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.

Freighter ships on the Bosphorus

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

Buying clementines in Antakya

Talking to the hotel staff in Adana

Ruins of a castle in Kozan

Evening in Sanliurfa

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

Local kids in Vaikifle

A chef distributing pestashio on to baklava at Chadas in Gaziantep

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

Dinner boat on the Bosphorus

Sunset in Samandagi

Green spices at the market in Antakya

Arriving to rain in Antakya

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

Sunset in Samandagi

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

The ruins of St. Simeon

Getting Sahlep in Antakya

Driving at night back to Antakya

Steph looking at photos with a local kid in Harran

Steph and I riding a motorcycle with a sidecar in Sanliurfa

Roof of the Aya Sophia

Driving through the mountains near the Med

Looking into the cut from the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Dried Eggplant shells in Antakya

Turkish Delight

Climbing the ridge above St. Peters

Hiking the ridge above St. Peters in Antakya

Riding the dolmush through Belen, Tureky

Beehive houses in Harran

Ataturk in Adana

An antique Zenith watch for sale at the market in Istanbul

Us with our Turkish friends in Yesemek

Dilapidated houses in Adana

Goats in Harran

Sunday night dinner at Kirk’s House

Our sketchy hotel in Sanliurfa

Fruitstand in Istanbul

Fishermen in Istanbul

Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Catholic church courtyard in Antakya

Looking out onto the Euphrates.

Kirk negotiation for homegrown tobacco in Sanliurfa

The inside of the church in the cave

Grasses at sunset in Samandagi

Hassan, a local resident

Me driving through flood waters in Samandag

Pegasus Airlines

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

An orange vendor in Harran

Small produce market near Kirk’s house in Istanbul

Sketching and sailing up the Euphrates river

Looking out to the horizon from the mountains in Vaikifle

The cave restaurant in Sanliurfa

Street food in Adana

The Mosque in Kilis

Our dusk tour of the Hittite rock garden in Yesemek

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

Steph standing on the beach

Candle lanterns at the market in Istanbul

Taxsim Square, Istanbul

Kirk and Steph checking the guidebooks in Adana

Early morning walk to go to the Istanbul airport.

Medusa Head in the Cistern

Kirk with the windfarm in the background

Inside the Roman Tunnels in Samandagi

Steph in the doorway of the Armenian Church

Street food in Istanbul

Sundown in Yesemek, Turkey

More dolmush rides

Juggling oranges on a street side fruit stand.

Taking the dolmush from Adana to Antakya

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

The Cisterns in Istanbul

Steph and the Euphrates river

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

Street feeling in Kilis

Local schoolkids clamoring to say hello to us in Kilis

Blizzard conditions landing back in Istanbul

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

The archway and observation tower in Harran

Stephanie and I inside the cave in Antakya

Arriving in Sanliurfa

The Hittite rock musieum in Yesemek

Finding our hotel room

A backhoe coming down Kirk’s street in Istanbul

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

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

Driving west, then north out of Antakya

Broken Turkish Pottery

Getting a concensus on directions

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.