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.

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

Steph standing on the beach

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

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

Driving at night back to Antakya

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Dilapidated houses in Adana

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

The Mosque in Kilis

Pegasus Airlines

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Arriving to rain in Antakya

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

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Fishermen in Istanbul

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

The inside of the church in the cave

Getting a concensus on directions

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

Broken Turkish Pottery

The ruins of St. Simeon

Hassan, a local resident

Looking into the cut from the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

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.

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Steph and the Euphrates river

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Street food in Adana

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

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

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

More dolmush rides

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Local kids in Vaikifle

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Street food in Istanbul

Ataturk in Adana

Street feeling in Kilis

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Goats in Harran

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

Turkish Delight

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

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

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

Driving through the mountains near the Med

Beehive houses in Harran

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

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

Sunset in Samandagi

Roof of the Aya Sophia

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Sunset in Samandagi

An orange vendor in Harran

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

The Cisterns in Istanbul

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

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

Buying clementines in Antakya

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.