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Published: November 3rd 2010
The boardwalk at Kucukkuyli.
Just a hundred metres from our apartment the night before arriving in CanakkaleSunday 31st October and Monday 1st November 2010
It was an early start this morning, 9am departure rather than 10am. This was mainly due to the fact that daylight saving finished here at 4am and we didn't know until just before breakfast! After a final drive past the white travertines we were on our way, stopping briefly just up the road to take photos of the cotton fields there. Cotton is a major industry in Turkey, a fact we only found out about when discussing the country with the other Australians at breakfast this morning.
It was a straight through drive to Bergama, over 200kms away, the reason for our visit was to see the ruins of the the ancient city of Pergamum. Not as many tourists come here and it is reputed to be more laid back. Just before we got there we stopped to refuel the car, not that it needed it, just to see how economical it was. We were amazed, we had averaged 6 litres/100km, and this with the mountains we had traveled through. The full tank should see us through the next 800kms quite easily.
On reaching Bergama we stopped at a couple
of hotels to get quotes for a night's accommodation. Both reduced their rates, we selected the Efsane Hotel, which dropped by 40% and included breakfast. Once the season finishes, as it has, rates are very negotiable. We had a nice room and as it had a good wifi connection we were able to do our normal work. The only downside of the stay was the next morning when the water was cut off on the whole street. Judy just managed to get her hair washed but the little water she had was cold.
The ruins of Pergamum were reached by driving along a narrow road around a hilltop, going around it until you reached the top. Alternatively you could catch a cablecar to the summit, but as we had the car, and have been on enough cablecars to not need that experience again, we drove. Once past the ticket office and you are in amongst the ruins. These ruins date back to 400BC but even though they have been partly excavated and restored, mainly by the Germans, they were no-where near as spectacular as those at Pamukkale or the ones at Effes that we saw in 2002. As expected
there weren't large crowds there, but those that we did see were predominantly Germans.
On the road again, a highway with 3 lanes either way, until we reached the city of Ayvalik on the coast. After parking the car we walked back along the main street for a while, then Judy led down a side alley to a street parallel. Here the shops and people were more local and we soon found a cafe which was packed with locals. In we went and we indicated the 3 dishes we wanted from the food being dished out, this then enjoyed from the balcony overlooking the rest of the cafe. We had meatballs, cooked chicken, and a meat dish of some sort, we forgetting to order a vege dish. No matter, they were served with the usual complimentary pile of bread and we had what was probably, the best meal we have had so far in Turkey. The cost of this fine repast - about A$12 including a bottle of water!
As it was still too early to stop, we walked through a bit more of the town, returning to where the car was parked at about 2am. Back on
the highway, forever worrying or not whether we were speeding or not as the maximum speed in Turkey is 90kph with 50kph in towns and nowhere are they posted. We slowed as we passed the town boundary sign, everyone passed us, but every now and then we saw police with a vehicle pulled over. At times we just followed a bus, as they should know the limits, but most times we couldn't keep up with them!
By about 3.30pm we were both feeling tired and still about 100kms from Canakkale. As we had no idea where we were going to stay there, we decided to check out an hotel in Kucukkuyli, a seaside holiday town with many hotels. The very first one we checked had the right unit - self-contained and clean, only A$35/night. When Rags cheekily asked if we would get a discount if we decided to stay a second night, it was offered at A$28! Appears we are the only ones here.
After settling in, we had afternoon tea, went walking alongside the waterfront for some way before returning to pick up the car to go to Migros supermarket which Judy saw on the way and
thought was 'just up the road'. She must have fallen asleep after seeing it as we drove nearly 14kms to it. Here we picked up a few groceries for dinner and breakfast, as well as some refreshments. Neither of us was very hungry after that great lunch, but we enjoyed our dolmades, biscuits, with olive paste and stringy cheese, with our drinks.
Tuesday 2nd November 2010
We decided not to stay another day in Kucukkuyli, instead to continue on to Canakkale. We made the detour before getting there to visit Troy, these ruins renown for the Trojan horse. From everything we read, these ruins are not very good, very touristy and most advise you miss them. We could see the model of the horse from the gate but didn't feel that the excessive entry fee warranted us entering. We left, and just a short distance up the highway came across a cafe which had a large model of the Trojan horse in the carpark. We stopped to take some photos and to look at some of the handcrafts made there.
When we got to Canakkale we ended up at the local markets which were in full
swing. Great selections of fruit and vegetables were on sale, all at more competitive prices than we have seen elsewhere. No tourists were to be seen, this keeping prices down. The waterfront had many restaurants along it, most closed as there were few tourists about. We had lunch there and a quick browse around before bringing the car to the dock where we drove onto the ferry. The journey across the Dardanelles strait took 30 minutes, we landing at the own of Eceabat.
From here we drove about 20kms south to the end of Cape Helles where there are several memorials commemorating landings there in WW1, with the loss of many lives on both sides. One of the memorials,the Canakkale Martyrs Memorial, is a huge 4 pillared one with a stone top. It is in memory of the Turks lost in that area. As it was just on sunset when we reached it there were very few people about and the silence and it's majesty made quite an impact.
We still hadn't arranged somewhere to stay and on finding most of the hotels and pensions closed for winter we headed back for Eceabat. After passing several more closed
Helles Memorial
this is a Turkish memorial dedicated to Turkish soldiers who have died in battle throughout history. The obelisk is more than 30 meters high, and can be seen by ships sailing on the Dardanelles.
Read more: Monuments in Turkey ones Judy was getting a little concerned but on entering the city we stopped at the Aqua Hotel, between the road and the water's edge. Judy went in to check availability/ condition/price, and came out shortly with a smile on her face. The price was reduced after offering to stay 2 nights. It pays to ask.
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The room was one of the largest we have had, clean, and with ocean views. We can use it as a base to return to after visiting the battle fields more north of here tomorrow. Judy especially liked the soft pillows as all the hotels have had very hard pillows since leaving Dalyan.
Wednesday 3rd November 2010
The earth moved for both of us this morning. Before readers let their imagination go too far, we were woken at just before 5am by the room shaking and swaying. It stopped before we even got out of bed but it was enough to worry us both. On doing a search later there was an earthquake at that time which measured 5.1. Not sure what we would have done if it continued, we being on the first floor.
Today there was heavy
fog which hadn't cleared by the time we drove into the northern part of the Gallipoli Peninsula on the western coast. This is the area where the ANZACS became the legend they are today. There are memorials everywhere on this section of the peninsula, commemorating both the Turkish and the Allied forces. Names we had heard of such as Lone Pine, Shrapnel Valley, Chunuk Bair, Hill 60, Anzac Cove, were all places we visited. It was quite emotional seeing and reading the descriptions of them, the number of deaths and woundings being horrific. All told, the campaign cost the lives of almost 36 000 Commonwealth (8 700 Australians), 10 000 French and about 86 000 Turks. Walking through the gravesites we saw name after name of men aged between 18 and 35 years who perished. At Anzac Cove you could understand the impossibility of victory when you saw the narrow beach and the cliffs the men had to climb under fire. This came about by them overshooting the planned beach by about 3 kms.
All the graves and memorials are well-tended, with the descriptions the battles being balanced from both sides. Even though the Turks won overall, they lost
more men than the Allied forces. There is a moving inscription on a memorial in Anzac Cove, written by Ataturk, the first president of Turkey. See the photo for the words, which basically say that all the fallen soldiers are now together and at home on Turkish soil.
On our return to Eceabat we ate a late lunch before continuing past the hotel and up the coast for about 10 kms to the town of Kilitbahir, where we saw a fortress yesterday on our way in. The fort, which dominates the small fishing village, was built in 1452, the 7 storey interior tower added a century later. We entered the fort which has walls towering over you, climbing up steps without any handrails to the top of the walls. Signs there warn people who have heart problems or who suffer from vertigo not to climb. We found going up was ok, going down made us tread warily. Behind the castle, between it and the strait, lie the Namazgah Tabyasi, a mazelike series of defensive bunkers which dominated the scene. Here we saw the foundations where cannon used to be mounted, these being able to fire shells over halfway across
Canakkale Martyrs' Memorial
This 41.7 metre memorial commemorates the service of about 253,000 Turkish soldiers who took part in the battles. the strait. Identical cannon on the other side ensured that they controlled who passed through.
By the time we returned to the Aqua Hotel we had been out 7 hours. We feel the only way to explore this area is to have your own transport, everything is too far away to do it any other way except by tour bus, these moving from place to place and not allowing you the flexibility to see other places and to spend more time anywhere.
Dinner was in the hotel, we sampling several local dishes including squid, small fish, eggplant and tomato dishes. We spent the rest of the evening getting the blog up to date and publishing it for others to read.
We have wondered who reads our blog, only 4 or 5 people have written in the 'Comment' section. Just for interest sake we would ask anyone else who has read it to do the same, so that we have some idea who our audience is. We won't necessarily publish your comment especially if you ask, or we don't like it!! (-;
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Rod Murtha
non-member comment
Heading North
It seems that you are heading North. Gallipoli is very impressive - eh. It seems tha Troy has not changed, we found it a bit disappointing. Are you heading to Istanbul? The Aegean coast is beautiful and the pics do it justice. Carry on.