Blogs from Gallipoli, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 4

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

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

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

Gallipoli is a compulsory stop for any New Zealander or Australian visiting Turkey and we wanted to see it ourselves, take Phoebe, learn more and pay our respects. We stayed in the nearby town of Çanakkale and caught the ferry across the Bosphorus to the European side of Turkey. This was one place where we wanted a tour guide to do the memorials justice. When we joined the tour group we thought at first the guide would be too flippant and casual, but we needn't have worried. He treated the subject with great respect, balance and knowledge for which we were very grateful. Even though it's nearly one hundred years on from the battles at Gallipoli, it doesn't take much to inspire anger at this gross display of stupidity. Where at least you might say the ... read more

We are now on a tour and travelling through Turkey. The group is nice, only 10 of us plus two tour leaders - 2 Canadians and 6 Aussies. Our first stop was Gallipoli. We were here last year for ANZAC day and the place had left a real impression on us. It was good to visit the area without 7000 New Zealanders and Australians. We visited the Kabatepe Museum which is only small but it contained some really interesting exhibits - uniforms, photos (including one where during a break in the fighting the Australian soldiers played a game of cricket and another of an Australian soldier giving water to an injured Turk), letters and other finds such as a foot that had been blown off by a grenade - still in the shoe and a jaw ... read more