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Gobi Day 4 Hi Guys and Dolls Another boring day in the Gobi. Why did I want to see and experience the Gobi? Most of you think I am crazy. Read on. I could not sleep all night. The dung burning stove heated my Ger to a point that it felt like a warm and dry sauna. On top of the Ger is a large opening. During the day, half of the opening is exposed to the air and the Ger is ventilated with fresh air. Finally had enough and dressed at 5:30 for our morning shoot. Told them to not heat my Ger tonight. We all met in the dining area for coffee and then went out to shoot the sunrise. We drove to the Mongolian camel herders. In the Gobi, people who live here, do not live together. Families have their own Ger camp and each camp is spread out. You can go for miles before you see a Ger camp or it can be a shorter distance. The Ger families that I have seen have been herders of either horses, camels, sheep, cattle or a combination of them. This is Andy’s first time in the Gobi and it is important for him to develop relationships with local people so that each future workshop can have a great experience. We met the camel herders and their camels at the same dune location we had last taken pictures of them last night.Andy and Kevin wanted to capture the sunrise over the dunes. Got some great pictures and have learned so much from Andy, Kevin and Kip. They are far advanced and I love being the lowest rung on the ladder. Returned to the Ger camp for breakfast. Had lots of coffee and Kevin forced some more electrolytes into me. It was then rest time until lunch at 3 PM. I downloaded my morning pictures and started to edit. I am not going to tell you yet how many pictures I have taken, but will reveal the number later. I am learning so much from the guys working with lightroom and photoshop. Can edit most of my images now manually. It seems that you cannot take a bad picture in the Gobi. The guys said it has to do with the light. There is no smog and pollution. The light is natural and it shows through on the pictures. Hopefully I will be done editing by the time I get home. Have some long flights and will probably edit on the plane. The process that I use now is I present to Olivia the images I want to publish and she then carefully picks the best ones. It is good to have another opinion and someone who was not there. The number of pictures I publish has been getting smaller and smaller as my photographic skills have advance. By the way, I am winning the contest for the best picture taken on this workshop. Andy said I should get a large copy printed on metal. The guy in last place is leading the pack as we come to the finish line. Had lunch at 3 PM. Lunch was so tasty. We were served Mongolian spaghetti with chopped mutton. The spaghetti was totally different than any other spaghetti I have ever had. Onto our late afternoon shoot. Andy had arranged for us to drive to a horse and camel herders Ger camp. Probably 5 miles from our Ger camp. It is a Mongolian custom that you have to first meet the family, have tea and other snacks with them and then do your business. Andy and Kevin volunteered myself and Zaya to meet the family and have tea. It is rude and unacceptable to not take anything that is offered to you. Andy and Kevin were served tea at the Camel herders Ger yesterday. Zaya and myself entered the family Ger and were introduced to the herders wife and her mother wo is 84. The Ger is set top where the wife has the right side and the husband the left side. Right opposite the door, on the other side of the Ger, is the religious area. The family is buddhist. A stove is in the middle for heating and cooking and there is a table where people sit on the floor around it. We were first served tea with goat milk. I wonder if it was pasteurized? Tasted different but tasty. We also were served homemade cookies and were told to dip them in the goat milk tea. The wife and grandmother wanted to know where I was from, was I married, how many years am I married, and how many children and grandchildren I have? It seems the people can tell a lot about someone after they get these facts. We were  next served sliced sheep organs. Zaya told me that these were the kidneys, liver, intestines, heart, and all the other organs in the sheep. The mother put the pieces in the goat milk tea and gave me a fork. Don’t forget, it is rude to refuse something. I dived in and took the bullet for Andy and Kevin. Had a good flavor to each piece. The grandmother told Zaya that we were lucky and the sheep was  slaughtered yesterday so it was fresh. The husband returned with a bunch of stallions that he had driven up to the camp on his motorcycle and then got on a camel to herd the horses around the area as we clicked away. Imagine this scene. People in the Gobi either travel on motorbike, camel, horse or mostly Russian van. We then said our goodbyes and headed back to the camel herders camp for another evening shoot with them at another area of dunes. Have you ever walked up a sand dune? For every two steps you loose one step. It is an adventure going down the sand dune. You need to be very careful when you carry camera gear

Gobi Day 3 Hi Everyone Am currently writing this blog via candle light in a Ger in the middle of the Gobi, but more on that later. So how did our day start? We all met for breakfast and then brought all of our stuff to the lobby at 9 AM. Loaded our stuff in the two Land Cruisers and off we went. Of course, we first went to a local supermarket for Andy and Kevin to load up on their junk food and beverages. Andy and Kevin told me that I have not been drinking enough water and it shows. They gave me two large pills of electrolyte to help me get some of my energy back and told me to start drinking lots of water. There was a coffee shop next door and Kip and myself went in to buy cappuccino take out. Would you believe they only had one take out container. Imagine running a business like this in New York. It was then onto the road. We started driving on a very smooth paved road and I was so thankful. My back hurts from the bumping and going up and down on the off road. Zaya told me that this road will eventually being finished and end at the Chinese border. There were beautiful snow capped mountains as we passed herds of sheep and horses. We finally made a right and started our long journey through the Gobi to our Ger Camp. The start of the journey was flat terrain. Suddenly the Land Cruiser that Andy, Kevin and Kip was in stopped and the driver got out. We also stopped. The driver bent down at the back of the Land Cruiser and both drivers started to talk. There was a pipe or piece of the suspension loose and they needed to fix it. You could not call Triple A here. Our driver went to the back, took out some luggage and opened up a large drawer that was filled with tools and all sorts of screws, nuts and bolts. It seemed like he had Home Depot there. After lots of talking in Mongolian and spending time under the vehicle, the job was fixed and on we went. Suddenly we saw camels. Camels are great subjects to shoot. They are not afraid and I believe like people and are very inquisitive. Of course, we all stopped and the clicking went on. My right hand is suffering from carpel tunnel and the volume of photos I have taken as forced me to wear a brace that I brought with me. I was sitting in the front seat as we drove on and could not stop taking pictures. We stopped a few more times for more camels and beautiful landscapes. On our last stop, Kevin said that we are on the verge of starting to see the sand dunes. The Gobi sand dunes are so picturesque. Couple that with a background of snow capped mountains and the sight was truly awe inspiring. The mountains just received snow and the contrast between the snow and sand dunes could not be described. I kept on thinking how many people have seen this setting and landscape and have had the opportunity to take pictures of it. Andy told me that we are the first photo workshop or small group to go to the Gobi. There have been professional photographers before, but no photo travel company offers a trip to the Gobi yet. We finally arrived at our Ger Camp. We are the only ones here and will probably be here for two nights.. We were first served lunch. Lunch was Mongolian dumplings with Gobi beef. The taste could not be described. The Ger tents do not have electricity and candles will be set up inside. It was now time to unpack for five minutes and go to a camel herders home. The camel herders home was about 2 to 3 miles from our Ger Camp and they also lived in Ger tents and had a herd of camels. The husband and wife dressed up in traditional Mongolian clothing and one of our drivers did likewise. The wife has a great face to photograph. We will be going back there tomorrow morning to photograph her. Her face tells a story and way of life. They took five camels and we met them at some large sand dunes. The sand dunes can only be described as sand dunes that you would see in a movie where the movie was filmed in the Sahara. Waving and large sand dunes. I could not believe my eyes. I had never seen sand dunes like this and to see them in the Gobi was special. The camels and locals finally arrived and Andy and Kevin set them up for a photo shoot. Andy and Kevin told them what they wanted them to do, through Zaya, and we took various shots of them leading, walking, galloping and posing up and down the sand dunes. A photo shoot is hard work for the photographer and I was amazed by how Andy and Kevin were telling them what to do and when to do it as the sun set behind us. When it was almost dark, we packed up and headed back to the Ger Camp for dinner. The Ger Camp had a generator running only in the dining area so we were able to do our downloads and recharge our batteries. Dinner was of course Gobi beef. I asked Kevin where they get their beef from and how hard it must be for them to bring it out here. He said all the food is obtained on the Gobi. We are meeting sat 6 AM for coffee and then its off to shoot the sunrise. I am loosing track of days and dates. It seems I have been away for a long time. My journey started on September 26 but it seems longer. Love Larry

Hi Everyone Thought I would not have internet tonight, but we changed our plans and am writing from a pretty nice hotel in Dalanzadgad. I am going to say it again, Where is Dalanzadgad? I’m here and I don’t know where I am. More on the town later. We left our hotel in UB at about 8 AM. I slept like a log and could barely get up. Loaded all our stuff, and there’s lots of it, into two Land Cruisers. Many of the Land Cruisers in Mongolia have the exhaust from a high large pipe in the front of the vehicle and not under the back  of the vehicle. That is for the rough terrain. I immediately fell asleep. I was in a Land Cruiser with Zaya and our driver. His name is Gamba. He is 56 and has three grandchildren. Does not speak any English, but we managed to communicate. Kevin, Andy, Kip and their driver were in the other Land Cruiser. i took the whole back and enjoyed a great snooze until I was awoken in front of a large supermarket right outside of UB. Whenever Andy is the leader of a workshop I am on, he constantly stocks up the vehicles with cookies, candies, sodas, crackers etc. A real junk food maniac. We also needed one essential item that was a necessity. You guessed it, toilet paper. It was very knowledgeable walking around the supermarket seeing all the different items that the Mongolians eat, especially at the meat department. You could just imagine. Olivia loves to go to the supermarkets of the countries when we travel together. Loaded up all our junk including the valuable toilet paper and we were back on our way. I crawled into the back row and immediately fell asleep again. At about 11 AM we pulled over for a rest and outdoor toilet. Andy and Kevin had their usual smoke and I visited the Mongolian toilet. I said to myself I need to stay up. Zaya and myself switched places and we were back on our way. Zaya said that we have not reached the real Gobi yet. By the way, I was wrong last night. The Gobi is the fifth largest desert and totals over 500,000 square miles with most of it in Mongolia. Wd passed lots of sheep, horse and cattle herds. There were also lots of Ger Camps and tents set up by the locals. We finally passed into another province and drove to the center of the province. We were taken to a nice restaurant, for Mongolian standards, and when we went in there were lots of locals there. I ordered the fried mutton with Mongolian dumplings. My first mouthful of the mutton exploded in my mouth. Zaya was sitting next to me and I asked her why the mutton was so rich tasting. She said that the meat from the Gobi is the best meat in Mongolia. She said that when you buy it from the local butcher, it is more expensive than the regular meat. The reason is that the sun and some Gobi onions that the livestock eat, make the meat much richer and tastier. Try to find Gobi meat in America. The mutton was out of this world. Another highlight was that Andy showed me that my beloved Yankees had done the impossible and beaten the Indians after being down by two games to advance to the league championship series. Getting the news in a small Mongolian restaurant in the middle of the Gobi. New York must be going crazy. It was then back on the road. We filled up with gas and took the same paved road out of town. I was sitting in the front seat again, listening to Mongolian music, and clicking away. What a great mental immersion. We then took a left and left this great smooth paved road. I have been on so many unpaved rock roads, that it was a relief driving on a paved road. We drove and drove and finally started to see camels in clusters. There are two types of camels, the one hump and two hump. The two hump are found in Mongolia. We stopped for some landscape shots, snacks and Andy’s and Kevin’s smoke. On the last stop, my Land Cruiser led and over the next ridge was something that will be hard to describe. I pointed in awe. There were approximately 150 camels in a straight line walking across the desert. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The driver immediately stopped and I started to walk closer to the line and kept on clicking. What a sight to behold and remember. Andy’s Land Cruiser finally arrived. Everyone got out. The camels all stopped and formed a sort of circle where they all got closer. A Russian van arrived and a couple got out with their cameras. I tried talking to them, but their accent was weird and they did not understand English. Zaya said they were probably Russian. Some of the camels laid down while others stood up. We all got very close to them. I kept on clicking. It seemed that the camels were posing for us and were very friendly. They were great subjects. Stood almost still and created great poses. I told Andy that this seemed staged and was too perfect. His response was that he had called 1-800-Camel yesterday and ordered the camels just for us. After spending lots of time with the camels, we drove on. Arrived at a large outcropping where we were able to look around the area from high up on a ridge. The sun was starting to set and Andy wanted us to get some good sunset shots. We then drove down to the floor below the ridge. There were lots of large rocks and sand creating a fire looking effect as the sun was going down. We drove up and down little hills. Reminded me of the jeep tours

Hi Everyone It seems I have been away from the other side of the world for a very long time. No newspapers or TV. How am I surviving? My body hurts all over. A photo workshop is work. You are constantly moving and getting up at weird hours and sometimes getting very little or no sleep at all. No mopping today. Could not sleep most of the night. Called Olivia at about 2 AM and she immediately said “What are you doing up so late?” I have now finished three more books and am starting my fourth. Don’t shed a tear, I am having an amazing time. We all met at 7 AM for our morning coffee and then it was off to Hustai National Park. Hustai National Park is around 50 miles from UB. The traffic in UB is crazy. People all have cars here and there are lots of double buses. No motor bikes nor tuk tuks. After about an hour and one half we finally arrived at Hustai National Park. What’s there and why go there? Have you ever heard of the Pzewalski horse? The Pzewalski horse is considered the worlds last wild horse. The Horse is the last completely wild horse species in the world. The Pzewalski horse was first described and seen by a Russian explorer by the name of N.M. Pzewalski. Now you understand the name. The horse used to roam the mountains between Mongolia and China. These horses have never been tamed and were near extinction only thirty years ago. Do to a huge effort by Mongolia, the horse is making a comeback. There are around three hundred now in the Park and they roam free. We were told that they are able to detect smell and sound from great distances so that it would be very hard to get very close. When I saw one through my long distance lens, I saw a horse that was smaller than most horses, have stocky bodies, large heads, thick necks and beautiful manes sticking up. I had previously seen similar looking horses in Iceland. The Icelandic horses are not free to roam, but are very friendly and you can get very close to them. We saw a person on a motor bike chase some of them from a distance and I started to click away hoping that I get one that will be a keeper. We were in three all terrain vehicles roaming around the Park and finally hiked over some hills to try and find some. We were also joined by a Mongolian biologist who works there preserving and monitoring the Pzewalski horse. We all had a Mongolian lunch at the Park entrance and then out was time to board our all terrains and head back to UB. Once we arrived back in UB, Zaya, Georgi and myself stopped at the State Department Store. This all purpose store is in a huge building and was first opened in 1924. The store is run by the government and has everything for sale. From being a supermarket, to a restaurant, clothing, hats, cashmere and almost everything else is sold here. The government makes sure that everything is sold that is authentic to what is being sold. So if you want to buy a fur hat, you are safe in buying one here since it is guaranteed authentic. The three of us roamed the floors and aisles. Georgi and myself were struck by the different types of items for sale and of the beauty of most of it. Now lets digress a little. I have been to two places where Olivia has been annoyed that I went and she did not join me. The first one was Venice and the second is Mongolia. I am truly sorry that she did not come with me to Mongolia. She would love it. As part of my guilt feeling, I bought her a beautiful silk Mongolian outfit. Pure silk. Hope she loves it. Georgi was the model since she is Olivia shape and size. I want to publicly say that I would be so happy if Olivia would join me for a trip to Mongolia. This is only the second country that I have visited that I would gladly return to, New Zealand and now Mongolia. Cambodia holds a special place in my heart and I go back for different reasons. It was now time for dinner. Don’t forget that Jay, Jenn and Georgi are leaving us and now Andy, Kevin, Zaya, Kip and myself are going to a place that I will shortly reveal. We had a great dinner. My steak was cooked to perfection. We toasted Jay, Jenn and Georgi and I of course gave a brief speech thanking them for being on this workshop. I want to now close my last nine days in Mongolia and reflect on some of the highlights and people. The highlights will last me for a lifetime. Seeing the Monks at the Gangden Monastery being called to prayer and going through their daily activities and being able to talk to a llama and ask him any questions you wanted to. Experiencing the small differences between the Buddhist religion in Mongolia. Flying to Bayan Olgii on a true put put and staying amongst the Kazakh people for three days and nights. Living in a Ger tent and living in the same way that the Kazakh people live. Experiencing their local native food and watch them make and cook it in the dining room Ger tent. Living without the internet and cell phone just like they do. Taking pictures of the local eagle hunters. Going to our own eagle festival. Watching the eagle hunters compete amongst each other in games and contests that are so unfamiliar to us, such as Mongolian Tug of War. Driving to Aisophan’s house. Meeting her family and sitting with them. Drinking mares milk and still not sick. Having a private shooting session with Aisophan and her father. Watching

Hi Everyone It’s me again writing from Ulan Bator Mongolia. How did I get here and why am I here? So let’s start the day. We were supposed to sleep in and take a late morning flight to UB from Khovd. That flight was cancelled and rescheduled from Hinnu Airways to Aero Mongolia for 6:45 PM and then that flight was cancelled and pushed up to 4PM. We did not take off until after 5 PM. I felt like I was flying on LIAT Airways. LIAT Airways is a local puddle jumper airline that has flights between the islands of the Caribbean. Have flown them many times. LIAT stands for “Leave Island Any Time”. I felt like I was on LMCAT or “Leave Mongolian City Any Time”. Andy and Kevin then set up a lightroom/photoshop workshop for us. We each submitted five images and all of us critiqued them. I was so proud of myself when Andy said on my images “Good Job”. The Khovd Hotel is decorated like it was from the mid seventies furniture and the wifi was horrible. I used my NY charm and personality to get them to put a different router in my room and I finally was wired up. Breakfast was a disaster so Zaya made us coffee and Andy and Kevin bought cookies and ice cream as we sat through our workshop. I so enjoy these workshops and would love to see the photographers I send this blog to join me for a future trip. Jenn and myself took a walk around Khovd for about one hour. How could I describe Khovd? Not a hotbed of activity. A sleepy town where Russian looking buildings are dispersed amongst Ger tents and stone and dirt structures for the residents. Sort of reminded me of Langa. Langa is a township outside Cape Town without the government looking buildings. We then went to lunch next door to the hotel. I had Mongolian dumplings. They were four large dough wraps filled with beef. Could not finish them. Very good. Andy and Kevin then arranged for a special treat for us. Two men and one woman performed ethnic music and dance wearing traditional ethnic clothing. The woman performed throat singing and was much better than the previous time I had heard it. It was now time to board our vehicles and go to the airport. The Airport was quite a scene. A small terminal looking like it had not been changed since the 1950’s. There were no planes on the ground and there was an old man helping people with their luggage. He did not help us but I felt sorry for him and gave him some money through Zaya. In the final waiting room I struck up a link with a little Mongolian girl who started to call me father in Mongolian. We made faces and sounds back and forth. Our place finally arrived. A two prop fifty passenger plane that needed to first disembark the incoming passengers and then we finally boarded. Imagine a full plane of Mongolian people and us with lots of babies and little children. It seemed that more and more children were crying and running down the aisle by the minute.Slept a little but the noise and crying was almost too much to bear. I have been on a worse plane ride than this on this trip. Image sitting in coach for 6 and one half hours surrounded by at least 50 to 100 Chinese people. I have traveled extensively through this part of the world and the Chinese I have been exposed to are very rude and loud most of the time. The Chinese seem to yell and not talk. After three and one half hours of crying and noise we finally arrived in UB. The night air was cool and refreshing. The Airport here is named Genghis Kahn International Airport. What do you expect? Finally arrived at our hotel at around 10:30 PM. UB is one hour ahead of Western Mongolia or twelve hours ahead of NY. Everyone had dinner at the hotel. Just a side note. Mongolians drink lots of vodka. The muslim people do not drink. You do not have to go to bartender school to be a bartender in Mongolia. They serve and drink the vodka by the shot. Straight up and lots of shots. Mainly only Russian and Mongolian vodka. Most of the signs are in two languages, Mongolian and Russian. Most of us have been in hotels where there are a few clocks telling the time in various cities around the world. In Khovd, our hotel had five clocks in the lobby. The times were Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, UB and Khovd. No NY? Crazy. Another quick detail from our hotel in Khovd. The toilet paper was very strange. They do not have trees here so toilet paper is scarce. They gave you a very small roll of plastic sort of paper. Some of us commented about it. This day was sort of a mopping day. We are all dragging our feet. We have a special day tomorrow and the last day for Jenn, Gorgi and Jay. They will be leaving us to go home. Andy, Kevin, Zaya, Kip and myself are left. Where will we be going? Not yet. Think about what else is in Mongolia and few people have visited nor seen. Stay tuned. Love Larry    

Hi Everyone Hope all is well. Have not read a paper in two weeks nor watched television at all. Olivia would say that is amazing. So last night, after the singing, many of us went to our rooms at the beautiful “Eagles Nest”. I stayed in the dining area and was the last one to leave, but I did not leave until 1 AM. So what was I doing until then? Zaya showed up and I invited her and one of the hotel helpers who did not speak English and showed them my pictures from Cambodia and other parts of the world I have visited. Both of them were awestruck. Both have never been outside of Mongolia and they were so struck by the similarity between themselves and the Cambodians and very interested in the different ways that the Cambodians practice Buddhism. I love to do this and had a great time explaining them things and the power of photography. Finally all three of us were so tired that we called it a night. Dragged myself out of bed at around 7:30 AM. Western Mongolia is 11 hours in front of NYC and one hour behind Ulan Bator (UB). My body is so tired and drained that I feel like that I am sometimes dreaming through the day. It was now time to load all our luggage and gear into three all terrain vehicles for the trip from Olgii to Khovd. We left at 9 AM. The drive takes around 6 to 7 hours over mostly unpaved dirt and rocky roads and thats without stopping. How can I describe the landscape at the start of the journey? It was like a landscape you see in the movie “Star Wars”. Lot’s of barren land, high ranges and mountains. Nothing grows. Sort of like a high desert. Very close to the Russian border. Our first stop was at a lake and river area. We walked around and noticed wild horses grazing. Got up close and took some great pictures. I then took out my 18mm f/2.8 prime for you photographers. My favorite and always goes with me wherever I travel. I kept it on one of my two camera bodies and took some great wide angle landscapes throughout the journey. Our next stop was to eat lunch. There is no way I can describe where we ate lunch. Imagine an old one story house with lots of back doors and built out of stone. There was a corral made of stone and the residents were drying their clothing on the high stone fence. The door had a Mongolian style carpet on it and when you walked in there were tables, benches and four beds for people who arrive late and need to spend the night. We had brought our own lunch and just used the facilities to sit and eat. The locals had a dog. Imagine a living shaggy rug walking and wagging its tail.The dog was a sight to behold. One of the women had to use the toilet, hurt herself and almost fell in what you never want to fall into. My pictures may do the place and dog better justice than my writing. We then went further up into the mountains and it started to snow and the mountains and dirt road were covered with snow. How beautiful this was. The temperature dropped to freezing within ten minutes. We were driving through a mountain pass. We stopped along the way to take some great pictures. Once we drove out of the pass, the snow stopped and the temperature rose to being very comfortable and almost quite warm. We were now in a huge valley and the area also looked like a high desert with no vegetation and again reminded me of a “Star Wars” sort of landscape. We stopped three times to take pictures of the mountains and feral horses that were grazing in the valley. I felt so fortunate to see this sort of area of the earth that few people see or experience. It was then onto Khovd. Outside the city, on a high mountain, we stopped in front of a large ogoo. Reread my previous days blog to see what that is. This ogoo was much bigger than the previous one and had lots of rocks and colorful cloth draping it.  The cloth looked like prayer flags that the people of the Himalayas have and use. It was now time to enter Khovd. Khovd is the largest city in Western Mongolia and has a population of about 35,000. Khovd is at the foot of the Mongolia Altai Mountains and sits in the valley. As I have previously said quite often, now that we know where it is, maybe you can explain it to me and I am there. Zaya told me that sixteen different ethnic groups live in Khovd. Some of their names are Khalkh, Zakhchin, Torgood, Oeld, Durved, Myangad, Uriankhai and of course Kazakh. Each ethnic group has its own language and dialect, but they all speak Mongolian. Have not seen much of Khovd yet since we arrived at around 5 PM and checked in and then went to dinner. The hotel is much more modern than the “Eagles Nest”, but had trouble hooking up to the internet. Dinner was enjoyable. I had a beef steak with an egg on top of it and was very tasty. I did have a local drink called “Corn Tea”. This is hot tea served in a tall glass with milk and corn kernels mixed in. Very tasty. You can try that at home. I now need to rest my weary bones and mind. Breakfast is at 7 AM and the next day starts in this magical and different country. Love Larry  

Hi Guys It seems I have been away a long time. Am getting tired living out of a suitcase and dragging my camera gear, computer and accessories around. That’s the life of a wanderer. I really need to do some mopping. What is mopping? Mopping is a Blauism. What is a Blauism? A Blauism according to Olivia is something that I make up and believe. Mopping is a process that I need when I get overly tired and need to just drag around and do nothing. I yearn for one day of mopping, but that’s not in the short term. We all met at around 8 AM for breakfast. We were supposed to leave at around 10 for our next adventure, but all vehicles were not allowed on the streets and all the people were forced to walk to three shelters outside of town. This was a drill to prepare the residents for any emergency where they need to abandon town. Imagine doing this in NYC? There are people who will not evacuate no matter what is coming such as a hurricane. The “Eagles Nest”, our hotel was exempt for walking to the emergency shelters. We spent the morning in classroom. Andy had each of us put ten images on a memory card that we did not edit yet and he would put them on his computer that was hooked up to a portable projector. Each of us was then asked what we would fix, what we liked and disliked and how we would fix each image. I always get something out of these classroom sessions. Besides studying my images, I also see the other participants work and Andy is a great teacher and instructor. As a side note, Andy was one of three beta testers for lightroom when the original version came out ten years ago. We brought along a light lunch and all of us got into three all terrain vehicles for our next adventure. We drove for close to two hours over rock roads with huge ups and downs like a roller coaster. One of the vehicles stopped in town to pick up Aisophan. Aisophan is a sixteen year old Mongolian girl who starred in the full length motion picture “The Eagle Huntress”. Aisophan was in school in town. One of her roles is to care after around 100 younger girls over the weekend who live at school. The Mongolian culture and specifically the tradition of Eagle Hunting, was always men only. Divorce is almost non existent here and couples never live together before marriage. Marriages are not arranged anymore. Aisophan was trained by her father to be a eagle hunter. Her father is a great eagle hunter, but rarely participates in festivals anymore. Aisophan then was entered in the festivals and won many competitions. A foreigner saw her at one festival and the idea for the movie was hatched. The movie received great reviews and was seen all over the world including all the major cities in the US. Here we were going to have a private photoshoot with her and her father dressed up in traditional clothing with an eagle and horse. We finally arrived at their winter home in a very isolated valley deep in Western Mongolia. It is hard for me to describe their home and the isolation around it. We were first led into their new home and met her father, mother and some of their other children. The family brought in cookies, cakes and other home made dishes to sample. They also brought in a large kettle of tea and a plastic bucket filled with airaq. Remember what airag is, the local drink that is mares milk. Everyone in the group passed on the airag and accepted tea and then my time finally came. What drink should I choose? Most of us have already guessed my choice knowing me. It was airag for me. The mother filled a large bowl of airag for me. There were chucks of fermented mares milk in the bowl. How can I describe the taste? It was sweet and sour at the same time and very smooth. We then went around the room telling the family our names and our wives names, how many years we are married, how many children we had, what were their names and grandchildren names. By this time I had finished my bowl of airag and asked for another bowl. It was that good. Aisophan commented that she was impressed that I had the airag. We then drove a few miles into a huge plateau surrounded by mountains. We then took lots of photos of Aispohan called her eagle and galloping with her eagle. Her father then took the eagle and horse and galloped towards us. He was magnificent and beautiful at the same time. A once in a lifetime treat. To view this with no one else around was spectacular. Andy and Kevin blew me away again. We then took pictures of them together with the eagle and Kevin took some of me with the father. It was now time to say our goodbyes and head back to the “Eagles Nest” in Olgii. A long drive back over rocks and uneven terrain. The driver told me that they go through lot’s of tires and put very low tire pressure in their tires. We then stopped to take pictures of a landscape and there was also a large mound of rocks with blue cloth wrapped around the mound. Zaya told me to pick up three rocks and walk around the mound clockwise and throw one rock onto the mound each turn. She told me that this mound was originally put in place by a Shaman. Shamanism is practiced here. What is Shamanism? Shamanism is an ancient healing tradition and way of life. She told me that Shamanic teachings focus on our connection with nature and all of creation. The blue cloth represents the sky and when you put your rocks

Hi Everyone Finally got back to civilization if you could call this civilization. While everyone was having an exciting day on the other side of the world, I had a normal day in Western Mongolia. What is a normal day like in Western Mongolia? First let’s start with last night. My second night in a Ger tent with Andy, Kevin and Kip. Kip is an Australian living in Singapore. Have you ever slept with a grizzly bear? That’s what it is like sleeping in the same room with Kevin. His snoring can wake up the dead. The two girls in the next Ger tent, Jenn and Zaya, heard his snoring. Andy snores more like a purring cat. Kip and myself both tossed and turned. Furthermore, every two to three hours, a Kazakh woman would come in and take out the burned out dung and replace it with new dung and relight the fire. One problem. The tent turned into a sauna. It got as hot as a dry sauna. The first time we all got up and left the door open to let the hot air out. I finally fell asleep and was woken up by the same woman, except Andy and Kevin continued their symphony of sound. By then, it was around 5 AM and I decided to walk to the local Starbucks. Couldn’t find the Starbucks and asked the sheep when it was. They pointed me to the goats and told me that they would lead me there. So I got no more than 2 1/2 hours sleep. Some of you might want to know what the bathroom was like. Someone dug a hole in the ground and put a small orange tent around the hole. One problem. The zipper was broken. Oh well, the view was great. Seeing sheep, men on horseback and goats parade past you as you enjoyed a Mongolian toilet. Finally breakfast was served at 7:30. A wonderful breakfast. Our Kazakh hosts made us Russian pancakes. Russian pancakes are made with yogurt and delicious. Try it. It was now time to pack up our clothes, camera gear, computers and all the accessories. My portable charger or brick served me well and I had all my camera batteries, iPad and Mac charged and ready to face Western Mongolia. I will miss the Ger tent and great bathroom facilities. Maybe Olivia will let me put a Mongolian toilet in our backyard. We then drove around ten minutes over rocks and huge ups and downs. Our Kazakh hosts had arrived early to the local Mongolian Eagle Hunters Festival and set up a Ger tent for us to have lunch, warm ourselves and rest during the day. Most of you are aware that I have been to some far out places and seen some way out stuff, but the Mongolian Eagle Hunters Festival is high up on the list. Andy and Kevin outdid themselves. I was in awe of the spectacle. I will try to describe what I witnessed, but no matter how I describe it, I will not do justice. My pictures will describe the scene better. The locals set upon their version of a flea market where they were selling hand made clothing, rugs, hats, gloves and other items such as knives, covers for the eagles heads, horse whips etc.from rugs laid out on the ground. My hosts brought some of their wares. I bought Olivia a warm looking long down vest and handbag that were done in the Kazakh Russian style and of course, hand made. They were so cheap, I was almost embarrassed to pay their price. The Eagle Hunter festival started. The first thing that all the hunters, on their horses with their eagles did, was all gathered together at a long bench and various older people talked in Kazakh. Then a young Kazakh man sung a song in Kazakh and Mongolian women threw candies at the eagle hunters. The eagle hunters then lined up and paraded around with some of the eagles wing spread. My cameras, I was shooting with two, were constantly clicking. The eagle hunters then went up a large hill with their horses and eagles. When the eagle hunters hunt, they hunt in twos. Two hunters, two eagles and two horses.  One hunter released the eagle from on top of the hill and the other eagle hunter wanted for the eagle to land about one half mile away. The receiving hunter called out to the eagle in Kazakh and most of the eagles landed on the receiving hunters arm. The eagles were so graceful and the hunters were dressed up in beautiful traditional dress. There were also a few women eagle hunters. More on that tomorrow. It was now time for lunch. We were served Mongolian dumplings for lunch with mutton and vegetable soup. Great. Then a real treat came. Andy and Kevin had each eagle hunter, with some of their children and some eagles, come into the Ger and pose for pictures. There were 53 of them. I took some pictures and Andy promises to send us a collage of them all. The next event was something that most of us only hear about. Mongolian tug of war. What is Mongolian tug of war? There are two horsemen and one referee all on horseback. There is a goat carcass on the ground. The referee has each horseman hold the carcass and they tug back and forth on horseback. The winner pulls the carcass away and then throws the carcass in the air. The tugging back and forth between two horsemen with each holding a goat carcass cannot be described. The horsemen moved and some of them even advanced through the crowd and we had to scatter to let them through. My cameras clicked and clicked. Got at least two screen savers. Imagine seeing a picture of this and asking “What is going on?” There were only about fifteen foreigners at this festival in the middle of no

Mongolia /day 4 Hi Guys What’s new around the world or should I ask? Being in Western Mongolia without access to internet or cell service cuts you off from the world. The Kazakh people don’t care what is happening in the world. Imagine living without internet and cell service. These people do not care about the internet and cell service. So what was it like spending my first night in a Ger tent? It is very cold here and by the way, snow is expected tomorrow. Fell asleep around 11 PM and was woken up at about 4 AM when a Kazakh woman came in to put a supply of dung in our stove. She first took out the waste and then brought the new dung in. The ger got very toasty and I even did not need a blanket for a while,. We all met in the dining room ger and had coffee and biscuits. It was then up in the mountains to take pictures of five eagle hunters. There is a symbiosis that exists between the eagle, hunter and horse. Each know their role and they work together. It was beyond cold this morning. It is very windy here and my fingers froze. We took lots of pictures of the five eagle hunters together and apart. Some were while they were moving and some were taken as they released their eagles. An awesome location and shoot. We then went back for breakfast and rest. When you do a photo workshop you normally rest and or do classroom sessions with the leaders between 11 and  around 3 or 4 o’clock. At 1 o’clock we had lunch. The Mongolian people consider it a sign of disrespect if you do not eat their meals. Even if you are full, you should sit at the table and eat a little. Such was awesome. First started with hot vegetable soup. Delicious. Then the main course of mutton. The mutton was barbecued on hot rocks and then brought into us on a large platter on top of the hot rocks. After we finished the mutton, which was beyond delicious, we were each given a hot rock to hold in our hands. We were told that this was good for your blood pressure. I then walked around this small village and wandered into one house. There was an elderly woman frying dough like zepole. She offered me a seat and offered my some of the fried dough while  we talked. The people do not eat bread, but this fired dough made in all different types of shapes and thickness. We talked about how she lives here and I was amazed hearing about her world versus our world. After I walked back to the dining and meeting ger, Zaya and her staff took only me on a ride throughout the mountains. No pat ed roads, but over rocks, stones and various ups and downs. At 3 PM we all gathered for our afternoon shoot. We drove about ten minutes out to a river and five eagle hunters met us there. By the way, these people have been eagle hunting for over twelve hundred years. Two other participants saw two eagle hunters bring back a fox to the village. They gave the head to the eagles as a reward and skinned the rest for its fur and hide. They make hats out of the fur and hide. Very popular with them. The five eagle hunters galloped through the river individually and we took various shots of them doing this. What you do is you shoot in burst mode meaning that you take lots of images as the eagle hunter gallops through the river. We then took portraits of them with their horses and eagles. Got some great up close portraits. Had dinner and it is now time for me to crawl into my ger, go under the blankets and get some rest. Tomorrow we are going to a private eagle festival where there will be over fifty eagle hunters competing and vendors selling things that they hand made. We will be the only foreigners there. A v very rare opportunity to see and experience an event that outsiders rarely see. Tomorrow night will have internet access and partially fall back into the REAL World Love Larry

Mongolia Day 3 Hi Everyone No internet. In the middle of outer Mongolia. How did I get here and what is here? We all met at 4 AM for our 6:40 flight to Bayan-Olgii. Flew a prop on “Hunnu Airways”. We we switched from Atila Airways to Hunnu Airways. The Hunnu are a group of ethnic people in Mongolia and related to Atila the Hun. Three hour flight. During the course of the flight the stewardess served us a cheeseburger. I passed. Looked horrible. After she was finished serving everyone, she then picked up a baby who looked to be about 6 months old and proceeded to walk up and down the aisle with him. Imagine a stewardess in the US doing this. I was sitting next to Andy. Poor Andy. While flying there I was constantly looking out the window. The landscape reminded me of the Andes Mountains in Peru. There were mountains and most of them were covered with snow. We finally arrived at Bayan-Olgii Airport. Very small terminal. The ground staff unloaded luggage from the plane and put them in wagons that were hooked up to a small motorized cart. The cart and wagons stopped at the terminal and we all had to get out and retrieve our luggage from the wagons. Have never seen this. The luggage was not delivered into the terminal. We all then got into three all terrain vehicles and took a short trip to a local coffee shop. Had a large cappuccino and enjoyed the rest. My body is aching from carrying around my luggage, camera gear, computer, iPad and all the accessories. We then went to a local market in Bayan-Olgii. Locals were selling all sorts of food, household items, clothing and there was a meat market area. Most of the locals would not allow me to take their pictures. The meat market vendors were selling horse sausage and there was all sorts of sheep carcasses outside the vendors shops. Women and men were cutting up meat with their hands. No plastic gloves. I was sort of disappointed with the market, I have always said that “you have not lived and experienced everything in life unless you walk through a market in Southeast Asia”. I have visited many of these markets and am always entertained by the items being sold and the people selling them. A little bit about the people of this province. This is the westernmost province in Mongolia and borders Russia. The local people are Kazakh people. I thought that they were buddhist, but are muslim. Most of them are not religious, but there are some of them that are. They are nomads and live on the plains and mountains in their ger camps and stone structures. They speak the Kazakh language. It is not a dialect of Mongolian, but a language all its own. The population of Bayan-Olgii is about thirty thousand, but most of the Kazakh people live on the plains and mountains practicing their way of life. There were some mosques in town. An interesting side note. The round shape of the top of mosques come from the round shape of the ger tents. The muslims copied the ger tents of the Mongolian people in the design of their mosques. The provence was established in 1940 during the Communist reign. After the market we drove to our final destination. How can I describe the landscape? Imagine being in Afghanistan. Most of us have seen pictures and or movies depicting Afghanistan. Nothing was growing. Only barren landscapes with ger camps, sheep herds and local Kazakh people herding their livestock by horseback. The horses are different here. Like a larger version of the kind of horses I saw in Iceland. This was the real reason why I wanted to visit Mongolia. To live amongst these kind of people for a short period of time and experience something that most of us can only imagine. We finally stopped at one of the drivers homes. A restroom stop. The bathroom was located in a small stone structure. There was a wood plank crossing over a hole in the ground. Imagine going to the bathroom here. We then stopped for a photo shoot. I took lots of pictures of this so called barren landscape, but saw so much beauty where most would never see it. We then arrived at our final destination. Our road there was over stone and dirt roads that were never paved. The three vehicles created lots of dust as we drove over them. What does our final destination look like? We are in a small village where a small group of Kazakh families live in their stone structure homes. These are their winter homes. Their summer homes are in Ger camps. There are four ger tents there. One for our dining and meeting, one for the men, one for the women and one for a couple that is with us. I am sharing a ger tent with Andy, Kevin and Kip. Kip is from Australia, but lives in Singapore. We each have our own cot and the tent is heated by a stove that is supplied with dry dung. We were served lunch. I have eaten lots of meat in my life, but I have never eaten meat like this. The taste exploded in your mouth. Fresh meat from their herds. Not market bought. They also cooked us vegetables and made us a delicious soup of meat and noodles. It was now some rest time in our ger. Quite comfortable. At five we then had a photo shoot with a local Kazakh eagle hunter on horseback. Where do these people get the eagles? The men go up in the mountains and take baby female eagles from their nests and train them. Only females are used. They are larger and smarter than the males. They eagles live over twenty years and most if them live with the families in their homes. You could see the special