Blogs from Gallipoli, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East
May 17th 2012
Five hours after leaving Istanbul (monday 14th May) I arrived in the small port town of Eceabat, which lies on the eastern edge of a long and slender peninsula that extends down from Thrace (European Turkey) and is separated from Anatolia (Asian Turkey) only by a narrow strait known as the Dardanelles. The reason for visiting this area would be instantly obvious to any Australian upon mentioning the name of the peninsula on which Eceabat sits: Gallipoli. For it was here in Gallipoli almost one hundred years ago that the Anzac legend was born. Sometime in early 1915, when the Great War was still in it's first year and Russia was doing battle with Germany over a vast front in eastern Europe, the Russians' sent a request to their British allies to gain control over the ... read more
Once in a Life Time – ANZAC Day, Gallipoli 2012
Published: April 30th 2012Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Gallipoli
April 30th 2012
We arrived at thet pub/hostel Istanbul at around 9pm (after a delayed flight) to a wave of yellow shirts which were already well into party mode. After fighting through the crowd, finding our tour leader and checking into our hotel we joined the party dancing well into the night. It was a great night out with the pub completely packed by all the fanatic tour groups going to Gallipoli. The numbers were in the hundreds, we even met a few people from Townsville. The next day a feeling a little worse for wear we met up with the rest of our tour group and had a tour through some of the major sites of Istanbul. We had seen many of the sites when we were here in January but it was good to do them with ... read more
April 25th 2012
Twenty years ago today, there occurred one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. Whenever I recount my tale, people often comment on the serendipity of that day, but such heartening words are tempered by knowing that the person who made those moments so memorable has long since departed this world. In Turkey there lies a slender peninsula that separates the Aegean Sea from the straits of the Dardenelles. To the Turks, this is known as Gelibolu, but it is more renowned by its Anglicised name of Gallipoli. In 1915, the largest invasion force in history until that time assaulted the peninsula in order to capture the Dardenelles. Included in this invasion force were soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – the ANZACs. The date of their invasion on 25 April – ... read more
September 8th 2011
Day 127-128 Although it was a great piece of quiet motorway from Volos to the Turkish border, it was a long slog, the major towns in this part of Greece are few and far between, its mainly agricultural with mountains in the distance. But on the 7th September we crossed the Turkish border our furthest country east. With a day to spare before we entered Istanbul, we decided to visit Galipolli. It was here in 1915, that Allied Forces tried to capture and secure the Dardenelles a narrow strip of water with the aim to march on Istanbul to take Turkey out of the war and start another front against Hungary. In the 1950’s nobody visited this sparse, but lovely piece of land that is now a National Park. Nowadays many people come to visit the ... read more
August 17th 2011
This morning we walked to the Fez office and met our tour group at 7am. There are only 6 people on our 2 week tour and our transport is a transit van which has air conditioning thank goodness. We headed off towards Gallipoli, which was a 5 hour drive, stopping halfway for a break. While we were there our tour leader, Elif, went through the itinerary with us for the 2 weeks - everything sounds absolutely amazing and I am going to try and do as much as possible. After our break we drove the rest of the way to Gallipoli which was another 2 hours. We visited Anzac Cove, Lone Pine cemetery which is the main Australian cemetery, Chanuk Bair cemetery, which is the main NZ cemetery, a few other cemetery's, and also the ... read more
August 15th 2011
Well after a nice couple of days semi recovering from our terrible stomach bugs in Istanbul it was time to leave for our two week adventure around Western Turkey, first stop Gallipoli! This was always one of the anticipated highlights for the two of us on our travels. The day started well with our tour bus. Obviously our first touring experience was somewhat uncomfortable in a packed minibus with no air con, however this time we were in a very spacious 30 seater with only 10 people (and 6 of them were only day tripping with us). This made the 5 hour drive to the Gallipoli Peninsular very enjoyable and after stopping for a quick lunch it was off to see the battle fields and memorials. We started in Anzac Cove right on the water where ... read more
Days 40-45 – Eceabat (Gallipoli Peninsula)
Published: July 24th 2011Middle East » Turkey » Marmara » Gallipoli
July 24th 2011
Our holiday is just about over and Eceabat has been our last stop before heading back to Istanbul and the plane back to Australia. We arrived in Eceabat on Tuesday after a long bus trip from Selçuk. Our trip took a little longer than expected as there was an accident on one stretch of road that closed the road for about 30 minutes. We don’t know what happened but we could see that a Coca Cola truck had gone off the side of the road and headed down the mountain. We arrived at Çanakkale at about 9:30 pm and then caught the 10:00 pm ferry across the Dardanelles to our new home in Eceabat – the Crowded House backpackers. The ferries in this area must be the best value transport anywhere – 2TL (about $1.20) as ... read more
May 23rd 2011
Left Istanbul this morning and drove alongside the Dardanelles to the Gallipoli peninsular. First visited Anzac Cove, where the Aussies first landed in April 1915. Walked along the narrow beach with the high dunes behind and wondered at the folly of attacking at that spot when flat land was so close by. A very moving experience. Then up to Lone Pine and the Australian cemetery. For so many lives lost, so little ground made. Then onto Chunuk Bair and the New Zealand cemetery, the highest point and furthest inland made, even if only for a few days, during the campaign. Leaving Gallipoli, we travelled across the Dardanelles to Canakkale for our evening stop... read more
April 26th 2011
On Saturday we drove North to Eceabat via a quick stop at Troy. We put the tents up on a cold and windy beach next to Boomerang Bar where me and Holly shocked the bar man by ordering hot chocolate - apparently not the done thing at an Aussie bar where beer can be drunk at quick speed via funnels. Next day we had an Easter Egg hunt on the truck and then I strolled into town with Missy where we sampled an unidentified sugary snack (if baklava is pastry with syrup, this was syrup with a bit of pastry stirred in?!) At 5pm we drove up to Gallipoli for the ANZAC day dawn service. After finding dinner and seats, we had World War 1 music and Gallipoli documentaries over the loud speakers from 8:30pm until ... read more
April 9th 2011
Who spotted the spelling mistake in the last blog? Today we set out for Gallipoli, a place to which many New Zealanders make their pilgrimage for the Anzac Day Memorial Service. The afternoon we arrived was beautiful. There was blue sky, gentle lap of the tide, and birds singing. A far cry from what thousands of young New Zealanders and Australians experienced ninety-six years ago. To see the individual markers representing so many lives lost was a very moving experience. From the incredibly large numbers of Turkish people visiting Chunuk Bair (site of the New Zealand memorial and that of Ataturk) it was obvious this place is special to them too. Friendly young Turks were anxious to practise English but it was hard to make much headway so the universal sign of hand on heart to ... read more
