Around the world in 40 days but no Gallipoli

[ozbeachbabe]

What camera do you use FM? Your photos are stunning.

 

[Flying mermaid]

What camera do you use FM? Your photos are stunning.

I will let Mr FM answer this, as I just steal his work.

Hi, I carry a large camera set. I have 2 bodies - A Nikon D800 and a Nikon D750. I have 3 lenses for travel, a Nikon 24-120mm F4 VR, a Sigma 35mm F1.4, and a Nikon 70-200 F2.8. In daytime I mostly use the 24-120mm and at night I use the 35mm. I use the D800 for scenery or if it is raining because it is quite weather proof. I use the D750 mostly and when there is action because the frame is higher. I also have a Benro Travel Angel tripod which I use at night for photographing buildings.

 

[love_the_life]

Obviously not a point and shoot then Or like me - the iPhone! :mrgreen: Though I must admit I have purchased a new camera for Africa later this year. Not the Mr FM level though.

 

[amaroo]

Obviously not a point and shoot then Or like me - the iPhone! :mrgreen: Though I must admit I have purchased a new camera for Africa later this year. Not the Mr FM level though.

LOL or me ... iPhone only

 

[ellen10]

Still loving the travel journey and photos

 

[Flying mermaid]

LOL or me ... iPhone only

iPhone takes a lot less space - also security at Heathrow hated all his camera gear....

 

[amaroo]

iPhone takes a lot less space - also security at Heathrow hated all his camera gear....

+ also very easy to post TR via the app. No mucking around with sizing, etc - it all works seamlessly. The only downside is the quality

Enjoy dinner - I hope :-|

 

[Flying mermaid]

+ also very easy to post TR via the app. No mucking around with sizing, etc - it all works seamlessly. The only downside is the quality

Enjoy dinner - I hope :-|

That is true - I have to wait for him to download photos to his laptop and then resize them for me - they are beautiful though and it is his main hobby at the moment.

I am sure dinner will be great

 

[Flying mermaid]

Our second day in Selcuk was going to be a private tour to Pamukkale - I googled it the night before and Google reckoned 4.5 hours each way, however our driver made short work of it, by racing down at 140km an hour. We took a 3 lane highway down and then a 2 lane and there wasn't much traffic, but the slightly over 2 hours he did it in was a bit breath taking. Later in the afternoon we went to Aphrodisias and the road there was narrow and quite bad. However our driver seemed to view speed limits and solid white lines as more a guideline than a rule, so he made short work of that as well.

Our guide was a very knowledgeable man who had actually worked on many of the digs, so he was terrific from an educational point of view. He did view photographs as an unnecessary frill, so it wasn't a totally happy relationship. However we did get a huge amount out of the day.

Pamukkale is truly stunning - the terraces go for great distances. We have seen similar terraces in New Zealand but tiny by comparison. We didn't go swimming, preferring to spend time in the ruins of Hierapolis instead.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Our guide said that in both Hierapolis and Aphrodisias only 1% has been excavated - Turkey just has so much and not enough money to excavate or look after it all.

Hierapolis has been used as a spa since 200BC and the town existed long before that. We found the Necropolis particularly interesting. The round tombs (Tumulus) are the oldest and the square ones the newest.

 

[Flying mermaid]

After lunch we went to Aphrodisias. It is an ancient Greek city and Sculptors and work from here was very famous. The diagonal swirl on the pillars is a "trademark" of Aphrodisias.

 

[Flying mermaid]

More from Aphrodisias

Our guide told us a story of when they were working here in the 80s and excavated an incredible mosaic floor. They told the head archaeologist about it and the next morning took him to see it. Unfortunately during the night it had shattered because of exposure to the air. He felt strongly it was better to leave things buried until they were sure they knew how to protect them.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The museum had some beautiful pieces

 

[Flying mermaid]

We left Selcuk at 8:30 am and returned at 7pm, so a long day but worth it. We were just in time to see a nice sunset and more storks which are nesting all over Selcuk.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The next morning we were off on our travels again, flying first back to Istanbul and then to Kayseri. Had the same meal both times and the service was once again immaculate and friendly and our luggage came off first.

Istanbul is a very busy airport with often delays flying in and out of it.

 

[Pushka]

Obviously not a point and shoot then Or like me - the iPhone! :mrgreen: Though I must admit I have purchased a new camera for Africa later this year. Not the Mr FM level though.

I just purchased a superzoom. I love taking photos on the iphone but I wanted something to take zoom photos. But I cant be bothered with carrying lens. I took the superzoom to Sydney this week and after using the easy iphone method, just having the camera around my neck adds an additional layer of complexity in travel and planning. If your camera needs a neck strap to carry it then practise - a lot.

FM - how do you transfer photos on to the forum? I'm presuming via laptop? I just don't want to take one to do this. I've sourced this gadget that you put the sd card into this bluetooth device and it transmits the photos to anything that is bluetooth enabled. And of course, that gadget needs to be charged yada. More cables to take.

As you can see we are all still on your travels with you. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I just purchased a superzoom. I love taking photos on the iphone but I wanted something to take zoom photos. But I cant be bothered with carrying lens. I took the superzoom to Sydney this week and after using the easy iphone method, just having the camera around my neck adds an additional layer of complexity in travel and planning. If your camera needs a neck strap to carry it then practise - a lot.

FM - how do you transfer photos on to the forum? I'm presuming via laptop? I just don't want to take one to do this. I've sourced this gadget that you put the sd card into this bluetooth device and it transmits the photos to anything that is bluetooth enabled. And of course, that gadget needs to be charged yada. More cables to take.

As you can see we are all still on your travels with you. Keep 'em coming.

Mr FM takes so many photos he needs to download them to his laptop. He resizes them on there for me and I just steal them from there. It is a very light laptop.

Mr FM says that you don't hang cameras round your neck - you get a thing called a black rapid (a Chinese copy on Internet costs about $8, full price around $65). It is a sash that means the weight of the camera and lens is on your hip, so much more comfortable.

Glad everyone is enjoying the photos

 

[Flying mermaid]

At Kayseri we were picked up by our prearranged driver, who turned out to be driving a yellow taxi. It was close to an hour from the airport to where we were staying. The main tourist town is Goreme - all the travel companies and balloon people are there. Seemed to be quite a buzzing little place with lots of hotels, bars and restaurants and probably ten times as many tourists as locals. We had elected to stay at the top of the hill in a little village called Uchisar. It seemed to have a bit of a French connection with a number of expats staying there. The hotel to stay in is the Argos and while I was tempted, Mr FM found some apartments converted from Cave houses that sounded really nice as well. Les Maison de Cappadoce.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Our home for 4 nights

 

[Flying mermaid]

We were picked up the next morning at 4:30 for our balloon ride with Butterfly Balloons. First you get taken to their headquarters to pay and fill in forms and have a light breakfast. Then broken into various groups. I had selected Butterfly Balloons as they had a great reputation and also had smaller numbers of passengers.

We had gone for the smallest possible number and were lucky enough to get their chief pilot Mike Green, who has a fantastic reputation. We practised crash landings before we took off, which was good as we had a slight one with the basket tipping on landing - all fun and made it easy to get out of. I wasn't scared at all to my surprise.