Hyperlapse videos by Swiss couple takes viewer to countries in Asia

SINGAPORE - Need a break? How about cruising through nine countries in five minutes?

It took Swiss couple Sylvain Botter and Jenny Gehrig six months to traipse through cities in Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar.

But it takes about five minutes to watch two fascinating videos of the highlights of their trip, which uses hyperlapse and timelapse to stitch together footage and photos of more than 30 places.

The viewer can "walk" through the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Borobudur in Central Java, the Forbidden City in Beijing and "sail" through the Thousand Islands Archipelago of Laos, and Halong Bay in Vietnam in the video, which is shot from the first person perspective.

They made a stop at Singapore's Merlion, and Botter even proposed to Gehrig on the Great Wall during their trip from January to July 2016.

"We were alone in the middle of this place of exceptional beauty. What could be better ?" she said.

The two 30-year-olds had taken leave from their jobs to do the backpacking trip across Asia and returned to Lausanne, Switzerland in July 2016. Mr Botter is a designer in a creative agency, and Ms Gehrig is a leisure marketing manager for the Lake Geneva region.

"We travel to lose ourselves, and then to find ourselves," they said, adding that they hope the video will inspire others to travel.

Ms Gehrig and Mr Botter told The Straits Times in an email: "We loved Singapore. It was one of our favourite cities and we really could live there.

"We loved the multiculturalism, this mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian culture... in contrast with the modernity of the city. For us, it's like Switzerland and much better."

They have set up a travel website and YouTube channel Lytchee TV.

chuimin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Mar 01, 2017.
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