View allAll Photos Tagged khovd
One of my favorite pics from the recent Mongolia expedition - a pic of a Kazak herder/eagle hunter that lives in Khovd (most Kazak folks live in Bayan Olgii, the western most Aiimag of Mongolia).
Tried several times to get both the eagle and gentleman looking directly towards the camera and after some time managed to get pretty close.
The eagle hunters are beautiful people still living so close with nature - the story of how they capture the eagles right before they fledge and then hunt with them for years, finally releasing them back into the wild is amazing.
I've been thru Khovd many times and never had the opportunity to stop and photograph the many statues in town - my favorite has always been the traditional Mongolian boot. Last trip I was lucky and got my chance - love the Soviet era housing in the background.
While camping at Durgin Lake in Khovd Western Mongolia we were treated to an impromptu concert by a family of musicians and throat singers right on the shore of the lake - very fun!
Aerial view of Paradise Wetlands on the edge of Black water Lake near the Khovd Aimag center in Western Mongolia.
Mongolia is big - 3 times the size of Texas or a little smaller than Mexico but with one of the lowest population density of any country on the planet. So you spend a lot of time driving! Add to that limited infrastructure and travelling any distance in country becomes an adventure. Pictured here some of the team playing catch up while driving in Khovd, Western Mongolia. This trip we traversed a variety of environments - from high mountain to lower elevation valleys - the latter pictured here.
It was great to make it back to one of my favorite places on the planet - Mongolia! After over a year I returned to visit with some old friends, make some new friends and finally see the epic snow leopard! Pictured here one of the first images I took - this one from the airport in Khovd with a view of the Altai Mountains. Amazing trip where we experienced extremes - cold and snow to sweltering heat. Look forward to sharing some of the images from that epic expedition!
My last shot or shots from recent Mongolia Trip – as work in other places ramps up it may be my last visit to Mongolia for a while, which makes me both sad and nostalgic. It is really one of my favorite places in the world – so different and at the same time so familiar. Couldn’t decide on which pic to post – I am always restricted to posting only a small fraction of the images I actually take – here starting top left and going clockwise: a picture of a typical Mongolian soum center; The original one and only Governator – former governor of Khovd, now TNC partner holding an Ibex skull; Drivers prepare a traditional hot rocks meal – rocks heated in a dung fire and then used to cook the meat and vegetables; last but not least 2 kids walk in a soum center. Miss you already Mongolia!
The perspective from my hotel in Delhi with views of two not so iconic activities - smog & traffic! Sorry for the delay but will be back in the Flickrsphere shortly now that I am basking in the glow of the internet - sitting in the lobby of my hotel in Khovd Mongolia after a week in the field - its awesome to be back in one of my favorite countries!
A sample of artifacts found by the former governor of Khovd that includes some pottery shards and iron tools; found while we were camping near Durgin Lake. I always see photos on Monday saying "macro Monday" so I wanted to play in these reindeer games. Photo taken on the table of our cooking ger next to Durgin Lake.
Aerial view of Paradise Wetlands on the edge of Black water Lake near the Khovd Aimag center in Western Mongolia. On the day we were there they found a dead marmot in town that was apparently infected with plague. A few years before a similar thing happened and they shut all traffic down in and out of Khovd - so we were worried that we might get stuck on a lock down. On the same day 2 Mongolia soldiers were assisting locals harvest reed grass at this very wetland complex when their boat capsized and they apparently drown. So there were soldiers all over town as well as several staying at our hotel. We thought they were preparing for the lockdown and only found out about the 2 drown soldiers until the following day...made for a stressful evening.
Merry Christmas all flickr contacts! Warm greetings from the coldest capital city in the world with an image of a breeding adult male Red-mantled Rosefinch taken in Altai Mountains, Western Mongolia
This subspecies is called Kobdo Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus hagenbecki) which is endemic to the north-west Mongolia. Only winter time allows us to photograph this elusive bird as it inhabits the islands of large river, the Khovd. Kobdo means Khovd.
Ghost of the mountains. Our recent Snow Leopard photography tour in the Mongolian Altai Mountains went successful. We watched and photographed this adult individual in 30-100 meters at an altitude of 2,177 m for hours. Contact me if you are interested in Snow Leopard tours (www.wildlifetoursmongolia.com).
Link to video www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bb5B10g1vI&t=1s
A high altitude species found in Altai, Khangai and Khentii Mountains ranges in Mongolia.
Have a great weekend!
In Mongolia when a horse and rider win a race its the horse that gets the honors - makes sense since they do all the hard work. Pictured here a champion from this years Naadam event!
Traffic was non existent in Khovd once we got moving towards the Hajing Valley, location of our first camping site. That was until we encountered this group of camels. They must have been in a rush as they thought it important to get to where they were going asap. Made for a good shot to give some perspective to the mountain in the background.
Camping in the Hajing Valley in Western Mongolia's Khovd Aimag near a spring so was welcomed each morning with a visit from a local herd of horses - always love to photograph these critters - with one hoof in the wild and one in the domesticated world, they are always so beautiful!
These wild horses were spotted grazing near a small stream. This was day 29 of our epic road trip from the UK to Ulannbaatar in Mongolia.
Mongol Archaeology
Art of Mongolia
Animals of Mongolia
Bronze Age Petroglyph of Reindeer
Khovd Aimag
Altai
Mongolia
Mongolia's terrain is one of mountains and rolling plateaus, with a high degree of relief. From the Gobi Desert areas of the south, Mongolia rises into a grass-covered plain (steppe) generally devoid of trees, punctuated by three mountain ranges.
In the Mongol-Altai Mountains range, - nestled in the western most corners of the country where the borders of Mongolia, Russia and China meet -, lies the mountain massif Tavan Bogd (literally “Five Sacred”). This region contains the five tallest peaks in Mongolia, with the highest, Khüiten Uul (“Cold Peak”) at 4374 meters above sea level. The Tavan Bogd massif is located mostly within the Bayan-Olgii Province of Mongolia; its northern slopes are in Russia's Altai Republic, and western, in China's Burqin County. The landscape includes one of Asia's largest freshwater lakes Hovsgol Nuur, many salt lakes, marshes, sand dunes, rolling grasslands, alpine forests, and permanent montane glaciers.
The Altai Mountains form the divide between the closed, arid watersheds of inner Asia and the massive river drainages that flow northward through Siberia into the Arctic Ocean. The mountainous region of Bayan Ögliy is drained by six systems of rivers and lakes, all rising in the snows and glaciers of Tavan Bogd. These systems, comprising an area of 21,211 sq km, form drainages or basins and may be identified by their principle rivers or lakes: Sogoo Gol, Oigor Gol, Tsagaan Gol, Khoton and Khurgan Nuur, Dayan Nuur, Sagsay Gol, and the largest of all, that of Khovd Gol. Ultimately all these rivers and lakes drain into Khovd Gol, with a length of 516 km the longest river in western Mongolia.
One interesting characteristic of the forest steppe zone is the coniferous forest found on cooler, moister northern slopes and the steppe vegetation that predominates on the other slopes. Larch-cedar forest and residual forest of real taiga exists at the beginning of the Khovd River. Fir (Picea spp.) groves remain in several mountains located along the Khovd River. Betula spp., Rezniczenaona spp., and poplar (Populus pilosa) remain as residual species in the humid gaps of several mountains. Festuca lenensis and Koeleria cristata are the dominant trees that run along the mountain ranges at mid-elevations while Hippophae spp. and Cargana spinosa grow along the rivers.
Naadam in Mongolia -18 - Visitors
A bevy of black kite was constantly circling above in search of food.
Click here if you wish to see the whole Naadam series:
Tolbo Lake is a large lake in Western Mongolia on the dirt road from Olgii to Khovd. Already there was snow on the high peaks surrounding the lake and the grasses were turning golden.
09/08/15 www.allenfotowild.com
I was out on the steppes near the Mongol Altay Mountains to take a sunrise shot with my camera on a tripod when I noticed distant car lights bouncing over a dirt road across the steppes. I panned the camera on the tripod with movement of the lights and managed to capture the car lights sharply while blurring the scenery (best larger)
13/08/15 www.allenfotowild.com
Before sunrise one cold morning we went out from Khovd, Western Mongolia to shoot the sunrise coming up over the Monol Altay Mountains. I was setting up my tripod and looked over and saw the guys inside the van steaming it up with a fresh pot of coffee.
11/08/15 www.allenfotowild.com