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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PEAKS OF EUROPE
08 GENESIS
12 PART I
PEAKS OF EUROPE
THE NORTH
a one-year project
days 001 – 042
14 SCOTLAND
30 NORWAY
54 SVALBARD
64 ICELAND
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82 PART II
144 PART III
THE BALKANS
THE ALPS
days 043 – 092
days 093 – 145
84
146
GREECE
SLOVENIA
106
160
CROATIA
ITALY
116
182
ALBANIA
AUSTRIA
130
196
MONTENEGRO
GERMANY
206 FRANCE
226 SWITZERLAND
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PART I
THE NORTH days 001 – 042
“
T
he North of Europe. I had been there many times in the past and yet, I found that I couldn’t plan a fivemonth trip without revisiting my favorite region of the Old Continent and two of my favorite countries in the world. Although this was my third time in Norway and my fourth time in Iceland, visiting both these countries in the summer was quite different. The main reason I included them in my itinerary was because I wanted to finally experience the midnight sun, something I had never witnessed before, something that had been on my bucket list forever. It’s something I wish everyone could see at least once in his life, just like the northern lights, two of the most incredible shows Mother Nature has to offer, which require you to travel to extreme latitudes. South Iceland doesn’t have a proper midnight sun as the sun sinks below the horizon for about three hours every night. At the same time, it’s still bright enough outside to
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“Of all the follies and aberrations that one encounters in humanity, the one that I find the most inconceivable is that man, during his fleeting passage on Earth, lacks the curiosity to discover it in its entirery.” ALAIN GERBAULT
roam around and shoot photos. Norway is a whole different story. Once you are above the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets and never rises. The more northwards you go, the lighter the summer nights are. In Northern Norway, you can enjoy the most beautiful light between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., with the sun being at its lowest point at 1 a.m. That’s a full 8 hours of golden light! A photographer’s dream, compared to the standard 60 minutes you have on average in other locations (the closer you travel to the equator, the shorter the golden hour lasts). This also meant that to have the best light for my photos, in Iceland and Norway, I needed to switch around my rhythm for a full four weeks, living at night and sleeping during the day. Of the three legs of my trip, the first one, up north, was the only time that I needed to fly from one place to another, because of the very remote regions I had decided to cover. After Scotland, which was my first destination, I flew back to Belgium, where I spent a couple of days packing for four
weeks in the Arctic. Then I flew to Lofoten in Norway where I picked up a Toyota Hilux. I also had the idea to spend three days halfway between the North Cape (continental Europe’s northernmost point) and the North Pole, on Spitsbergen Island in Svalbard, trying to spot some polar bears. Obviously, I would need a plane to get there. Then, instead of losing one whole week on a boat that would take me from Denmark to Iceland, the last destination of this first leg of my journey, I thought it would be easier to just fly straight from Northern Norway to Iceland and pick up another car in Reykjavik. I know, it doesn’t really sound like a road trip, but at the end of the day I spent most of my time in the three different cars Toyota provided to me and drove a total of 8,430 km (5,238 mi.) in just six weeks. That’s 200 km (125 mi.) a day!
”
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LONGYEARBYEN, SPITSBERGEN.
SVALBARD
“A
lthough Svalbard is officially governed by Norway, I like to think of it as a whole different country, mainly because of its remoteness. Situated midway between continental Europe and the North Pole, the Arctic Archipelago is home to polar bears, the main reason for my visit. While only ninety minutes from Tromsø by plane, the journey itself is already worth the effort. The airport of Longyearbyen is in the middle of the island of Spitsbergen, which means you get to fly over icebergs and the unreal Sør-Spitsbergen National Park for more than fifteen minutes. A scenic flight that is included for free in the price of your ticket. How cool is that? Just make sure to pick a window seat though! Jeremy and I only spent three days on Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island, and we soon realized our visit there would focus more on the culture rather than on the wildlife and remote expeditions. Because of the presence of large mammals, it is dangerous to walk anywhere outside the town of Longyearbyen. In fact, you may not explore the wilderness without the governor’s permission or without a gun.
As our visit to Svalbard was a last-minute decision, we were unable to obtain permission on time, so we had to stick to the tourist attractions. Some of these happened to be really interesting actually although they usually are not my cup of tea. That’s how we found ourselves visiting the Russian ghost town of Pyramiden, which ended up being really fascinating. We left Svalbard with mixed feelings because of the lack of freedom we had, but I can only blame myself for not starting my preparations earlier. I will return to Svalbard at some point in my life as I know there’s so much to see and explore, especially when there’s still snow everywhere! And obviously, as you might have deduced, I still want to see a polar bear with my own eyes.
”
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PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK, LIKA-SENJ. [44° 51’ 56.2” N | 15° 35’ 52.5” E]
“Plitvice National Park is probably the most popular destination in Croatia. Going there at the busiest time of the year probably wasn’t such a good idea. We had to queue for ninety minutes at the entrance, and once in the park, all the visitors had to stick to the same wooden paths, making us feel like we were in a theme park rather than a nature park. I deeply regret our decision to go there although I do realize how beautiful this place is. I guess that’s a problem when you travel during peak season.”
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VAU I DEJËS, SHKÖDER.
ALBANIA
“D
riving south from Croatia obviously meant going to Montenegro first. We drove around it though and returned to both countries when driving north, which is why I’m going to talk about Albania first. Albania, oh Albania! What a pleasant surprise you were. I really didn’t know what to expect although I had some ideas. I had always imagined that Albania was one of the very last European countries that lived in another era. As soon as we entered Albania from the north, we realized how different things were there. Most noticeably, the road conditions. I must admit we didn’t cover that much ground in this country, which is as big as Belgium, as we stuck to the north-eastern part where the Theth and Valbonë National Parks are located. We soon understood, however, that Albania was definitely nothing like Belgium or any other EU country. On more than one occasion, Google Maps indicated that it would take three hours to cover 75 km (46 mi.). That’s an average speed of 25 km/h (15 mph). But despite spending long days in the truck, I had the time of my life in my Toyota Hilux on those bumpy, rocky, and very narrow roads. Once we finally arrived in Theth National Park, I just couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought we had ended up in the French Pyrenees, but this was definitely not how I had
imagined Albania. When Delphine and I started to look for a campsite in the national park, every local in the tiny and remote village nearby invited us to park our car on their driveway, for free. They then suggested we would eat at their restaurant, for which we had to pay 875 leke (less than 9 USD) per person for a four-course meal. And finally, they let us shower for free in their house, before showing us some little secret spots on a map. Seriously, the kindness of every single person we talked to in Albania was the thing I’ll remember the most about the country. It even almost made me forget how much waste you see everywhere you look. I couldn’t decide what shocked me the most: all the rubbish I saw floating on beautiful Koman Lake which resembles a Norwegian fjord, or seeing a herd of horses feeding directly from a dumpster. It’s time this part of the world wakes up for good and takes a more responsible and ecological approach. I’m sad that I only got to spend three days in Albania, and I cannot wait to go back and explore more of this country.
”
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LAKE PIVA, PLUŽINE.
MONTENEGRO
“W
e first reached Montenegro through the Bay of Kotor, travelling along Croatia’s idyllic Dalmatian coast, and I must say this was the biggest disappointment of the whole trip. This very popular destination was a real shock. Not because of the number of tourists in the old medieval city, but because of the general feeling of being in a place where nothing else matters but making a quick buck. And by nothing else, I really mean nothing else. Not even sustainability or ecology, or even sorting waste. Then there are the locals who seem to have had enough of the sudden tourist boom, but in the meantime, they are only out for our money. The people in Kotor were rude, unfriendly, and definitely not welcoming. That was why we decided to leave the region as soon as possible and explore the inlands before reaching Albania.
After our three-day stay in Albania, Montenegro was a whole different story as we finally arrived in the mountains. To get to Montenegro from Albania, we had no other choice than to drive through Kosovo from Valbonë Valley National Park. A long and exhausting seven-hour drive, so we didn’t stop in Kosovo as we wanted to arrive at the guesthouse we booked as soon as possible. After two relaxing days in Kolašin—our first days off since the beginning of Peaks of Europe—we made our way to Montenegro’s Durmitor National Park, a place I had heard a lot about from my photographer friends. Boy, was I glad we didn’t skip that part. It really reconciled me with the country after a bad start. Durmitor was a beautiful place and also raised our expectations about what came next, the Alps. It was also the first place where the temperatures were cooler, allowing us finally to go on a hike, something I truly missed a lot while Delphine and I travelled around Greece and the rest of the Balkans.
”
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BAY OF KOTOR, KOTOR.
[42° 25’ 43.3” N | 18° 40’ 39.7” E]
“We were not impressed by the Bay of Kotor. Was this due to the obvious animosity of the locals or because of the waste everywhere? I’m still not quite sure, but the contrast between Kotor and its Croatian sibling Dubrovnik was huge.”
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ZÜRSERSEE, VORARLBERG.
AUSTRIA
“I
n May 2016, I was in Austria on an assignment for the tourism board. They invited me to spend a couple of days in Alpbach, one of Austria’s most beautiful villages, in the valley of Alpbachtal. When Robert flew back home to Scotland after our trip through the Dolomites, I felt incredibly exhausted. Not because of all the hikes we did in Italy, but because I had been on the road for three and a half months already, and I never really took the time to slow down and do nothing. With Delphine in Belgium, I also lost all my motivation. It was time for me to relax and enjoy some me time. So I contacted the Austrian tourism board and explained the situation. I told them I wanted to photograph the country of course, but above all, that I really wanted to enjoy life and do nothing, in the beautiful village of Alpbach that I had loved so much one year earlier. They were really understanding and they booked me into a guesthouse for three nights. So I had three nights to unwind and prepare for the last five weeks of my trip.
I first dropped off Robert in Innsbruck, a city that I really like because of its location, and also because of its vibe. It reminds me a lot of Queenstown, New Zealand. I spent a whole after-noon in the town, meeting up with people and enjoying civilization. When I saw Eva from the Tourism Board of Tyrol, she suggested we could hop into a doors-off helicopter at sunset to photograph Innsbruck and the surrounding area. Austria really knows how to welcome its guests, right? Apart from the fact that I was terrified in the helicopter— I’m actually afraid of heights—, the experience was unreal and unforgettable. What a great start to my relaxing threeday stay in the Austrian Alps! After that I checked into the guesthouse in Alpbach, receiving a warm welcome from the owners Gerhard and Marina, some of the nicest people I’ve had the chance to meet in my life. Gerhard invited me to join him for a drink as he wanted me to try the local schnapps his granddad produces. After a long chat and after I told him I needed to take the time to relax, he fully understood how I felt and decided to give me a chance to experience the life of a local for the next three days. I ended up staying one more night, and left four days later, loaded with good Tyrolean food, and ready to hit the road again. Gerhard, Marina, thank you so much for everything. I hope we’ll see each other again very soon.
”
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MATTERHORN, VALAIS.
SWITZERLAND
“S
witzerland, which is just slightly larger than Belgium and half the size of Scotland or Austria, is the country where I spent most of my time during this project, along with Greece. Greece is three times bigger though, so how did I manage to spend three weeks in this tiny country? Well, to be perfectly honest, I could have easily spent two more weeks there. With 65% of Switzerland being in the Alps (just like Austria by the way), it would take almost a lifetime to fully explore all the hiking opportunities in the country. I first spent one week in the region of Graubünden and Ticino, in the south-east part of the country, in early September, after my stay in Austria. I had friends with me the entire time and had made many hiking plans, but the weather in the Alps that first week of September ruined them all. When I returned in mid-September, after a week in the French Alps, the weather forecast looked good for at least one week. So I decided to take advantage of it! With an Italian photographer friend Alex, whom I’d just met, we covered almost every part of the Canton of Valais, home to the mighty Matterhorn. We saw the seasons change. The grass had already been yellow for a few weeks because of the recent snow, but as the days passed the bushes slowly turned a vibrant red and orange. Initially I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t get to photograph beautiful Switzerland with its famous green alpine meadows, but I soon realized how lucky I was to be there during this explosion of color.
Again, I didn’t have any specific photo goals, I just wanted to hike as much as possible and get to see a wide range of different landscapes at different altitudes. In two weeks, I went on seven hikes, including two overnight ones. My daily routine quickly became shoot, hike, eat, hike, shoot, sleep, repeat. Most of the time we were greeted with some of the best conditions a photographer can hope for. But this was nothing compared to what I experienced on one of my very last days in the country. For a couple of years already, I had wanted to hike up the Augstmatthorn. I spent three days in Interlaken and found myself constantly looking out of the window to check the weather conditions, but they were never quite perfect. On my last day though, I decided to go anyway, and see what would happen. The chances that the summit would be completely cloaked in fog were quite high, but I didn’t care, I really wanted to hike up that peak. With a couple of new friends, we went up anyway, and the sight that awaited us on top of the mountain was just out of this world. The dreamy sea of fog only covered half of the mountain. I immediately asked Danilo to walk along the ridge and pose for me. Yes, you guessed it right, the cover photo of this book was right there in front of me and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The kind of unique opportunity that every photographer hopes to experience at least once in his career, and I almost decided not to go hiking that day! Switzerland was a blast, and my three weeks in the country felt too short. Hiking every day also helped me gain the motivation I lost when Delphine flew back home without me. Now I just wish I could go back there with her, so she can finally experience the real splendor of the Alps.
”
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VAL D’HÉRENS, VALAIS.
[46° 18’ 11.9” N | 7° 24’ 21.2” E]
“My encounter with Léon was one of the most unexpected and most satisfying experiences on this trip. He’s a very funny guy and he and I had an engaging chat with him about pretty much everything. What really surprised me though is that he always has salt in his pockets, so he can give it to his cows as a reward if they behaved throughout the day.”
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank every person who followed me on my journey on a daily basis and who pushed me to create this book. Without their feedback and amazing response as I documented my road trip on my social media platforms, I would never have finished—or even started—this book. Thank you for your genuine support and for helping me push my limits to new heights every day. And thank you Éditions Racine – Lannoo, my publisher, for entrusting me with this book project.
Thank you, Toyota Europe, for your amazing support throughout the years and for being my trusted companion on all my travels. Thank you for the Hilux that was my home for three months, and thank you for believing in me and my crazy ideas.
Thank you, Delphine, my love, for sticking with me and for following me on my craziest adventures every single time. Thank you for your joie de vivre, for your laughs, for your support, and for believing in me. I couldn’t do any of this without you by my side.
Thank you, ARB 4 x 4 Accessories, for setting up the Hilux to be a fully autonomous vehicle for all those months of travel. Thank you Nikon BeLux for your support over the past years.
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for being my number one fans. I’m grateful to have received a wonderful education, and one of my biggest joys is to see you being proud of me. See, it wasn’t such a terrible idea after all to go on that crazy adventure to Australia back in 2013, where it all started! I also want to thank all the amazing people that I met during this trip, or who shared the road with me for one day, one week, or longer. The one thing I realized during this journey around Europe is that it’s not the places and destinations you go to that make your trip successful or memorable. It’s the people you get to share it with. So for that, thank you Jeremy, John, Robert, Stuart, Bertrand, Inge, Marco, Kristian, Roar, Sascha, Kristiane, Tina, Steffen, Even, Belén, Tristan, Hege, Michel, Evgenia, Olivier, Ørjan, Pie, Toine, Joe, Delphine, Nikos, Lisa, Great-Uncle George, Great-Aunt Irini, Andreas, Evangelia, Jack, Lauren, Papou Yanni, Upper Great-Aunt Georgia, GreatUncle Labi, Eleni, Lower Great-Aunt Georgia, Great-Uncle Dinako, Labis, Ada, Panagiotis, Magdalena, Dimitris, Giorgos, Great-Uncle Mitso, GreatUncle Panagioti, Nardi and the Polia family, Dejan, Luca, Flore, Shane, Giulia, Josh, Floryan, David, Fabian, Benedict, Eva, Gerhard and the Kirchmair family, Dominik, Alex B., Marco L., Federico, Alex dT., Alex F., Thomas, Léon, Niklas, Phil, Max, Hannes, Amy, Danilo, Refael, and all the strangers who accepted to pose for me and my camera.
This book is published by Éditions Racine. Éditions Racine is part of the Lannoo Publishing Group. All photographs © JOHAN LOLOS Texts JOHAN LOLOS Review SANDY LOGAN, DAVID MICHAELSON Layout DOMINIQUE HAMBYE If you have any questions or comments about the material in this book, please do not hesitate to contact our editorial team: michelle.poskin@racine.be
Thank you, Toyota Belgium, Toyota UK, Toyota Iceland, Toyota Norge, and Toyota Nordvik for organizing all the different cars during this project.
Thank you, Haglöfs, Icebreaker, AS Adventure, Primus, Eagle Creek, DJI, Transcend Benelux, XTorm, Nemo Equipment, f-stop, Rode Microphones, Pilotfly, Clif Bar, LaboPhotos.fr, Hahnemühle France, LeVif Weekend and Adventech for your precious support on this journey. And last but not least, a very important thanks to all the local partners and tourism boards who put me up for a few days: Visit Scotland, Northern Norway Tourism, Norwegian, Destination Lofoten, Hattvika Lodge, Visit Vesterålen, Visit Senja, Norwegian Wild, Visit Tromsø, Visit Svalbard, Anek Lines, Visit South Tyrol, Visit Austria, Visit Tirol, Innsbruck Tourismus, Visit Vorarlberg, Visit Alpbachtal, Visit Lech Zürs, Germany Tourism, France Montagnes, Savoie Mt-Blanc Tourisme, Chamonix-Mt-Blanc, Valloire Galibier, Switzerland Tourism, Visit Graubünden, Visit Ticino, Valais Wallis Promotion, Interlaken Tourismus, Jungfrau Region Tourismus, Kandersteg Tourismus, Pays du St-Bernard, Les Coteaux du Soleil, Val d’Hérens Tourisme, Zermatt Tourismus, Blatten-Belalp Tourismus, Lötschental Tourismus, Engadin StMoritz Tourismus, and Surselva Tourismus.
© ÉDITIONS RACINE, 2018
Tour et Taxis, Entrepôt royal 86C, avenue du Port, BP 104A / B – 1000 Bruxelles T. +32 2 646 44 44 www.racine.be Register for our newsletter to receive information regularly on our publications and activities. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. D/2018/6852/8 Legal deposit: April 2018 / ISBN 978-2-39025-044-9