Traveling Through Turkey and Israel – Photos

Traveling through Turkey and Israel in December 2008, I managed to take roughly 1500 photos with my brand new Canon G10. The new camera was great, and the wide angle 28mm lens, ND filter, and full manual control were great to have in the field. I started the trip with 8gb and 2gb memory cards, and, shooting on JPEG fine, managed to start filling up the 8gb card way too early in the trip. Although I hate to do it, I actually did edit photos while I was traveling. In the end, I ended up with about 1200 photos. Out of those, I’ve edited them down to the top 100 or so. These photos I feel best represent the trip, and should give a good feel of the varying environments and sites of both Turkey and Israel.

I also took about 45 minutes of video, which I’m in the process of editing down to a presentable reel.

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Turkish Delight

The ruins of St. Simeon

Buying clementines in Antakya

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

Street food in Adana

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Finding our hotel room

Looking off into Syria, on the border between Turkey and Syria

Sunset in Samandagi

Broken Turkish Pottery

Steph and Kirk with our dinner the first night in Istanbul.

Getting a concensus on directions

Steph standing on the beach

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Driving through the mountains near the Med

Beehive houses in Harran

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

St. Peters hidden Catholic church in Antakya – built into a natural cave

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Me, Steph and Kirk standing on ruined pilars at St. Simeon

The Cisterns in Istanbul

Sitting on the ledge watching the sun set on the Euphrates in Kasaba.

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

The Mosque in Kilis

Researching for our next day’s adventures in our hotel room in Antakya

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

Surveying the dramatic scenery as we drive to Bierecheck, in the canyons carved by the Euphrates

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

Faces carved into the rock above St. Peters church in Antakya

Goats in Harran

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Street food in Istanbul

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Driving at night back to Antakya

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Fishermen in Istanbul

A local shepard and his flock on the side of the road in Yolbasi

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Kirk looking at the surviving arched cieling of the castle ruins at Kasaba

Local kids in Vaikifle

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

Hassan, a local resident

Evening in Sanliurfa

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Ataturk in Adana

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

An orange vendor in Harran

Roof of the Aya Sophia

The inside of the church in the cave

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Street feeling in Kilis

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

Steph and the Euphrates river

Small town on the side of the Euphrates. Their mosque was flooded when the damn was build.

Dilapidated houses in Adana

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Walking at night in Antakya. THe street had a movie set like feeling from the yellow, flat streetlights.

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Local kid holding a lamb in Antakya. On this mountainside we met a shepard tending to hish flock. This kid hiked with us for a bit up onto the side of the mountain.