Mongolian Madness and the Gobi Desert

nice pics ... excellent use of filters and underexposure :thumb

Sorry I missed you guys in Almaty!

Good luck
 
Fantastic, just fantastic... i'm jelous...
Great pictures, not wanting to clog the post if anyone knows what camera the 2 are using send me a pm please.
 
cameras

Hi Santrix,

We're using a Nikon D300 and a Nikon D70s, we also have a cannon point n' shoot.

The D300 was bought a year ago, when we agreed to start writing for an amercian bike mag RoadRUNNER. It's not a full frame sensor but the big plus for us is it has a self cleaning sensor. We're covered in dirt and dust most of the time so this a big factor as we can't get our gear serviced or cleaned.

The D70's was ourfirst DSLR and we use the small cannon for candid portrait shots when it's not appropriate to stick a big camera in someones face.

Hope that helps.

Cheers Simon
 
...a quick update

Hi guy's,

Well, after a tough but amazing ride we'e half way along the Pamir Highway and arrived in Tajikistan a few day ago. Right now we're in Khorog.

Lisa's suffered with altitude sickness over the last week as we're climbing through the elevation quickly. We reached 15,309 feet a few day back and our coldest night so far has been -22

We're heading for for Dushanbe tommorrow, it'll take us two days, but where we'll hopefully pick up our Visa's for Iran and Turkmanistan, fingers crossed.

I'll post the next Mongolian leg when we get there and can connect my laptop.

Cheers
Simon T
 
Mongolian Madness Part VIII

........................
<p>....................</p><table border="0" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="0" width="516"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top"><p><strong><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><strong>18-09-2009</strong></font></strong></p><p>.................... </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="414" valign="top"><font size="1"> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">With only a few hours sleep last night between the bitter temperatures and the howling wind we took slow heavy steps to reach the main room of the camp. The Spanish couple wwere already up and surprisingly still inside. Odd? They should have caught a plane to UB at 7:00am. A few minutes later and with coffee in hand we were hearing their story. Their flight delayed due to the high wind.</font></p> </font> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">My conversation was stopped mid flow, when I looked out the window and stared in disbelief. Just ten feet from the window sat two huge hunting eagles. I was so desperate to get outside I completely forgot to excuse myself from the conversation.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">Running back to the Ger I grabbed the camera and sprinted back to where the eagles and their owners were now standing. The two eagle hunters could have stepped off the set of Ghengis Khan and the birds were simply incredible. Both with wing spans in the 2 metre range. I spent the next hour photographing these amazing birds and their owners. I’m ashamed to admit that in my excitement I’ve completely forgotten the names of the two Mongolians.</font></p><p><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/2009Sep17_eagle_hunters_2411.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> <img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/2009Sep17_eagle_hunters_2438.jpg" border="0" /></p><p> </p><p><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/hunting_eagle.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p> </p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">OK, I know this sounds a bit over the top but to be with these guys felt like such a privelidge, you could almost feel the history and culture and the pride both these men took in themselves and their birds. Their posturing and pose almost regal.</font></p><p> </p><p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1"><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/eagle_hunter_cuddle.jpg" border="0" /></font></p><p> <img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/2009Sep17_eagle_hunters_2451.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/2009Sep18_eagle_hunters_2522.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/2009Sep18_eagle_hunters_2554.jpg" border="0" /></p><p><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/2009Sep18_eagle_hunters_2525.jpg" border="0" /> </p><p> </p><p><img class="external_image" src="http://www.2ridetheworld.com/gallery/mongolia/images/chapter_4/eagle_hunter_1.jpg" border="0" /> </p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">With my memory cards full we needed to get some jobs done. Heading over to the other side of town and into the black market, we needed to find a new 21” inner tube for Lisa front tyre. I was also on the hunt for a new tubeless tyre valve. Whilst we were at it some engine oil would be pretty handy. We just don’t need 4-5 litres which so far is all we can find.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">Two hours later and we’ve perused hundreds of stalls all stuffed with shoes and clothes but not a sniff of the stuff we need. The cold was getting to us as well, so after flicking through our lonely planets we easily found the ‘Turkish Resteraunt’. The warm inside felt great and slowly our hands regained some feeling. We ordered a great oily soup and Lisa loved her noodle dish, with two strong coffee’s the bill came to 7,000 Tug ($5 - £3)</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1">Back at the ger camp I spent the afternoon catching up on website jobs and diary.</font></p><p>Tomorrow we'll head back into Russia. </p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="13" valign="top"> </td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p>
 
larger images

Hi all,

someone asked on another forum for larger images of the eagles, so as I'd done the work I thought I'd post them here.

Besides it's also a shameless bump:augie

enjoy.
............................
These birds were truly amazing and if I'm honest a little intimating, but then again there hunting birds so they're meant to be I guess.

Enjoy.
eagle_1.jpg


eagle_2.jpg


eagle_3.jpg


eagle_4.jpg


eagle_5.jpg


eagle_6.jpg


all the best
Simon:freaky
 
As usual, riveting stuff, fantastic images (and not just the photos). :clap

Thanks.
 
Them thar piccies are terrific... keep 'em coming please :thumb

:beerjug:
 
NEW 2010 2rtw CALENDAR NOW AVAILABLE

Hi all,

I hope this is the right place for this post. Thought we'd let you know that Lisa and I have just published our 2010 motorcycle Adventure Calendar, with all new images from Central Asia.

http://stores.lulu.com/2ridetheworld

It was tough to choose which images made the cut but we're pretty excited by the results. Wind swept Monglian steppes, the Gobi Desert, high mountain passes on the Pamir highway (the roof of the world) and Russian sweeping bends, this calendar has the lot.

It was quit a challenge publishing the calendar as we've been in Eastern and central Asia for months and internet is non existant or appauling at best. it took us 5-days straight just to upload the images to the publishers server. 7am to 1am the following morning:buds

So if you fancy helping us raise a little gas money or you just feel like picking yourself or someone else up an early Christmas present. Drop on by our new online store. You can click the calendar and or the 'preview' button for a month by month showing of the calendar.

http://stores.lulu.com/2ridetheworld

Right now we're in Dushanbe, Tajikistan waiting for our Turkmenistan Visa's and then we're off to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan before entring Iran. We managed to get our Iran visa's last week. Yeah, we were a a bit nervous about this one.

So, lket us know what you think of the Calendar and a big thank you in advance to anyone who purchases, it'll buy a few extra miles of gas and we are truly grateful.

Cheers for now
Simon
 
The link tells me that you are performing site maintainance at the moment. I hope not from Dushanbe! I know exactly how slow internet connections are there. If the calender is anything like you images so far it will be a cracker.

Good luck with the rest of the journey.:thumb
 
All working

Hi Petcul,

Lulu.com who are hosting our store front were doing maintenance. Their based in the USA ans so it was the middle of the night their time.

However, their all back up and or store is just waiting for your perusal:augie

You can even click the preview button and see what your getting for you dosh. :drool We're chuffed with the images and the calendar. Bloody hard choosing which photos to use.

Hope you enjoy it.


All the best
Simon T:beerjug:
 
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