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.

Ataturk in Adana

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Dilapidated houses in Adana

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

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

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

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

Getting a concensus on directions

Street food in Adana

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

The inside of the church in the cave

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Fishermen in Istanbul

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Roof of the Aya Sophia

Turkish Delight

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Driving at night back to Antakya

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

Driving through the mountains near the Med

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Broken Turkish Pottery

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Sunset in Samandagi

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Local kids in Vaikifle

Beehive houses in Harran

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Goats in Harran

The ruins of St. Simeon

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

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

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

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

Street feeling in Kilis

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Steph standing on the beach

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

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

Hassan, a local resident

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

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

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

Sunset in Samandagi

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

Pegasus Airlines

The Mosque in Kilis

More dolmush rides

An orange vendor in Harran

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

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

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

Evening in Sanliurfa

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

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

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

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Buying clementines in Antakya

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Street food in Istanbul

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Steph and the Euphrates river

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

The Cisterns in Istanbul

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

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Medusa Head in the Cistern

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.