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Published: April 29th 2008
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Our Purple Room
We spend a couple of nights in this hotel. Althought purple it was clean and the foyer and bar had just been renovated so were really nice (but not purple). Good Afternoon all.
We have finally reach Turkey and it's much warmer. Stephen and I are just wearing one layer. I'm very excited about it. Unfortunately we have run into our first spot of bother. While flying to Istanbul from Moscow the airline has trashed Stephen's backpack. The injures incurred include a couple of holes, missing and damages straps and a bent frame. We're in the process of trying to follow it up with the airline and will have to fix it before we leave Istanbul as it won't travel in it's current state.
Anyway, we began our Sammy's Travel 6 day Anzac and Troy tour with a Gala Dinner, there was 15 bus loads of people at dinner with us. The food was traditional Turkish fair, the only problem was we had that for lunch with Emma and Al who are living here. They also had folk singers, a belly dancer and other traditional dances. It was really good, apart from the crowd partipation, which dragged me into it. (Jaymie - we spent the night in a purple hotel room.)
The next day was an early start to head down to Gallipoli because of the record number
that would arrive on the 24th. It was such a beautiful and peaceful area but the terrain was harsh and so steep, its hard to believe how anyone survived in those conditions. We spent the afternoon exploring very briefly Kabatepe War Museum, Anzac Cove, Hell Spit Cemetery, Lone Pine, The Nek, and Chunuk Bair War memorial.
We then caught a ferry to the Asian side of Turkey and headed to Troy. This was very disappointing; it wasn't maintained at all. The grass was so over grown that you could hardly see the ruins. We stay at hotel with a thermal spring, and had a smelly bath.
The day of the 24th was spent at local village, where they tried to sell the whole group turkish handmade rugs. While it was tempting, having no home to place it in was a small detail. In the afternoon we had a late lunch/early dinner and headed back to Gallipoli for the night.
We arrived at around 9pm and the place was packed with those who had arrived at 3pm. Crazy! This began the process of waiting, and trying to make space for the constant flow of buses that continued to
Us at Anzac Cove
Unfortunately Anzac Cove lost a little something as it was already set up for the ceremony. arrive until 1.30am Anzac Day. There were videos and interviews played on the big sceens throughout the night, some people tried to sleep and others like Stephen and I, stayed awake and made new friends. We were all very cosy and that made it a bit easy to keep warm. I felt the cold and had all the layers on except thermal pants, Stephen didn't have his outer shell on or his beanie til the service began at 5.30am.
The service was beautiful, it's something that really needs to be experienced, but be prepared to be uncomfortable and bored for the hours until the service. We then slowly walked up to Lone Pine. We had to time to explore the Beach Cemetery (where Simpson was buried), Shrapnel Valley (where Simpson did his work) along the way. They were such beautiful places, the sun was shining, the flowers were out and bright and it was hard to believe that such horrible things had happened there.
The Lone Pine Service wasn't as packed as the kiwis went straight to their service at Chunuk Bair. It was again so moving and was glad we'd made the choice to be here for
Ruins at Troy
As you can see it was very overgrown and sometimes hard to see the ruins themselves. it, even if the bag had been trashed.
We then also walked up to Chunuk Bair. The walk was so steep and took about 1 hour. We had a look at Quinns Post Cemetery on the way, and got there half way through the kiwi service. The kiwis certainly know how to do a Anzac Day Service. Their minister of foreign affairs spoke beautifully, it was hard to find a dry eye in the crowd. And that ended our Anzac day, we waiting 2 and half hours for the bus to collect us and we got back to our purple hotel room at arrive 9pm, not sleeping until we got back on the bus.
Much Love
Michelle and Stephen
xoxoxox
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Travelling Sar
Sarah Arblaster
Hey, this just takes me back to 2000 when I was there at the service - I loved every second and I could not help but think what it would have been like floating on a boat knowing that you would be sent off just before dawn... I am getting ready to do it all again in 2015 - once is not enough for me!