It was fine in Turkey

For about one and a half hours, the Moon had been eating away at the edge of the Sun. Suddenly it was dark - not the deep darkness of night, but a cloak of grey. As the Sun disappeared, the temperature dropped. A halo of light danced around the edge of the Moon.

The planet Venus was visible in the sky - it was mesmerising. In a little more than two minutes the total eclipse was over. The first narrow crescent of the Sun reappeared from behind the moon.

The darkness gave way to a strange purple half-light. Everything seemed to glow. As the darkness raced away from us, the immense power of the Sun quickly brought normal light conditions back under clear blue skies.

The farmers in the fields below us started work again.

 

 

From a high mountain path in Central Turkey, hundreds of people cheered and clapped as a wall of darkness rushed towards us across the plain below.