CRIScom travel experience flow – The personal website of Christoph Potzinger

Looking back at our trip to Vietnam in December 2005, browsing through the photos, I realise that our journey through this diverse, history-packed and sturdy country encapsulated some exceptionally beautiful moments. For me, Sylvia managed to capture in her photos the very essence of this country, and I have added her best shots here . Especially, the motives from Ha Long bay are striking, almost bizarre, like paintings. On the whole, the colours are thick and rich with an earthy quality as much as are the people – deeply rooted and connected to their land. If we call Vietnam a basic country, we do so only with regards to our western standards of technology. On closer observation, Vietnam turns out to be a complex and complicated land and society, enmeshed in situations of conflict and struggling to compromise their culture with religious demands and economic growth. Still they manage to retain an attitude of humanity, which our western societies are more and more alienated from. This attitude, for me, is oddly reflected in the Vietnamese traffic. Throngs of vehicles, from rickshaw to truck, way to many for the narrow and badly maintained Vietnamese streets, go hither and thither like busy ants. On our first attempt to cross a street in the old town of Hanoi, Sylvia and I were almost dumbstruck: in no possible way could we see any chance to cross the street, even at a crosswalk. (more…)

This year’s trip to Bali has been one of the most rewarding journeys I have ever made. It will be remembered as a classic trip to an extraordinary island. Although with only 14 days net in Bali, our holiday has been characterised by diversity, serenity and community.
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It’s now 10 days since Sylvia and I have returned from an astounding trip to Bali. With expectations irritably low, it turned out to be a classic trip which saw us catching up with my dear friends from Australia, Gerhard and Rosemarie, at the beginning and John, Simone, Julian and Andreas at the end.

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I have chosen a picture of Halong Bay at sunset as the header image for this site.
It was taken on Dec 1, 2005 on our trip from Ha Noi to Sai Gon
. For Sylvia and me it was a very inspiring moment, one of almost spiritual quality, with the bright sun hovering over the small mountain islands, dipping the tranquil sea into an unearthly blend of pink, yellow and orange . Looking from a 360 ° viewpoint some 150 meters above the sea, we savoured this moment of ethereal serenity, which ultimately would burn itself into our memories to be remembered – and cherished – forever.
Later we climbed down to walk on the sandy shore and watch the sun meet the mountain tops, biding farewell to this beautiful day.
The trip to Ha Long Bay was a perfect start to our first exposure to Vietnam and my first extensive experience of South-East Asia. Our trip was to be exciting, full of queer encounters, beautiful visions and revisions and, last not least, delicious food. We finished it off properly with a couple of Singpore Slings on the roof top bar at the Caravelle in Sai Gon.