On sugar & story-telling

On sugar & story-telling

I liken much of my travels to one giant scouting trip. I want to see as many places around the world as possible. But my ultimate intention is to come back to the best of the places and shoot in more depth. 

Night journeys

Night journeys

One of the least fun things you can do in India is ride a motorbike at night, especially during the winter. Winter in Gujarat isn’t anywhere near as cold as in Europe, but, it is definitely cold enough to make you think twice about jumping atop a motorbike once sun’s down.

Back to Mother India

Back to Mother India

I’ve joked for a long time that regardless of where I travel, all roads ultimately lead to India. Of course there’s a lot of truth to this joke. India is a special to me. No matter how long I'm away from it, it seems that I gravitate back time and time again. In fact, since 2005 I’ve visited India 7 times, spending close to 2 years within its borders.

Waiting for the Patriarch

Waiting for the Patriarch

Five hundred-plus kilometres from Izmir brought me to the Bulgarian border. As the sun rose I saw just how dramatically the landscape changed. Blue sunny skies with green and yellow foliage were now replaced by a grey landscape with barren trees.

Flying over Turkey - Video

Flying over Turkey - Video

When I bought the DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone the first thing in had in mind were actually the photographic opportunities that it would bring. However, I was also looking forward to shooting some video with it. Here's a short video I edited from some of the footage I shot over this journey through Turkey.   

A castle by the sea

A castle by the sea

People have been erecting grandiose buildings for thousands of years. They’ve been doing it in some naturally beautiful places too. It seems though that back in the day people had a better idea of how to create things in more harmony with nature. The Marmure Castle in South Turkey, as grand as it is, still felt like it was in harmony with nature when I saw it.

A stop in Malatya

A stop in Malatya

There’s nothing like arriving at a town you knew nothing about and discovering that it’s actually a fascinating place. That was the case with Malatya. The town was on our way and it seemed big enough to have a decent hotel, which was needed after a very cold night of camping followed by a rainy night of camping.

Camping inside a volcanic crater

Camping inside a volcanic crater

A volcanic crater, even one with an extinct volcano is fascinating. The Nemrut crater, not far from lake Van is also pretty stunningly beautiful, particularly in autumn. Above is a little video of the drone flying above some of the orange and yellow trees inside the crater.

Strolling through Van city

Strolling through Van city

Van is not the kind of city you'd hang out in without a reason. At least not me. Considering that Van doesn't really have any famous attractions and it's in Turkey, a country with possibly more historic monuments and beautiful scenery than… well anywhere I can think of except India, why would you want even visit

Young Faroukh and his shepherd dogs

Young Faroukh and his shepherd dogs

I love dogs. I have one myself. Toshka is his name and I treat him like a son. I never fear nor panic when dogs bark at me. They’re just doing their job, guarding their territory. However… a couple of days ago, for the first time since I was a small child, I didn’t know whether I should run for my life from a dog. This was a BIG dog, which belonged to a shepherd boy named Faroukh. 

Mount Ararat, sheep crossings & the welcoming Kurds

Mount Ararat, sheep crossings & the welcoming Kurds

Mount Ararat appeared out of nowhere as we drove towards the Eastern Turkish city of Van. You could tell it was enormous. We were still so far away, yet it was already visible and its snow-capped peak towered above anything around it.

The Georgian valleys and Kars region

The Georgian valleys and Kars region

From Cappadocia we headed to the North of Turkey. A quick border crossing to Georgia and back had Tanya’s visa renewed. Georgia is a country which I really, really want to travel around, but, when it’s warmer and less wet. 

All images text and ideas © Mitchell Kanashkevich 2017

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