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Çanakkale Harbour
Can you guess which country I am in? I arrived packed and completely worn out at Istanbuls Otogar (Bus Station) on a hot Sunday afternoon. Grabbed a last minute kebab and got ready to sit on a Kamil Koç for 6 hours (This was the bus firm I might add, although some of you readers are saying not for the first time).
Istanbul to Çanakkale is only 280Km's. I can't see how it can takes 6 hours, oh well, plug in my iPod and look out the window for a bit. We made one rest stop about 2 hours in, where the food (as always in Turkey it seems) was cheap and tasty. Much better than our "Service" stations back home.
Another hour or so I realise that Arsenal have just started their season against Newcastle United at Highbury, without me, for the first season since 1995. All I could imagine was the Highbury pitch looking like a carpet and the sun shining, meeting up with fellow gooners who you hadn't seen all summer asking "What's new?" "Not much" would be my usual response, but this season I am not even there. Instead my dad will be replying "He's gone travelling" with I would imagine negative swearword
Arsenal Here, Arsenal There....
The guns that stopped the Allied troops in WWI based comments. I hope!!
Anyway, my Mum was texting me updates throughout the afternoon of the match, the cricket and how Paula Radcliffe was doing in the marathon (why!?). Arsenal won 2-0, so I was getting on the cross Dardenelles ferry to Çanakkale with a smile on my face.
Once on the other side of the Dardanelles, which only took 20 minutes or so, it was back on the coach for 100M more until we was rushed off in the seafront square of Çanakkale.
My hostel for the next 2 nights was the
Anzac House about another 50M walk from where I got off the coach. It was possibly the easiest hostel search I have ever done. Once in my super clean dorm with water that actually poured out of the tap instead of dripping in the Istanbul Hostel, a comfy mattress and a sense of security. All for half of the price of my Istanbul hostel. I was beginning to think I should have left Istanbul even quicker than I should have. Even the Australian Cricket team have stayed there, I think I must have had Shane Warnes bunk, as I found a "fluid tablet" under my
pillow...
As I unpacked, I noticed that I was missing one part of my luggage, my jacket. Not that I would need it much at the moment in this 35C heat. But it's brand new and cost at least a months worth accommodation in my new hostel. So I went to the Kamil Koc office with no major hope of getting it back, as it was on the way to Ezine. The guy phoned up the coach and told me that it would be delivered back here in the morning. Hows that for service? Take note National Express and Virgin Trains.
Safe in the knowledge that my jacket was coming back I grabbed some dinner and a few beers on the seafront, looking over to the European side of Turkey.
Back to the hostel and the film Gallipoli is on. I settle in and watch it with the aussies and kiwis. I guess this has been played thousands of times before in here. I have seen it before but not with a crowd of patriotic ANZAC's! Once the film ended everyone just stood up and left very quitely. Surely everyone knew what was going to happen? After
ANZAC Cove
The impossible cliffs to invade all the only other Australian film I can think of is Bodyline!
Next morning I was up early, and treated myself to some Vegemite on toast. The first time I have had that in a while, and I stay firmly on the Marmite side of the war. Vegemite is weak! Then I was off for a tour of the ancient city of Troy, a half an hour bus ride away. Our guide was a real local Trojan called Mustafa, he has written books about this place, so about time I had a guide who knew what he was on about, and he did, he was very good. A quick (and obvious) stop at a gift shop, so the people who have to buy a souvernier can and I can have a sit in the shade with a bottle of Coke.
Once back in Çanakkale I got some lunch, went for a bit of a walk around town and then to a Internet cafe. For the most important thing of the day, the cricket. After 4 hours listening to every ball, chatting to friends and reading every page on bbc.co.uk, England drew. It's hard to paint a picture of
Turkish Trenches
More comfier than a Istanbul Hostel bed. cricket on the radio, but the boys on test match special did a fine job, shame England didn't get that last man out otherwise I would have been laughing my way back into the Anzac house.
I went for a night time stroll to get some much needed fresh air, and to soak up a Monday night in a rural Turkish town. It was packed with people, all walking along the seafront, with 101 corn on the cob stands and a musician on every corner each with a big audience. Nowhere would this happen in England.
Back to the hostel for some beer. Gallipoli is on again, and it looks like the same bunch of people who were watching it last night are watching it again. I decide to give it a miss and prepare to see the real battlefields in the morning.
Next morning I was off across the Dardanelles to check out the Gallipoli area, after a quick meal we headed off to the Kabatepe museum where our guide for the day, a Turk with a blonde pony tail and beard, I forget his name. Explained the reasons for the conflict. He knew his stuff,
and did a fine job throughout the day. Telling us superb info on every major thing that happened here. I knew this was a big thing for Aussies and Kiwis, but I never knew how big this battle was to the Turks. Ataturk was a major officer in the battle and is responsible for the ANZAC's not getting hold of this high value area. We stopped off at all the major sites on a 6 hour tour, which is well worth doing. I'm not normally into tours in groups, but the last 2 I have done whilst here has improved my faith in the guides, sometimes you get people who know close to nothing and rely on one bit of info all the time.
Once the tour was over it was a boat back to Çanakkale and straight on the minibus to Selçuk.
Nice place Çanakkale, well worth a 2 night stay here, just to calm down from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul. It's quite and very friendly. My hopes from leaving Istanbul were correct! Thank you!
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