Jomsom airport, a photo from Dhawalagiri, West

Photographer's Note

I have a fascination for airplanes. I guess that the main reason is that they remind me trips to distant places. However, I haven't much photos of airplanes. This is perhaps the only photo I have of an airplane in which I flew. The place has the pompous name of Jomsom airport. It is just an airstrip in the Annapurnas range, in the Kali Gandaki valley, very near the village of Jomsom, at 2700 meters / 9000 feet high. I am pretty sure that one of the peaks on the BG is called Nilgiri, but someone told me that the higher one is Tilicho, which is 7134 meters / 23400 feet high.

Jomsom is part of the popular "Annapuna circuit" trek and also the usual departing point of the "Mustang trek".

If one measures the depth of a canyon by the difference between the river height and the heights of the highest peaks on either side, this part of the Kali Gandaki valley is the deepest gorge of the world, because despite the high altitude of the river bed (not that high for the Himalayas...), it is flanked by several mountains with heights surpassing 6000 and 7000 meters and two surpassing 8000 (Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I).

The flights I did in this airplane were an unique experience and, believing the stories we were told, they were also quite dangerous. The winds in the valley, one of the few that connects the Tibetan plateau with the Indian subcontinent, are very strong and tricky; because of it, they only flew in early morning, when the winds were weaker. The airstrip was very short and it wasn't paved at that time (I saw in GoogleEarth that they have paved it already). We were told that only some more experienced pilots could do those flights, but accidents happened almost once a year (probably they were exaggerating). When we devised the airstrip from the air, it was hard to believe that it would be possible to land on a such short space. When the plane reached the end of the strip it was still moving so fast that I wondered if the sudden turn done by the pilot wasn't part of the landing instead of just a manoeuvre to put the aircraft closer to the airport building.

The flight between the town of Pokhara, a scenic place that almost reminds the tropics with stunning views to several snowed peaks, lasts little more than 30 minutes (70 Km), following the valley at an altitude lower than the highest peaks, allowing a close side view of them.

Link to all my posts of this area: *.

Location (latitude, longitude): 28.7812,83.7241

Note on the location in TE: according to Wikipedia, all this region, from Jomsom to Lo Manthang and Muktinath is part of Dhawalagiri district [te]. I put my posts in the Gandaki district following the others, as almost no one posts their photos of the region in the supposedly right place.

lucasgalodoido, paura, robertosalguero, feather, ruisc_pt, parbo, crckt, danos, Charo, jaywalker, COSTANTINO, xuaxo, Bluejeans, tober, Emile has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2008-03-11 16:39

Ol� Jos�,
a qualidade da foto ficou 髏ima pra uma escaneada, ainda n鉶 consegui resultados assim... O local � muito bonito e gostei da inclus鉶 da deriva do avi鉶, ajudou bem na composi玢o, voc� voou nele? Ouvi dizer que � muito arriscado voar no Nepal, depois da uma lida nessa not韈ia, que � bem interessante, hehe!
Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

gracious (20025) 2008-03-11 17:04

Hello Jose,
Excellent composition which included both subjects, the plane and the peak Nilgiri in a best pov!
the lighting is so beautiful that brings good clarity, good colour and details in the shot!
a very fine image to enjoy with a great notes
many thanks, my friend!
Tony

paura (25802) 2008-03-11 18:37

Jos� Pires,
A composi玢o, enquando grafismo, est� boa e bem composta. O fundo, apesar de lindo, parece que foi submetido a algum pp que for鏾u o azul.

Abra玢o

Paulo

robertosalguero (292) 2008-03-12 0:30

Ola Jose,

Interesting to know that people can live normally at such altitude. I see the background with awe as the mountans seem so high and rugged. The plane is an excellent subjct to diffuse the attention from the mountains but also balances the image well. Colours and details are good here. Thanks Jose.

Roberto

UnTrained (0) 2008-03-12 2:59

Ol� Jos�,
it is attracting by the colours and the contrast of the tailplane fin against the background mountain. The overexposure and some missing sharpness do not support this. But the wide and deep view are attracting. Maybe a small cut on the left (for the door of the plane) would help.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

feather (51130) 2008-03-12 8:20

The mountains in the Himalayas certainly dominate everywhere around as this image testifies. As well as the plane in the foreground we can see the tiny buildings nestled in the mountains. A clever composition with the tail partly echoing the shape of the mountains. Although the quality has sufferd from the scanning it is an interesting and worthwhile post.
Kath

ElAprendiz (30) 2008-03-12 14:11

Si me tocara abordar ese avi髇, no estar韆 tranquilo sino hasta cuando aterrice.... Sobre todo con la majestuosidad de las monta馻s que se elevan en el fondo.

Gran profundidad en el 2do. plano y buen detalle en 1er. plano.

John

ruisc_pt (11594) 2008-03-12 14:59

simplesmente espectacular.
lembra-me a dificuldade dos motores atmosf閞icos e o tecto de altitude inerente
Parab閚s.
Deliciosa
..
Rui

bizsu (1015) 2008-03-12 16:22

Ola Jos�,
Interesting POV and place. I like airplanes. Wonderful background. Excellent sharp picture. Beautiful snowy mountains. Good note. Parab閚s !!
Um abraco, Zs�

parbo (11092) 2008-03-12 16:27

Ol� Jos�,

Lights on fuselage is splendid. Huge mountain at background creates a splendid and unique scene that I like it a lot too. A wonderful capture, excellent informative note. Congratulations.

Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

Ertugrul

crckt (7222) 2008-03-12 18:45

Hi Jose,
I have been to Pokhra, this brings back great memories. Any reason why you chose only a part of the plane? I know exactly what you mean about the experience of short airports..thrilling isn't it? Well done.
Regards,
Shaeri

danos (110407) 2008-03-13 0:50

Ola Jose,
as i read from your note i must say that really the flights and the airstrip of this tiny airport are only for braves men.Dangerous to landing in such airports but as i see the airplane of the shot looks very small on the other once.Informative your note.

Regards,Danos

PS Today,in the midday i'll travel to Laos Cambodia,for ten days

ifanik (21679) 2008-03-13 6:50

Hi Jose
Amazing composition
Beautiful image with nice volours and POV
VERY WELL DONE MY FRIEND
Best regards
Nick

Charo (51290) 2008-03-13 7:50

Hola Jose,
Una composici髇 muy original con muy buena luz y colores. L醩tima que al ser escaneada la monta馻 pierda algo su definici髇.
Un abrazo
Charo

jaywalker (16105) 2008-03-13 10:29

Hi Jose, A photo with a slight difference, its not often we see the tail of an aircraft as the main subject, however I like your decision &, the mountains in the background make for a stunning backdrop, beautiful blue tone &, the two line on the tail add welcome extra colour, kind regards Wilson.

batalay (41261) 2008-03-13 10:33

Hello Jos�,

I like very much this scanned slide from 1994. The colors and resolution are very good, with the dated airplane introduce a touch technology in an extraordinary view of nature. I have had to resist TE while working on the finishing touches, "final tweaks," of the new book. But your photos are ones that I do look at each time I come.

Warmest regards,

Bulent

xuaxo (6854) 2008-03-13 12:30

Ol� Jos�,
Como foto de avi鉶, acho que n鉶 � muito boa, mas como foto genericamente gosto muito do alto contraste de cores e luz entre o avi鉶 e as montanhas ao fundo.
Um abra鏾,
F

COSTANTINO (117940) 2008-03-14 1:27

Hi Jose,
Always with the best capture of the moment,
chosen point of view,good work and shot,
thanks sharing
regards
Costantino

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-03-14 6:40

Oi amigo ,
Bonita composi玢o com a cauda do avi鉶 parece do tempo da II Guerra mundial :), a passagem de fundo e maravilhosa o verde e a neve no topo da montanha , lugar maravilhoso ,bom trabalho de scan , parab閚s!!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo

pboehringer (770) 2008-03-16 16:54

Jose,
this post reminds me of three things. First that there was an era pre digital and that the salvage of this shots through scanning are a painful reality and still beyond the quality of the original photography. Second, you started your activity here at TE with shots from Nepal and that was what draw my attention to your galery. Third, it reminds me of my own flying adventures in Nepal. I went there in 1998 and flew from Kathmandu to Lukla for a several days hiking to reach the Mt Everest Base Camp.
Your post is despite the scanning limitations a good one and I love to see the nepalese flag on the airplane and with the so typical Hymalayan peaks in the background.
Peter

tober (8797) 2008-04-12 11:53

Ol� Jos�, very different and also impressive photo with the contrast of the colourful tale of the aircraft, against the awesome view of the Himalayas. Your note is also very informative about this amazing geography. Best regards, Tolga

sarahnatalie (697) 2008-04-17 19:29

Great quality, nice pov, composition, light, and cropping. I like this one a lot; even though I don't have a real interest in planes, it caught my attention!
Nice work,
Sarah

Emile (20352) 2008-04-18 7:12

Hola Jose.
Muy buena foto con las inmensas monta馻s bien pegadas del aeropuerto, la verdad que da miedo ir a ese sitio por avion, tu POV es bueno y los colores tambien. Pusiste una buena nota explicativa con muy buena informacion.
Un fuerte abrazo.

fkokol (1636) 2008-04-20 8:10

It's nice to add the plane to your composition. Great landscape! greetings,

figen