Commercial and Editorial Photographer

In Transit: Kars to Barhal

Thomas Pickard — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:48:07 +0000

Five minute toilet and cigarette break in the settlement of Gore, on route from Kars to Barhal.

Kars and Ani Guide Celil Ersoglu

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:22:30 +0000

If you need a local guide in Kars for nearby Ani, then Celil is your man.

Fluent in English and incredibly knowledgable about the local area, Celil is one of the best Guides I’ve come across in many years of travel.

Contact me if you want his phone number or get it from the Lonely Planet guide book.

Ani – A Silk Road Cross Road

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:58:13 +0000

The one reason we came to Kars was to visit the isolated ruins of Ani.

Situated in Turkey and surrounded by neighboring Georgia and Armenia, Ani was once an important cross road on the Silk Road with a population of nearly 100,000 people.

An amazing place to wander around for a few hours.

Kars Hotel

Thomas Pickard — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:46:03 +0000

Some times we pre-book our accommodation, other times we just turn up and find a place. Tonight the ‘just turn up approach’ left us looking for a room at 10.30 at night in a town we’d only been in for an hour.

The first two hotels were booked out. The third had one room with twin beds and is so small, you can’t swing a cat. The shower, with the broken door, is down the hall.

Given how late it was, we took the room. The silver lining is the forty lira price tag, which is cheap.

As for the photo, it is the forty watt light bulb above us.

Good times.

In Transit: Ankara to Kars

Thomas Pickard — Wed, 23 May 2012 10:49:04 +0000

Restaurant train car view.

On the over night train from Ankara to Kars

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:41:21 +0000

View out of our sleeper at the Ankara train station. In about 28 hours we will rumble into Kars and eastern Turkey.

Lunch Stop

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:01:01 +0000

Best kebab I’ve had in Turkey came from this hole in the wall just down the road from our hotel in Ankara.

Ankara Street Scene

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:58:06 +0000

This guy is selling potato graters. He’d do a presentation on how the grater worked, then the men watching would snap them up. A true street salesman,

In Transit: Goreme to Ankara

Thomas Pickard — Sun, 20 May 2012 13:30:58 +0000

Currently on route to the capital Ankara, where we’ll spend some time sorting out visas for Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Goreme Open Air Museum

Thomas Pickard — Sat, 19 May 2012 11:09:48 +0000