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Blue Mosque
This is a picture of Blue Mosque. It is very hard to get good photos of it because it is just sooo big. The Anzac Tour was something that we had been looking forward to since we started planning our overseas trip. But to actually be at Anzac Cove for the Dawn Service on April 25, was an experience we will never forget.
The tour started off in Istanbul - a city that obviously knows no other pace than 100/kmh. After arriving there from quiet little Santorini, Istanbul was a little bit of a shock for us. And when one of the tour guides who picked us up from the airport happened to mention that Istabul has a population of 15 million, well that just blew our minds. Particularly when you consider little old Australia has an overall population of 20 million!
Anyway, after a night of rest, we headed off to explore Istanbul with some of the members of the tour group. Our tour guide was Kemal (yes, pronounced the same as Kemahl the singer and no, after much prompting he would not break out into song for us). There was seven of us on the Istanbul tour and the rest would join us the next day as we headed to Gallipoli.
We started off at the Hippodrome, a
Inside the Blue Mosque
The name "Blue Mosque" is actually a nickname, after the inside having thousands of blue tiles everywhere. This picture doesn't quite look like that, however we can assure you, they were blue. Again, very difficult to take good photos becuase it is very big. It is the 2nd biggest Mosque in the world. place where they used to hold chariot races in ancient times. Although, today, there is not that much to see except for a few monuments. The Hippodrome is only a short distance away from the Blue Mosque - one of the biggest and most well known mosques in Turkey. This is one of the most popular tourist sites in Istanbul and it showed. Just about every man and his dog was trying to take a look of the interior at the same time as us. (And to tell you the truth it was like that just about everywhere we went!)
The real name of the mosque is the Sultanahmet Mosque, but it gets it's nickname "Blue" mosque because the ceiling on the inside is decorated with this intricate blue pattern. When we went inside, we had to take our shoes off, as is the custom. Muslims also pray five times a day and you can hear the prayers every time because it can be heard over a loudspeaker across most of the city centre. It is so loud that it even wakes you up in the morning - no alarm clock required!
Next stop was Aya Sofia, which
Inside Aya Sofia
This is a special plate where you are supposed to put your thumb in the hole in the middle and if you can turn your whole hand around without taking your thumb off the centre hole then you get to make a wish. Well thats what the guy who went up to it before us said. Not sure that he was an expert, but everyone else copied us afterwards as well! provides an interesting mix between Christianity and the Muslim faith. It was built as a church when the Turks were still Christians and then when they took on the Muslim faith it became a mosque. Now it is a museum for any mug to come and take a look at it, which they did. It's an enormous structure and it blows your mind just how big it is from the inside because from the outside it looks quite unimpressive and small. It is also weird seeing where the altar used to be when the building was a church, but there are no pews inside because room was obviously needed for praying when it became a mosque.
After this, we went to Topkapi Palace, which is the former home of all the sultans who reigned during the Ottoman Empire. There were so many different sections of it, all packed to the brim with tourists, lots of whom were Australians and New Zealanders on similar tours to us. The highlight of the visit was going to the treasury. Here, you could see one of the largest diamonds in the world. I can't remember how many carats it was, but it was
Inside Aya Sofia
This is probably the best photo we had from inside Aya Sofia. It is massive, and also quite dark. There are various paintings and writings on the walls, and some parts are plastered over and some are not. massive! Although I have to admit it was a little over the top and I still like my engagement ring much better!! The diamond belonged to one of the sultans and I think he received as a gift. We ended up having lunch at the palace and it was so expensive for what we actually got. They charge you an arm and a leg to eat there because there is only one place you can go to. However, it did have an amazing view of the Bosphorous.
The Istanbul tour finished at the Grand Bazaar. Unless you want to buy fake designer wares or expensive jewellery, there's not much else you can spend your money on there. It is still a must-see while visiting Istanbul. It's an indoors market and there are all these frescoes on the ceiling. It's quite beautiful really, if you happen to block out the noises of all the people trying to scam you into buying something you either don't really need or rip you off.
Our group grew the next day as every one had arrived to take part in the most important part of the tour, the visits to all the war
Entrance to Topkapi Palace
The entrance to Topkapi Palace. Some repair work is being done on one side but it is still a very impressive entrance. Guards stand on doorway as well. sites. We first drove from Istanbul to Gallipoli to the war museum there. Anzac Day is only a few days after the Turkish national day, so the museum was also packed with Turkish tourist, who didn't really understand the concept of personal space in the queue to get in. After surviving that, we had a look through, then headed straight to Lone Pine. Lone Pine is a place that has graves of only Australian soldiers, and of course, the lone pine tree. It was quite surreal being there, but the fact that the whole site was surrounded by grand stands, was a bit of a blemish on the experience. If you went there at any other time during the year, I think a visit to Lone Pine would be far more moving. But seeing graves of men not much older than myself, who died while on what was supposed to be a bit of an adventure, is really emotional.
We then had a look at some of the trenches where both Australian and Turkish soldiers actually based themselves during battle. They are not very big at all, so I can't imagine what it would be like to camp in
Trenches at Lone Pine
Kim ín one of the trenches. This is an example of the many trenches that still scatter the area. Amazing to think of the fighting that once went on here. there and be on alert for any potential attacks.
After seeing some monuments near the battlefields, we headed over to the Asian side of Turkey by ferry. Once we crossed the water, we went through a city called Cannakale and then onto the ancient city of Troy. I guess we all know the story about the Trojan horse, probably because we've seen the movie with Brad Pitt and Eric Bana. But if you expect this attraction to be absolutely interesting, then you would be wrong. There is actually not too much to see there. It's a little boring and a huge disappointment, but I guess we can at least say that we have been there.
After a stay at a fairly ordinary seaside hotel, we ventured to the ancient city of Pergamum. The site we visited had an old acropolis perched on top of this massive hill, which gave a great view of Bergama, which is the town below. It was very similar to the acropolis in Athens, but a little less spectacular and not as well maintained. At least with this tour, we were able to have a better look around and weren't rushed like we were
Gallipoli war memorial
Kim and Kara outside the war memorial at Gallipoli. The museum is just behind the photographer taking the photo of us. in Athens.
We later bussed it to another ancient city. This one was called Ephesus. The reason why there will be no photos of this site on our blog is because someone (Kim) forgot to bring the camera along. Apparently, Ephesus was one of the most important cities during Roman times because it was by a port. But it was a really great place to look at and was well worth the trip, particularly the old ampitheatre that was so steep that someone fell off it and broke their leg while we were there! Luckily it was no one in our group though.
We finished off the day with a trip to a leather factory, where we could get discount off a range of leather jackets if we wanted to. One of the sales assistants was desperately trying to sell one to Kim (which was sooooo foul) and was talking to him for pretty much the whole time we were there. Kim said that he thought it would be an "investment" buy because he would have it forever. But I know I wouldn't have gone out with him any time he wore it!
The next day was
An example of an Anzac letter
There are many letters like this, but i think this gives an example of what it was like for soldiers and army personnel when they arrived at Gallipoli. spent driving all the way back to Gallipol for the Anzac Day commemoration. It was nearly a six hour journey, lengthened by a trip to a traditional Turkish rug store and some temple. Our tour group probably would have spent close to $20K on a range of rugs, which they all got shipped home. We then stopped at a hotel on the way for a shower and some rest before getting on the ferry again and on to Anzac cove. We got there at around midnight and it was already packed. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got there, but every time you tried to sleep outdoors, it made you feel even colder. Also, we were sitting inthe grandstands and it wasn't really the setting for a comfortable sleep. We ended up buying a blanket from one of the vendors there for 15 lira, but it didn't make us that much warmer from the freezing cold.
We had about five layers on top of thermals. That probably gives a good idea exactly how cold it was camping out. Imagine what it would have been like for the soldiers. I definitely makes you respect the sacrifice of all
Troy
This is Kara with the Trojan Horse behind her. There were loads of kids running up and down the stairs at the same time we were there so we didnt actually climb it. There is no view from the top though, and i think the photo captures it all. By the way. its only a replica - the original would be thousands of years old! the Australians who enlisted and fought at Gallipoli when you have experienced being there at the same time they arrived there, in roughly the same conditions.
The dawn service had the same format as a dawn service in Australia, just it was taking place at the site where it all began. After this, we walked up the infamous steep cliffs to Lone Pine, where a service would be held just for the Australians. We managed to speed ahead of most of the crowds and got to Lone Pine fairly early. The bonus of that is we got some prime seating. The Lone Pine service featured many bible readings and poems, one of which was read by the daughter of a couple on our tour, who also happened to be from Adelaide. So that was pretty cool for all of the people on our tour.
After the Lone Pine service, we all headed back for the bus, ready for the trip back to Istanbul. It was a four-hour long trip and I don't remember much of it, mainly because I was asleep. After we arrived back at the hotel we stayed at on the first couple of nights in
Pergamum
Kim and Kara at Pergamum. Pergamum is where the ruins of an ancient city are where Greeks and Romans lived on top of the massive mountain and the townfolk lived below. Istanbul, we said goodbye to the rest of our tour group. After that, it would be fairly safe to assume everyone went straight to bed!
We didn't do much the next day, except get our laundry done. Because we were leaving that day and needed our laundry in a hurry, we had to pay $160 to get it done. We were pretty shocked at the bill, but when you are travelling, you are always getting ripped off like that.
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