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.

Finding our hotel room

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Beehive houses in Harran

Looking into the cut from the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Fishermen in Istanbul

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Steph standing on the beach

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

The ruins of St. Simeon

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

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

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

Evening in Sanliurfa

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Street feeling in Kilis

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Goats in Harran

The inside of the church in the cave

Sunset in Samandagi

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

Driving at night back to Antakya

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

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

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

More dolmush rides

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Driving through the mountains near the Med

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

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

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

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

Broken Turkish Pottery

Turkish Delight

Buying clementines in Antakya

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

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

Ataturk in Adana

Hassan, a local resident

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Local kids in Vaikifle

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

Roof of the Aya Sophia

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

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

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

Steph and the Euphrates river

Street food in Adana

Getting a concensus on directions

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

The Mosque in Kilis

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

An orange vendor in Harran

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

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.