Blogs from Turkey, Middle East - page 395

TURKEY 27/04/07 to 04/05/07 Despite the fact of our mammoth ANZAC day, we continued the touristy sightseeing. First stop was the ruins at Perrgamon. The most notable fact about this place was back in the day, it housed the largest library which had over 10,000 scrolls, which were given to Cleopatra as a gift from Mark Antony. Apparently, the Egyptians were the only supplier of paper. They apparently became jealous of the fact the Perrgamon had the largest library, so stopped the supply. Parchment paper was then invented to overcome this. Another famous feature of Perrgamon was that it has the steepest amphitheatre which seats 10,000 people. Turkey is also known for its leather. The tour stopped off at the leather factory and we were treated to a fashion show. We were then taken though ... 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

I'm back in Istanbul and have enjoyed seeing Julien again, after what, 3 years? He managed to come for business ( from GL Geneva to visit Turkish clients) at the same period I was around. Day was about visiting Istanbul together. I showed him Sultanahmet area, with the gorgeous Blue Mosq and Enormous Ayia Sophia, getting in the blue mosq while prayer time was about. This all was followed by an Efes beer in Ortaköy area, then dinner at a not so good but still as always very friendly restaurant, where we had chicken schnitzel ( weird huh?) and a good bottle of red wine. Little story here: not all restaurant serve alcoholic beverages, so our mission that evening was to find restaurant that do serve some. First question before even entering at 11pm: - ... 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

Saturday 21 April - Today we headed off from London to Istanbul, with a quick stop off in Paris on the way. Arrived late in the evening and headed for our hotel. After dumping our gear we headed off to see the Blue Mosque at twilight. We then found a restaurant, complete with sleazy Turkish fella's who spoke a bit of Kia Ora! Sunday 22 April - The rest of the tour group arrived (about 40 of us in total) and we headed off for a cruise of the Bosphorous. Half way through the cruise we had a poor excuse for a belly dancer come up onto the top deck and try to perform what she tried to pass off as a traditional belly dance. In fact, what it was was a dance from a ... read more