My short holiday in Turkey

For weeks on end the weather in Holland was pretty bad. It was cold, there was lots of wind, rain and monotone grey skies. So my wife and I decided we needed a bit of warmth, sun and relaxation. We looked at a couple of countries before we decided to go to Turkey. We had never been there before, but from what we had read it had more or less guaranteed good weather, was very affordable and has some beautiful and interesting locations to visit. So last week we packed our bags and flew east.

Shot with: Huawei P7 (smartphone)

After about an 3,5 hour's flight and an hour's drive in a very Turkish bus we arrived at our hotel.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5
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The hotel we stayed in is situated near the Mediterranean coast in the small town of Side. The hotel was clean, had a nice big swimming pool and the food was tasty and plentiful. The hotel guests consisted mainly of older (mostly German) vacationers who had also fled the cold. Not many youth to be seen. No screaming or loud music. It was mostly peace and quiet in and around the hotel.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

For this holiday I brought a small camera bag (Domke F-5XB Wax Wear shoulder bag), my Panasonic GX7, two lenses namely the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 and the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6 and also a film camera which I will cover in another blog.

As the hotel is close to the beach, I thought it would give me an opportunity to shoot some seabirds (seagulls). This was the main reason why I brought the zoom. As it turned out, there were hardly any seabirds around. The birds I did see were crows. They happen to be one of my favorite birds, so I was not disappointed.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

Other animals that can be found roaming the beach area are dogs. There are a lot of big dogs walking around on their own. It's not clear if they have an owner or not. This patriotic one seemed domesticated and in good health.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

There were also a lot of cats. It was not unusual to see groups of four or five of them together.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

Local shop owners, not letting any opportunity go by to make money, sold cat and dog food to tourists.

​​And finally at sunset I also ran also into some (fake) storks ;-)

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

​I knew this Panasonic zoom lens was pretty sharp. But in some shots it actually exceeded my expectations, and sometimes even reminded me of the excellent Olympus 45mm F1.8 I left at home. For example this shot (see photo below). The text on the binoculars is very sharp.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

The zoom lens also came in use photographing people, while they were unaware of the camera. Like this couple walking on the beach at sunset.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

​Or this fisherman.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

​Or this man crashing through his chair :)

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

​I also used the zoom for some landscape type shots. Such as this one, of the hotels near the beach.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

And this one, of the Temple of Apollo.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

And of Side's beautiful harbor.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

And of ships that already left the harbor.

Shot with: Panasonic Lumix G Vario 45-150/F4.0-5.6

When I look back at my vacation, I didn't use the 14mm Panasonic lens as often as I normally would on my previous vacations. Even though it's a great lens to take with you on vacation. Because it's small, light, sharp and its wide angle view is perfectly suited for shooting landscapes and cityscapes.​ This vacation I mostly used it in places which had little place for maneuvering (inside the hotel or in the bus), or were very busy, like at the bazaar.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

This Turkish market wasn't what we had hoped it would be. A third of all stands sold hand bags, the other third cheap clothing and the rest sold Beats headphones, card games, (counterfeit) perfume and drinks. There was very little variation in sold goods. One of the few interesting market stands, was the one selling colorful lamps. 

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

​Also the smell of spices in the stand below gave it an eastern atmosphere, the rest of the market was lacking.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

After we visited the bazaar, we went on a 6 km hike, to the Manavgat waterfall. Unfortunately, it was all for nothing as the Manavgat waterfall was closed because of construction work. I know, it sounds strange. But they were restoring a look out platform, which made it impossible to come near the waterfall.

At least it was a somewhat interesting walk, bringing us near locations were you'll find very few tourists. Such as a very, very poor part of town, where I didn't dare to take out my "expensive" camera. But also a location where we found this colorful flower bed with in the background a prominent mosk.  

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

After these trips/walks, it was always nice to be back at our hotel, take a bath, a cold beer and relax.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5

Although its nice to be back home again and enjoy our comfortable bed, big screen tv, fast internet and Xbox One, we will miss Turkey. We will certainly return to this beautiful country.

Shot with: Panasonic 14mm F2.5