Turkey

In September of 2002 after being deployed to Uzbekistan for 9 months I was sent to Incirlick Turkey for four days of R&R, and I have to tell you, I was rather glad for it. My first day there I mostly familiarized myself with the small base, bought the digital camera I took most of these pictures with, found a place I could rent a car, and tried to find a couple of places I could go on a day trip. I also and managed to get off the base and go into the closest city Adana by buss for a few hours in the afternoon. The base had imposed a nightly curfew at 10:00pm and had gate passes that you hade to have stamped on the way out and on the way in so they would know when you left when you came back, and they kept a log of everyone leaving to make sure everyone came back. well so I couldn't just take off for a few days I would have to be back on the base at night, so that meant no real long trips or overnight stays on my way to somewhere. The two closest cities being Adana and Mersin I thought I would further explorer them the following days. The Lady at the car rental place had also told me about two castles that I might like to see, Snake Castle and The Castle In the Sea which were both possible daytrips. I rented the car for two days figuring I would see one castle each day as they were in opposite directions.

This was said to be one of the second largest mosque in the middle east, and is called Sabanci Merkez Cami, it is located near Seyhan River and Stone Bridge.	The mosque was constructed of many different colored marbles in elaborate patterns, and much of the gilding on the mosque is actually gold leafing.



	Here you can see Stone Bridge spanning the Seyhan Rive that dates to the rule of Roman Emperor Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus (Hadrian) between 117-138 ad. Due to earthquakes the bridge has been repaired several times over the centuries but is still in use today and being used by vehicle traffic. Sabanci Merkez Cami mosque is in the background.