Blogs from Gallipoli, Marmara, Turkey, Middle East - page 7

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 ... read more

Yesterday, we headed south away from İstanbul to Ecebat on the Gallipoli Peninsula. Today we're looking forward to a tour of the battlefields of Gallipoli, but more about that next blog. On Sunday we braved the blazing sun to take in the Turkish Grand Prix. We were sitting on an embankment where it was 36 degrees, and we had no shade. The GP was awesome though. We had a great view of several corners and a long straight. No crashes occured in front of us, but there were some close calls. You don't get a full apprecıatıon for the speed of the cars and the noise they make unless you're there. Anyway, got to go pay tribute to the fallen ANZAC warriors. Til next time, stay safe... read more

Apparently the ancient site of Troy is somewhat of an enigma. Thought by many to be a nonexistant city, only a product of Homeric poetry, it was finally re-discovered and excavated by German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870's. subsequent activities have restored part of the walls, etc.; and now there is a giant "replica" of a hollow wooden horse for tourists to climb in and be photographed. Then we are on to Gallipoli, where Britain attempted in 1915, for 270 or so days, to overwhelm the Turkish army which was supported by Germany. This unsuccessful effort involved maybe a millon or so troops and resulted in a huge number of deaths and injury on both sides. but apparently both armies developed a respect for each other that has endured. This is a huge site, ... read more

Well the trip to Gallipoli has been and gone and only now are we starting to recover, from both the experience and the exhaustion. We rocked up to Cannakale (via Troy, where there is very little left), where we ferried across to Eceabat, our base for Gallipoli. It was only later that we realised we had crossed from Asia into Europe! A bit of an anti-climax really! But we setup camp and had dinner outside the Boomerang Bar with the rest of the Overland tours, and got to know them a bit. The next day we were up early to get our tour of Anzac Cove and the rest of the Peninsula. It was quite surreal as it is a very Mediterranean setting and anywhere else this would be a resort. It is very hard ... read more

Lest We Forget ANZAC Day at Gallipoli was everything we'd hoped it would be - a once in a lifetime pilgrimage which really felt like a sacred journey. It was moving and awe-inspiring to spend the night in that infamous cove, with the impassable yellow cliffs towering behind the crowd and the dark Aegean sea stretching into the infinity in front. With everything we needed to be comfortable and not an enemy in sight, it was impossible not to be filled with the most reverent respect for all of the men - Aussie, Kiwi, Turkish or otherwise - who dared even to set foot there when is was so awfully hostile, and so very different to the calm, green, sunny beach that greeted us. We were among thousands of people who streamed into ANZAC Cove to ... read more