[HALSTATT, AUSTRIA]: The White Gold of Hasburg Empire

A secluded gem - Halstatt.

It is 7am in the morning, the bus gutted an awful yawn and zig-zaged through the Salzkammergut region. I was already amazed by the beautiful river view of Salzburg, and the morning chilliness would not dampen my fervent excitement of seeing Halstatt in reality. I took the public bus 150 so that it will pass by St. Gilgen (The mountain area where Sound of Music was shot) to get the most out of the Alpine view.

It was about 11am when I arrived, and since it was still early in the morning, not a lot of tourist were around (and also partly because it is still Winter time and according to the locals most people are out of town for their vacation). I could dance and roam about this quaint picturesque village without getting poked by those selfie handheld sticks.

Halstatt, honored with a position on the UNESCO World Heritage list, could be dated back as the oldest salt mine district in Austria. In 1311, Queen Elizabeth of Tyrol granted markets right of trading salt in this small town, giving few of the prominent families the right to produce salt. The village blossomed with trade, and growth of relating industries such as boat building, salt refinery, carpentry. It was also one of the key source of income that supported the Hasburg empire - and hence the name of "White Gold for the Hasburg Empire".