If I ever see another kebab.....

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We made it to Bodrum and then hired a car and drove to Kushadasi.......Shan did the driving on account of the fact I'd forgotten my licence in London. Have to give credit because the Lonely Planet Guide rates Turkey as one of the more dangerous countries to drive in......add to the fact they drive on the other side and Shan had never drived a Stick Shift before getting us the first 150kms was a pretty fine effort. Personally from the passenger seat it was a pleasure to watch the landscape go by.

We made Kushadasi our base for a couple of days and here is where we met Murat the waiter at the Ali Ustanin Yeri Kebab shop.....every meal we had in Kushadasi thereafter was at this cafe. Funny guy and if enyone ends up in Kushadasi you could do worse than eating at this place. The next day we decided to do a quick (6 hour) day trip to to Pummakale. Hard to describe what this is, but basically its this big white rock formation caused by mineral springs......if anyone in Brisbane goes to the kebab shop opposite the Paddo....there is a picture there......we've got photo's so once we get around to publishing them you'll get the idea.....dinner that night was again courtesy of Murat 😊

Next morning we got up early (10:00 ish) and headed to Epheses. Ruined Roman City about 20 mins from Kushadasi. We spent about half a day there and yeah it was pretty good......a lot more like the Roman Forum as opposed to Pompeii, but nonetheless pretty good. The rest of the day we drove about 450km to Channakale.

Channakale is on the mainland mount of the Dardenelles about a 20 min boat ride to the Gallipoli peninsula. We stayed in a hostel funnily enough called ANZAC House.....not a bad place really.....hey they had a bar and were showing Gallipoli and The Fatal Shore......a warm up I guess for the next day.

From Channakale we caught the ferry accross the Dardenelles onto Gallipoli and spent the day driving from site to site. Place has to be visited to be experienced and I recommend it......gives you an appreciation of just what the Diggers faced in regards terrain etc and puts the campaign into perspective and answers the question as to what we were doing there in the first place. Lone Pine cemetary is a sobering place, but probably the most sobering was the memorial at this place called the Nek. The is the site of the famed last scene in "Gallipoli".....around 321 guys died in 3 days on this spot and of that they have only managed to identify the resting sites of 10.....there are lessons we do need to learn.

That night we drove a little up the road to Geliboli. This really was just a town to stop on the way to Istanbul, but rates a mention b/c of the hotel we stayed at......think Norman Bates and you'll get the picture. That guy was wierd and sleeping with a chair lodged up against the door was honestly considered. shame we didn't take a picture of the bathroom facilities there.....lets just say that scene in Trainspotting when Renton climbs out of Scotlands worst toilet could have been shot here.......

The next day was a drive to Istanbul. we elected to take th coast road short cut.....until some boulders fell in a rock fall and blocked the road......that added about 2 hours to the trip, but we did get to see a very very very rural Turkey in the process. Arriving in Istanbul we managed a great hotel in the heart of the old town, not far from the Aya Sofia and Blue Mosque. really enjoyed istanbul and wished we could have spent more than 2 days there. So much to do and the blend between Europe and Asia is apparent. Had a toke of the water pipes and watched some traditional peformers including a couple of whirling Dervishes......

After istanbul we headed back to Kushadasi to get our boat to Samos.....the trip was supposed to take about 10 hours.....14 hours or so later, exhausted, grumpy and tired we crawled into our hotel.....Shan crashed, but I managhed to head out to Murat's cafe for a few farewell drinks.....the next morning despite asking for a wake up call, we woke with about 20 mins to get to the ferry.......it was pissing down rain and there was one of the biggest thunder storms.......after rushing down to the ferry we get there to be told....sorry not boat b/c of bad weather......great......back to the hotel, re-check in and back to bed.........oh we did actualy get out of bed a little later and go to this mud bath spring thingy......felt great just lying in the 42 deg water...relaxing!

That afternoon we wandered down to Murat's cafe, mush to his surprise and spent the afternoon there having a few beers and trying to help him attract some customers.....not real successful at that though. Give we were spending one more night in Kushadasi we agreed to head out with him to wait for it "Bar Street"......no need to let you know what this street was about, but I have to say that whilst George Bush sprouts all this rhetoric about Iraq etc......we've all missed the point and I think its the Irish we have to watch out for......this street was full of Irish Bars...."Jimmy's Irish Bar", "Kitty O'Shea's Irish Bar", "The Shamrock Irish Bar", "The Log Cabin Irish Bar" (not sure on that one.......).... one disturbing thing was the lack of Guinness though......I'm suspecting that this was a Saddam inspired rouse set up Irish Bars in tourist towns and lull unsuspecting westerners into a false state of security.......I think George has it wrong and we shouldn't worry about UN Sactions and Arms Inspectors, just close down the Irish bars and that would probably do more to harm the Iraqis. the night ended predicably (especially since we faced an 8:30 boat to Greece)......Shan was in fine form though getting her out of bed the next morning proved difficult.......had to resort to throwing water over her to get her up.....she was a picture though,,,,,trudging down to the docks in a pait of joggers and a dress....

So that's Turkey definitely would go again and reccomend it to anyone. I figure I've written enough today so the rest of the trip comes in another instalment probably next week.

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