This spring I had the chance to visit Varanasi in India. It’s a fascinating city on the banks of the Ganges. I spent two weeks there, walking along the Ghats and watching the everyday life happening around, on and in the Ganges.
A selection of my pictures from the trip accompanied by some words was published on the website of the Swiss magazine Immersions and you can see them at https://immersions.ch/le-collectif/varanasi-gange/. The text is in French but the pictures should be universal (if I did my job right 🙂 )
I was very happy to hear that the Immersions team was interested in my pictures because their magazine is great, you should definitively check it out!
Recently I was filming for a research project in Laos (more about that soon) and needed to take my drone to Laos. I didn’t find much information about what to watch out when travelling with a drone, especially as I was passing through countries supposedly not very drone friendly. So I wanted to write down how I flew with my Mavic Pro and how it all went. (spoilers: I didn’t have any problems). There is some controversy about some of the points below especially about discharging batteries, but I’m a believer of “better safe than sorry”. If you have travelled with your drone, let me know how it went and what your checklist is. Continue reading “Travelling with a drone”
Some people pointed out that I should write a wrap-up to my blog posts about my Iceland trip to keep everything nice and tidy.
To start my list of tips 6 tips to make your trip to Iceland unforgettable. Continue reading “Iceland trip wrap-up and highlights”
This is the ninth blog post about my Iceland trip from last year. This time about the places I think that you must see in South Iceland from Vik to Geysir. Check my other posts for Reykjavík and Western Iceland, and the eastern,northern and the southern part of the Westfjords, the North and the East of Iceland and the first part of the South from Skaftafell to Vik. As usual, I’ll probably miss some great places so let me know in the comments!
Must see Solheimasandur Plane Wreck
Just a few kilometres east from Vik there is a car parking just alongside the Ring Road. From there, follow the path that will lead you to the wreckage of US Navy DC-3 plane. The plane crashed on the black beach in 1973, it probably ran out of fuel, the exact details are a bit muddy, but luckily everyone survived.
Previously you could drive up to the wreck, but now you’ll have to walk the approximatively 4 km from the Ring Road to the wreck, the path is well marked, and you probably won’t be alone, so there is no risk of getting lost.
This is the eighth blog post about my Iceland trip from last year. This time about the places I think that you must see in South Iceland from Skaftafell to Vik. Check my other posts for Reykjavík and Western Iceland, and the eastern,northern and the southern part of the Westfjords and the North and the East of Iceland. As usual, I’ll probably miss some great places so let me know in the comments!
Must see Skaftafell – Svartifoss and hiking
Skaftafell is the southern part of the Vatnajökull National Park and offers beside a great visitors’ centre and campground, some very nice hikes. You can find a list of all the hikes here and the hiking map here. I did a couple of the smaller hikes, all of them are well marked. The hike to Svartifoss is quite short, and it’s certainly a must! Continue reading “Must see South Iceland – from Skaftafell to Vik”
This is the sixth blog post about my Iceland trip In this post, I’ll write about the places I think that you must see in Northern Iceland. Check my other post for Reykjavík and Western Iceland, and the eastern part of the Westfjords and the north and the south of the Westfjords. As usual, I’ll probably miss some great places so let me know in the comments!
After my round trip of the Westfjords, I joined the other tourists on the ring road. There were a lot more tourists, but as it was early Septembre, it was ok. The weather in this region was however quite terrible, I had planned to hike a couple of times, but the rain was pouring down so much that I had to cut back the hikes to very short ones between getting dry and warm again in the car.
My first overnight stop was at Grettislaug which is a great camping ground with a hot pool and a view over the island of Drangey.
This is the fifth blog post about my Iceland trip and the fourth about the places I think you must see. In this post, I’ll write about the south of the Westfjords. Check my other post for Reykjavík and Western Iceland, and the eastern part of the Westfjords and the north of the Westfjords. As usual, I’ll probably miss some great places so let me know in the comments!
This is the fifth blog post about my Iceland trip and the third about the places I think you must see. In this post, I’ll write about the west and north of the Westfjords. Check my other post for Reykjavík and Western Iceland and the eastern part of the Westfjords. As usual, I’ll probably miss some great places so let me know in the comments!
Fourth blog post about my Iceland trip: this time the places I liked most and that I think you must see while you are in the Westfjords of Iceland. Check my other post for Reykjavík and Western Iceland. I’ll probably miss some great places so if I missed your favourite place, let me know in the comments!
The Westfjords are one of the most remote parts of Iceland (with the Highlands), and there are fewer tourists than elsewhere. But the scenery and the roads are definitely worth your time!
Must see in the Wesfjords – Eastern Part
The eastern part (route 645 and 643) Hólmavík, Drangsnes, Djúpavík to Norðurfjörður and Krossneslaug is a “one-way” trip as you will need to come back almost to Holmavik to get to the western part of the Westfjords.
Must see – Hólmavík
Starting in Hólmavík, a small town where you should stock up on groceries and fuel is also known for its Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. Iceland and especially the Westfjords has a long history of witchcraft and witch-hunting and witch-burning. If you want to learn more about witchcraft or creep yourself out, you should go to the museum. It’s quite small but very well done and certainly worth the visit if only to see the Nábrók, the necropants, a pair of pants made from the skin of a dead person that if worn will give the wearer money.
If you are lucky, you might also see whales right from the town.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/222233941]
From Hólmavík you should take the coastal road (645) to Drangsnes a tiny village whose main attraction is the hot tubs just beside the road with a view of the ocean and Grimsey island.
From there the road gets more scenic by the minute and houses are fewer and farther. Take road 643 and enjoy the drive!
Westfjords roads
Must see – Djúpavík
You should certainly stop in Djúpavík, consisting of a couple of houses, a hotel (!) and an old abandoned factory and some rusty boats. The herring transformation plant is now used as a gallery, and the experience of climbing up into it was great.
There are a couple of abandoned factories in the Westfjords, and they were built when the herring fishing was booming, and there was plenty of fish, but many were closed after only a couple of years as overfishing was huge and had made some fish almost extinct, which lead to strict quotas for the whole region.
Must see – Norðurfjörður
After Djúpavík, the next “bigger” settlement is Norðurfjörður which is almost the end of the road. There is a small restaurant, a camp ground and your best place to stay before going back south.
[vimeo https://vimeo.com/182556490]
Must see – Krossneslaug
But don’t stop yet as just a couple more kilometres on the road, which is slowly transforming into a track, is one of the remotest hotpots / hot springs there is: Krossneslaug. You’ll have a great view of the ocean while soaking in the warm water. When I arrived I had the pool all alone for myself and as the end of the day approached a couple of locals, and a handful of tourists joined me.
