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

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

Beehive houses in Harran

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Street food in Adana

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

Having tea on the banks of the Euphrates with locals

Evening in Sanliurfa

Getting a concensus on directions

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Pegasus Airlines

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

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

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

The Cisterns in Istanbul

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Arriving in Sanliurfa

Looking into the cut from the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Steph and the Euphrates river

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

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

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

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

Dilapidated houses in Adana

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

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

Street food in Istanbul

Goats in Harran

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Looking off into the mountains from Antakya

Turkish Delight

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

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

Doerta cooking up a delicious German dinner.

Olive vendors on the corner in Gaziantep

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

The Mosque in Kilis

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

Driving at night back to Antakya

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

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

Street feeling in Kilis

Sunset in Samandagi

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

Ataturk in Adana

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Arriving to rain in Antakya

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Finding our hotel room

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

Fishermen in Istanbul

The inside of the church in the cave

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

Me, Steph and Kirk about to split up in Istanbul

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Hassan, a local resident

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.