In September 2016 Shobha Gopinath joined ORYX on our Mongolia Photography Tour which focused predominately on the sensational Eagle Festival in Western Mongolia. Staying with some local families in their Yurts and learning about the Mongol culture and traditional way of life enabled Shobha and the other guests to experience this ancient culture in an intimate way, and relate their experiences through a collection of striking photographs.
Shobha has documented her Mongolia Photography Tour through a variety of posts, and today we would like to share with you her post on “Hunting with Eagles”.
Grab a beverage of choice and enjoy the splendours of Mongolia through the eyes of Shobha!
We had to check out at 3.30am to get our flight at 6am to Bayan Ulgii, capital of the far western Ulgii region. The airport at Bayan Ulgii is small as was the plane we took to get there, a Fokker 50 propeller. While we were told Mongolia is not a light packing destination, we also had severe weight restrictions because of the small plane! It was a contradiction in terms and it made packing a challenge indeed.
We were met by our local guide, Oyunaa, and our two drivers, Unurru and Hasan, all part of the local guiding company that Oryx was using called ‘Eternal Landscapes’. Our transport for the trip were two Russian Furgons with cheerfully decorated interiors. Hardy vehicles, they are a match for any swanky new 4WDs. For some inexplicable reason, without planning it that way, we ended up with a ‘boys’ vehicle and a ‘girls’ vehicle.
We had breakfast at the home of Jako, our Kazakh translator. These four lovely people – Oyunaa, Jako, Unurru and Hasan were instrumental in making everything on our trip go so smoothly. They coordinated everything from loading, unloading, cooking our meals, making sure we had the essentials.
We spent the morning walking around and ended up at the Bayan Ulgii main square where Marius instructed us in panning, high key photography etc – needless to say we became an attraction at the town centre! Some looked at us curiously as we panned in unison; others just went about their business, ignoring us.
