To Heidiland we go!

It was a bad week to go out last weekend for the weather was cold and gloomy, especially on Sat where it rained the entire day.

Well, since we had postponed the hotel booking at Sargans earlier because of my flu, we had to make this trip somehow and we don't have much time left.



We almost had the entire carriage to ourselves :)

The place we wanted to visit is Heididorf (Heidi Village) which is in Heidiland, reachable via train to Maienfeld and changing at Sargans station. Total travelling time takes about slightly more than an hour.

As the train passes by Zurich lake, I got a little emotional...the thought of leaving this charming place in 2 weeks' time...I guess partly the mp3 music I was listening to made it more melancholic...and Uncle Tan lah, had to turn round at that time...the tears just rolled uncontrollably...fortunately the carriage was quite empty...

Ok, here we are at Maienfeld. It's a small train station with a very friendly staff at the information office. You can forget about getting a map cos it isn't very useful. You can refer to the signages along the way, plenty of them so you can't get lost.

There's only one way to go to Heididorf - by foot. Although the Lonely Planet guidebook says you might be able to take the Heidi Express bus in peak periods which it didn't mention when, "Bus 11" is still the most dependable mode of transport.

It wasn't difficult to find Heididorf, but the walk is as it was uphill most of the time. Guidebooks and the signages indicated a 30-min walk. Trust me, it's more than that.

When in Switzerland, always add another 15 mins or 30 mins to the timing indicated. Either the Swiss have longer legs or they have a larger lung capacity. What I've learnt here is never to use kids or the elderly folks as a gauge on the difficulty or the duration of the walk. They are definitely much fitter.











The signages are quite prominent. Look for those that indicate "Heidiweg" or "Heididorf".

Ah Kin trying to figure out the direction as there were too many sign posts.

Speaking of which, if you belong to Uncle Tan's era, you should be quite familiar with Heidi.

It's a famous novel written by Swiss author, Johanna Spyri, about the events in the life of a young orphan living in her grandfather's care, in the Swiss Alps.

Summary of the story:

Heidi is an orphaned girl initially raised by her aunt Dete in Switzerland. In order to get a job in Frankfurt, Dete brings the 6 year old Heidi to her grandfather, who lives in seclusion in the alps. He resents Heidi's arrival at first, but eventually got on well with her and she has a delightful stay with him and her best friend, Peter, the shepherd boy. Dete returns 3 years later to bring Heidi to Frankfurt to be the companion of a 12 year old invalid girl named Clara Sesemann. Heidi spends a year with Clara, learning to read and write from Clara's grandmother. However she has several clashes with the Sesemanns' strict housekeeper and soon becomes homesick. Her failing health and several instances of sleepwalking prompt Clara's doctor to send her home to her grandfather. Her return prompts the grandfather to descend to the village for the first time in years, marking an end to his seclusion.

Next summer, Clara visits Heidi where they go to the pastures and Heidi shows Clara the beauty of her world. Clara becomes stronger on goat's milk and fresh mountain air, but Peter is jealous of Clara and pushes her wheelchair down the mountain to its destruction. Without her wheelchair, Clara attempts to walk and eventually overcomes her handicap (wah...the power of Swiss alps ;p). Clara's grandmother and father are amazed and her wealthy family promises to provide a shelter for Heidi, in case her grandfather will no longer be able to do so.

Uncle Tan was so excited to see this clip which I've found it in youtube. The version that he was familiar with instead of the original Swiss version :) Ring a bell? Hey I wasn't even born yet cos it was in 1975!

So we followed the signages and walked...

and walked...
and walked...

We saw another sign, and we continued walking...

and we saw a Heidi Shop selling Heidi souvenirs.

The drizzle seems to be stopping soon.

On my left is a vineyard and behind me, the alps. Not sure if it's Pizol thou but you could see the clouds looming close.


Why did the snail want to cross the pavement?
Ans: To get to the other side of the field...vineyard to be exact :)

If only the weather is better, we could then have a better view of the mountains.

All the walking is making me feel warmer...so 脱掉, 脱掉, 脱掉 :D

Uncle Tan was wondering how Newton got hit by an apple when the apple trees are so short. We even had a mini discussion as to how Newton would get hit by the apple, whether he was standing or sitting under the apple tree, why he wanted to sit under the apple tree when it was so short and couldn't provide enough shade etc. Hahahaha....


Yes, 5 more mins to Heididorf and Heidihaus...which means another 10 to 15 mins more...











It was noon time when we reached here. We actually trekked back to Heidihof Hotel to settle for lunch first as there were no other restaurants nearby. I thought Heidi Village should serve some Heidi food...








Quite a cozy restaurant and the seats by the windows are reserved for hotel guests. Still we could view the nice scenery from where we sat.

It seems that Heidiland is a favourite spot for the Japanese tourists. I suppose it's probably due to the popular Japanese Heidi cartoon that popularized the place. Even the menu here has the Japanese version.


This rosti with bacon, swiss alps cheese and egg is an utter sin. The amount of oil below the pan can make you fast for weeks. Fortunately we ordered a plate of salad which provided a refreshing taste to our palette. A filling and sinful lunch.

Recharged and ready for the hike.

Notice that the welcome signage also has the Japanese version?

Map showing Heidiweg (aka the hike of Heidiland).

The animals here are used to human presence, so you can take really close up shots of them.



Here Heidi's House, where Heidi never lived, cos Heidi never existed in the first place :)

Not an impressive building huh ;p


You need to purchase the ticket at the souvenir shop nearby which cost CHF7 per pax.

Hmm...I thought Heidi would become more depress staying here as it's dark and gloomy, and I find it a little claustrophobic as well.

For your info, they put real flour as their props too. The bread is fake thou :)

Say 'hi' to Heidi and Peter :)

Peter & Ah Kin


Uncle Tan & his childhood idol, Heidi, though, not the Heidi he had expected. Hey, this is the authentic Heidi leh, the Jippon one is the adapted version although of course, is more kawaii than this real Heidi.

This should be Heidi's bedroom.

Heidi's clothes and Heidi's grandpa.

We left a note in Heidi's guest book. Seems that many Japanese had left their comments there too :)

Ah Kin preparing some "Heidi soup" and chopping "Heidi wood" ;p

Wanna make a guess what this place is for?

Clue: You have to visit this place everyday.














The backyard of Heidi's house. So nice :)



At the backyard, we finally saw "Peter's goats" :) I got a shock when suddenly some goats came running around me...they are free to roam and are not afraid of humans. I was thrilled though I was a little worried about their horns...




We hiked up a little which was a rather steep ascent at the beginning. Seeing the never ending path ahead and that it was near to our hotel check in time, we decided not to venture further and head back to town.


This handsome goat came walking towards me when I 'mehhhh...' to him ;p Can't help not to feed him with something :)


These goats are so lucky to be able to roam freely. They are quite obedient too as they never trespass into the souvenir shop or cause any nuisance to the tourists. In fact, I saw them enjoying the tickling of their goatees by the tourists there ;>

And the cows were aplenty too. Imagine the sound of cow bells ringing non-stop. By the way, the greyish animal in this picture below is a donkey, which is grazing together with the cows.

Time to head back to Sargans.

Uncle Tan told me to quicken our pace for the dark clouds were looming behind us...it looked scary as the dark clouds seem to engulf the entire forest...

On our way, we saw this huge moo moo and I mean really huge.

And it has a huge cowbell, with a thick leather strap.

Well, that's Heidiland. I was a little disappointed for I expected it to be a thematic place...but rather, it's more like a nature hike with farm animals. Well, at least I get to play with the goats for a while. Uncle Tan too didn't expect his "Heidi" to have dark curly hair hahaha....so he only bought a fridge magnet with the grandpa's picture instead of Heidi ;p I suppose I also didn't find the authentic version kawaii enough to tempt me to buy anything :)

I guess if Japan were to build a Heidi Village, it would be something that would bring in lots of tourist money for sure and Uncle Tan would be one of them to spend some yen there hehe ;p

Oh speaking of which, I got myself a Heidi gal watch from Swatch that day when I helped my aunt to get her Swatch watch. Happen to see this model and bought it. A bit heartache lah cos it's a plastic watch and not as cheap. I'm not a watch person, so long the watch can tell accurate time and looks ok on my tiny wrist, it's good enough.

My first Swatch watch and my first Swiss watch.


Had to ask the sales person to helped me to punch 2 extra holes before I could wear.