Tag: Favorite photo

Phavorite Photos: Tall Tales in Chongqing

By Joe Berk

It’s been a little while since we posted a phavorite photo (thanks for the series suggestion, Peter), so I thought we were due.  Usually the pics in our Phavorite Photo series are pics I took, but I can’t take credit for the photo you see above.  Susie was with me when we visited Zongshen to negotiate CSC’s first RX3 order, and during those meetings, Zongshen asked about sending Chinese folks over to ride with us in the United States.  The idea was Zongshen would provide the motorcycles and pay all expenses for a dozen or so riders if we would plan and lead the ride.  During our meeting, good buddy Thomas Fan asked if I had any destination suggestions (Fan is Zonghsen’s marketing director; in the photo above he’s the first guy seated on my left).  Boy, did I ever.  I had a bunch of photos on my laptop from my rides to US National Parks, Baja, and more.  I pulled up the photos, told tall tales about each, and our Chinese hosts were mesmerized.  Sue had the presence of mind to grab my Nikon and snap the photo you see above.   It became an immediate favorite.

Zongshen came through on their promise, and we had a hell of an adventure.  We rode from southern California to Sturgis, cut across the country headed west to the Pacific Coast, and then followed the coast back down to So Cal.  It was a 5,000-mile ride we dubbed the Western America Adventure Ride.  Folks in the US who had purchased RX3 motorcycles joined us on portions of the ride.  It was where I first met Joe Gresh (Motorcyclist magazine sent Joe and he wrote a wonderful story).  The Western America Adventure Ride was a key part of our CSC marketing strategy and it worked.  You can read all about in 5000 Miles At 8000 RPM. Buy the book; don’t wait for the movie.

About those destinations: What Fan didn’t know when he asked if I had any suggestions was that I write the “Destinations” column for Motorcycle Classics magazine.  We did a book on that, too.  You should buy a copy.  If you buy a thousand copies, I’ll ride my Royal Enfield to your place and sign every one of them.

Earlier Phavorite Photos?  You bet!  Click on each to get their story.

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Phavorite Photos: Chongqing at Night

A day or two before Joe Gresh and I began our ride across China on Zongshen RX3 motorcycles, the Chinese took us to dinner in Chongqing, the megacity in which the Zongshen company is located.  It was a typical summer night in Chongqing, which is to say it was hot, humid, and steamy. Sultry is a word that comes to mind.  Exotic is another one.

Chongqing is where two of the world’s great rivers meet (the Jialing and the Yangtze).  Downtown Chongqing is in the center.  We were returning from dinner on the south shore of the Yangtze River (the lower river in the map) when I grabbed the photo you see above with my Nikon.  Where it says Yuzhong…we were right about where the g is in that word.

Chongqing is huge.  How big?  We think New York is big (and it is) with 8 million people.  Chongqing has 34 million people.  It’s hard to imagine, and it’s hard to imagine we rode 250cc motorcycles through it (as well as many other Chinese megacities).  I like everything about Chongqing, and you’ll see more favorite photos from there in upcoming ExNotes blogs. But this one stands out for me.

You can read more about what we saw in China in Riding China.

Earlier Phavorite Photos?  You bet!  Click on each to get their story.

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Phavorite Photos: Alone in China

We were somewhere in China approaching Aba after leaving the Tibetan Plateau, and somehow it was just Gresh, Sergeant Zuo, and me.  I can’t remember why we were separated from the rest of our group.  Honking along at a brisk pace and blitzing through one area after another, the photo ops were flying by and I wanted to capture at least some of them with my Nikon.

I finally caught up with Zuo and Gresh and flagged them over.  I asked if I could go back a mile or two and they said they would wait.  We had passed a Buddhist temple with a gold roof.  The overcast skies, the green mountains, the asphalt, my orange and muddy RX3…all the colors clicked.  I needed to commit that memory to the SD card.

When I turned around, I was surprised at how long it took to return to the spot you see above (I think we were on China’s G317 highway, but it might have been the G213).  Then I felt fear:  What if Gresh and Zuo didn’t wait for me?  I don’t speak the language, I had no cell coverage, and I wouldn’t be able to find my way back to wherever.  It was like being in outer space. It was just one of those crazy psycho unreasonable moments that sometimes hits when you realize you’re not in control of the situation.  I snapped a few photos, they looked good enough on the camera’s display, and I wound out the RX3 to get back to my compañeros as quickly as possible.  They had waited.  I was in clover.

About a month later as we approached Beijing some of the street signs were in both Chinese and English, and it was obvious Beijing was directly ahead.  Gresh told me he felt better because if we had to we could find our way home.  I guess I wasn’t the only one having those “out in the boonies” feelings.  It happens.

Earlier Phavorite Photos?  You bet!  Click on each to get their story.

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Phavorite Photos: Wenchuan Man

It was the fourth or fifth day Joe and I had been on the road in China, and we were headed up to the Tibetan Plateau.  I think I can safely say that Gresh and I were the only two Americans in Wenchuan that day based on the fact that we were taken to the city’s police department to fill out forms and let them know we were there (it was the only place in China we had to do that).

Wenchuan is a lively town, and the next morning we were enjoying what had already become a routine breakfast of hardboiled eggs and Chinese fry bread on the sidewalk when a bus stopped in front of us.  The fellow you see above stepped off and looked at us quizzically (we didn’t quite look like Wenchuanians).  I asked if I could take a photo by holding up my Nikon.  He nodded his head, I shot the photo you see above, and he was gone.  The entire encounter lasted maybe two seconds, but that photo is one of my China ride favorites.  His expression could be used in a book on body language.

Three earlier favorite photos, one in Bangkok, one in Death Valley, and one in Guangzhou.  Click on them to get to their story.

Phavorite Photos: A Cantonese Monkey

Another favorite photo, and as you can see, it’s a bit unusual.  This was a young chimp in the Guangzhou zoo about a dozen years ago.   I was there on a secret mission and we wanted to do something on the weekend.  One of my Chinese contacts told me there were two zoos in Guangzhou…the big one and the little one.  The big one was outside the city limits and the little one was in the center of town, so we opted to stay in town.  I didn’t think the zoo was little at all (it was at least as big as the LA zoo), and I caught a lot of great photos there.  This one was of a young chimp who seemed as interested in us as we were in him.

The photo makes it look like the chimp is just about to take something (or maybe give something) to the young lady reaching out to him.  I had my old Nikon D200 and the similar-era Nikkor 24-120 lens (two boat anchors, to be sure, but they worked well), along with a cheap polarizer that eliminated reflections.  There was a piece of inch-thick plexiglass between us and the chimp, and I took a bunch of photos playing with the polarizer and my position to get the angle right so the glass barrier would disappear.  I think I succeeded.

Two earlier favorite photos, one in Bangkok and the other in Death Valley. You can click on either to get to the story that goes with each.

Phavorite Photos

Good buddy Python Pete wrote to me with a suggestion a few weeks ago.  His comment and idea was that I probably had thousands of photos (which I do) and I probably had a few favorites (which I do).  His suggestion was to share those here on the ExNotes blog. I thought that was a sterling idea.

I shot the photo you see above on a sultry night in Bangkok’s Arab district (every night is sultry in Bangkok).  The street is unofficially called Soi Arab; officially it’s Sukhumvit Soi 3/1.  That road (and sidestreets off it) are lined with Middle Eastern restaurants, a cuisine I love.

Bangkok’s Arab district attracts many folks from the Middle East partly due to its proximity to those countries, partly due to a vibrant nightlife, and partly due to a world class hospital that treats people from that part of the world.  Me?  I was in town to teach a couple of engineering courses and enjoy Bangkok. It’s one of the world’s great cities.  Take it from me:  Never say no to an opportunity to visit Bangkok.

So as I liked to do, I walked to Soi Arab and sat down at a sidewalk cafe and  ordered a plate of hummus and chips.  While I was enjoying my dinner a group of several Middle Eastern types entered and sat at a nearby table.  All but one were burly guys dressed in dark business suits.  The exception was an elegant older gentleman dressed in traditional Arab garb.  Distinguished would be an appropriate but not quite adequate adjective.   Majestic would be more on the mark.

I kept stealing glances at this fellow, thinking it would be great to grab a picture.  I guess I was a little too obvious.  I noticed a couple of the dark suiters with him (obvious security types) were looking directly me.  One of them stood up and walked over to me.

“Uh oh,” I thought.

“Is there a problem?” the man asked.

“Uh, well, no,” I said with mixed emotions.  I wanted to get what I knew would be a great photo, but I also wanted to continue breathing.  “It’s like this,” I said, “I’m an amateur photographer and your principal would make for a very dramatic image.  I don’t wish to offend or insult, but I’m wondering if there’s any way I could take a picture of your distinguished protectee.”  As I said it I realized how stupid that sounded.  Anyone who travels with bodyguards doesn’t want to be photographed.  But the words were out there.  The words “rendition” and “beheading” crossed my mind.

The security guy looked at me.  He didn’t know what to think (I’m told I sometimes have that effect on people).  He walked back to his table and leaned over to whisper to the man you see above.  The flowing headdress turned my way, I saw a smile and he motioned me over to his table.  I had my Nikon and I got the photo you see above in a single shot.  I have no idea who he is, why he was in town, or exactly where he was from, but that photo is one of my all time favorites.