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.

Steph and the Euphrates river

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

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

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

The Mosque in Kilis

Fishermen in Istanbul

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

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Broken Turkish Pottery

Pegasus Airlines

The ruins of St. Simeon

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

Hassan, a local resident

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

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

Evening in Sanliurfa

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

An orange vendor in Harran

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

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

Roof of the Aya Sophia

Street feeling in Kilis

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Goats in Harran

Street food in Adana

Turkish Delight

The inside of the church in the cave

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Finding our hotel room

Steph standing on the beach

Driving through the mountains near the Med

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

Sunset in Samandagi

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Street food in Istanbul

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

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

Buying clementines in Antakya

Beehive houses in Harran

Local kids in Vaikifle

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

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

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

The Cisterns in Istanbul

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

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Driving at night back to Antakya

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Sunset in Samandagi

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

Dilapidated houses in Adana

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

Arriving to rain in Antakya

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Ataturk in Adana

Getting a concensus on directions

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

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

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco 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.