More images from the Ala Daglar mountains in eastern Turkey
Travelling with pack horses in the Kara Yalak Vadesi
Camp below Direktas
Evening light in the Yedi Goller (‘Seven Lakes’) basin
These images were taken just after I started working on a new trekking guidebook to eastern Turkey – a project which was subsequently put on hold while I finished work on a book on Torres del Paine in Patagonia, and became a dad (it’s not an area I would be able to work on in short trips). Hopefully I’ll pick up work on this again next year….
This particular visit to the Ala Daglar was the only time I’ve trekked with pack animals and guides, not because of any inherent difficulties in the area (it wasn’t my first visit) but because I needed to be familiar with some of the local guides and trekking agencies in order to be able to recommend them – or not – in the guidebook. In any case, I can highly recommend Demavend Travel for anyone who wants a guided trek through these mountains.
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorized use.
Ala Daglar (2)
Ala Daglar
Trekker approaching Direktas, Ala Daglar mountains, eastern Turkey
The Ala Daglar is a sprawling limestone mountain range southeast of Nigde, part of the Taurus mountain chain and one of the finest trekking (and climbing) areas in Turkey. Direktas, the prominent rock tower just to the right of centre, lies on one side of the Yedi Goller (‘Seven Lakes’) basin – an elevated (~3000m) area of rolling rock and scree, dotted (as its name implies) with lakes (though some of them often dry out in the summer), and surrounded by towering peaks reaching up to around 3700m.
This image was taken back in 2008 – one of more than a dozen trips that I’ve made to eastern Turkey over several years – on a D200 (this fact alone makes it seem a long, long time ago!) with a 12-24mm f/4 lens, using a Singh Ray graduated neutral density filter to hold back the brooding sky. I hope to be back in eastern Turkey later this year.
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorized use.
