountain station. We walked and walked but we did not see any. I think we walked for a good one hour.

We were lost and decided to ask for directions. The lady at the gas station informed us that the cable car station mountain was only 5 minutes walk away from the gas station so it was puzzling why we could not see the station after walking for an hour.

Apparently, we were looking at the wrong direction and we missed it. When we finally spotted the track along the mountain, we quickly turned around and made our way back, passing all these beautiful country houses along the way.

Finally on the cable car up! This was the view.

The view a few minutes later, everything seemed to shrink. as we go higher and higher.

At the 5 fingers view Point is probably the most spectacular viewing platform in the Alps. It reaches out like a hand over the 400 m drop. There is a magnificent view down over Hallstatt, the Hallstätter-Lake and the Inner Salzkammergut region.

It was breathtakingly beautiful. I wish we had more time to simply admire the view but the clouds were gathering and it looks like it was going to rain.

 We had to take all photos quickly because a minute later, it started to pour. But I did not care! I came all the way, I am going to take the photos even if I was drenched.

The view would have been clearer if it was not raining but it was still so beautiful. MasyaAllah, how beautiful is this creation of the Almighty. Bon had a hard time trying to get Nurul and me to return to the cable car station. It rained the entire time we were up there!

Greenery on the other side. I could look at this view forever.

All the excitement from looking at the view almost made me forgot that I was starving. All the walking must have burned up my breakfast this morning. We decided to grab some lunch but I was distracted by these new friends of mine.

The lake was crystal clear. I really wanted to touch the swans but Bon forbid me to do that. #why

Wow. I thoroughly enjoyed the walking by the lake simply because I could not take my eyes of the beautiful lake.

The old town was authentically charming.

The sense of peace here, wow, I felt so envious of everyone residing here who have access to this kind of view everyday.

We decided to spend more time here so we waited at the jetty for a later ferry. Honestly, we felt reluctant to leave. Exploring this place in one day was definitely not sufficient.

From a distance, the village looked like a scene right out from a fairy tale. It was so stunning, we were all stunned. Lol.

I was glad that the rain stopped so we could admire the views as we leave.

When we returned to the train station it was almost 5 pm and I was still in disbelief that I had just been to one of the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

I am really thankful for this chance. I wanted to tell you readers a million things about how gorgeous and stunning Hallstatt was but, as I am typing this, I had difficulty trying to find the right words.

I guess some things are best seen live. I can tell you my experience a thousand times but it will never be the same as when you are here to see everything with your own eyes.

I hope you will be inspired to visit Hallstatt at least once in your lifetime. It will be worth it. For now, train ride back to Salzburg and it is our last night in Salzburg too.