Fluidr / Wim van de Meerendonk, back to the mountains!'s "horses" set

Last week in the Amerongse bovenpolder (upper polder). Wonderful weather. While observing the Konik Horses, these two decided to give an exhibition on quarreling.
I just could keep them within the frame.

Tags: animal horses Amerongen nature Outdoors Outdoor Wimvandem Wild wild horses ethology Netherlands provincie utrecht Sony the Netherlands Utrecht Wildlife mammal mammals ngc GoldDragon Astounding Image Nature Through The Lens

The plains of Son Kul ( (In Explore 04-08-2020)

A Sony Alpha A65V — 1/640s ƒ/7.1 ISO 100 at 200 mm

N 1.5K B 78.7K C 868 E Aug 2, 2019 F Aug 2, 2020

G Kyrgyzstan > Naryn oblast > Kindyn >

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I have two almost similar shots of this place, but intuitively I prefer this one, while rationally I think the other one has more to look at.
I took this shot on the way to Son Kul, another wonderful lake, where tourism and normal daily life still go hand in hand. Wolfgang my travel mate had been in Mongolia, and this is the closest experience you get, while not being there. Another wonderful day in my last year trip to Central Asia (taken exactly one year ago).

20 September I came back from my journey over a part of the Silk Road to and through Central Asia. 4 months of traveling through 14 countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran) before I flew home from Teheran. An impressive journey in countries that are extremely beautiful, with lovely and welcoming people and diverse cultures and history.

Intense traveling with more than 20000 kilometers in our mobile home on sometimes roads that hardly could be called that way. We saw many villages and cities (some wonderful, others very ugly), countries that are transforming from the old Soviet era into something more related to older cultures and the way people live, often funded by oil readily available around the Caspian sea. We saw the amazing mountains south of the Black Sea, the wonderful Caucasus, and the high mountains in the far east close to China with peaks over 7000 meter, and not to forget the (Bulgarian) Alps!

We crossed the great steppe of Kazakhstan. a drive of at least 5000 km, the remnants of lake Aral, once one of the biggest lakes of the world, saw a rocket launch from Baikonur (this little part is Russian owned), we crossed many high mountains passes, and drove the breathtaking canyon that comes from the Pamir, beginning at ca 4500 meter, and going down for ca. 400km to an altitude of 1300 meter, driving for 100's of kilometers along the Afghan border.

And then the numerous lakes with all sorts of different colors from deep cobalt blue to turquoise, and one rare spectacle in Turkmenistan where a gas crater is burning already for more than 40 years. And finally and certainly not the least to mention an enormous amount of wonderful, hospitable and welcoming people. The woman often dressed in wonderful dresses, and bringing a lot of color in the streets of almost of all countries we visited.

Tags: dieren Kirghistan Mountain mountainscape mountains blue color colors colours colour journey Central Asia Landscape mountainside nature Outdoors Outdoor panorama rock rocks Sony sky scenic cloud contrast Hill Hills Valley clouds Wimvandem Kyrgygzstan animal horses cows mammal mammals Son Kul GoldDragon daarklands “flickrTravelAward” Astounding Image Legacy Simply Superb