Gallipoli

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Another lovely little stop over. The bus ride was 7hrs but I was so tired I napped all the way so didn’t really get to check out the countryside.

I booked a room at Anzac House and asked a young man in a book store for directions. He called Anzac and told me how to get there (turned out to be 20m up from the harhour). I found my hostel, dumped my bags, then went for a little explore and happened by the bookstore again so went in to say hi.

Resat is 24 and lovely. We had a cup of tea in the store then he invited me for dinner so we went to his local restaurant. It's a bit of a challenge sometimes with the language but I love these challenges, that's probably why I go out in search of locals to hang with. We then went for more tea on the waterfront. He had just moved to Chanakkale after doing his 18 months compulsory army time - turns out he did his 3 months training then was put straight into their terrorist squad - hard to imagine coz he's a quiet n shy young guy.

He invited me to breakfast before I took off to Gallipoli so we met at 10am and had his favourite - Bomba. Way too massive for me but very tasty.

I wasn’t going to stop at Gallipoli but decided to pay my respects and go on the Gallipoli tour. It means a whole day on and off a bus but it seems to be the only way to do it. We start with lunch in Aceabat then on the bus. We head to Anzac Cove, first to the gentle beach the Anzacs were meant to land on and then to the beach 1 mile north that they actually landed on. We stopped at all the memorials sites, walked in some of their trenches and all felt saddened by the amount of lives lost in this area. It was a full day of learning but it was also a day to reflect. Most people on the trip kept to themselves, perhaps remembering their past great grand fathers or great uncles.

We got back to Canakkele just after dark so I went to invite Resat for tea. Thiswas to be our last tea as he was off to Ankara later in the evening to celebrate Byram with his family and I’m off to Selcuk tomorrow.

I'm glad I stopped here. I've learned lots, made new friends and even had time for a spot of shopping

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