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.

Roof of the Aya Sophia

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

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Getting a concensus on directions

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

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

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

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

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

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

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

Driving through the mountains near the Med

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Street food in Adana

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Steph standing on the beach

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Beehive houses in Harran

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

Dilapidated houses in Adana

The Mosque in Kilis

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

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

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

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Sunset in Samandagi

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Ataturk in Adana

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Broken Turkish Pottery

Driving at night back to Antakya

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

The ruins of St. Simeon

Green spices at the market in Antakya

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

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Goats in Harran

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

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

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Local kids in Vaikifle

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

Finding our hotel room

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Steph and the Euphrates river

Sunset in Samandagi

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

Turkish Delight

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

Fishermen in Istanbul

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

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Street food in Istanbul

An orange vendor in Harran

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

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.