Turkey April 2007

Another way back post. This one is from a trip to Turkey over 13 years ago. Incredible really to think this was that long ago. It would be a lie to say I remember it like yesterday, 13 years is pretty much a third of my life. So I'll do my best to get this accurate but will be relying on the pics to jog my memory.

The background to this trip was that a group of friends had decided to do the Gallipoli pilgrimage. We signed up with a tour group which is pretty much the only way you could do Gallipoli.

I carried the luggage. This is in Balham, SW London, there was a long way to go and my smile was already looking a bit forced.

We flew in to Istanbul and had a couple of nights there. We arrived late, I vaguely recall some sense of unease arriving in to an airport in a country which was very different to our own. 

We caught a taxi to our accommodation, it was quite a drive, the roads we're pretty empty and our driver seemed determined to make the trip in record time, it was a little scary. 

We joined our tour group the next day and the sightseeing began. Our tour guide Ufuk seemed pretty good. We saw some truly incredible sights, in hindsight we might have been too young, naive and hungover to fully appreciate the significance of what we were experiencing. 

First site below (not sure if this was actually the first one we saw) is Topkapi Palace. Some info on Topkapi from the web has jogged my memory on this one. Built in 1478, oldest surviving palace in the world. Great view of the Bosphorous. With a history of over 500 years in one of the most important cities in the world Topkapi has seen it all, let's just leave it there, if you crave more actual information, have a look at Wikipedia or something.

The amazing view. And you can also see the Bosphorus in the background. The Bosphorus is what separates Europe and Asia.

Some pretty stuff in the palace, this is the ceiling

In the 1400's people must have been taller because this ATM machine was way too high. Jackie's short but not that short.

Next site is Aya Sofia (Hagia Sophia) was originally a Greek Orthodox Cathedral but was then transformed in to an Ottoman Mosque. This in itself gives a hint to some of the fascinating history of Istanbul that I still don't understand. Aya Sofia was built in 547!!!!. It was the largest building in the world when it was built. It's now a museum so we were able to go inside and have a look around. 

This is a highly artistic and beautiful photo, in case you hadn't noticed. 

Us having a break from sightseeing with a cup of tea, Turkish mint tea was great.

This next set of images look similar but this is actually the Blue Mosque, a relatively recent addition to Istanbul, completed in 1616. This is still a functioning mosque but tourists are allowed inside.

In our various European travels we went in to many places of religious worship but this one was very foreign in some ways. Sheer size for a start, the manner of worship and the architecture. But in other ways it was there were similarities with many places of worship with a very solemn atmosphere.

After a pretty intense day of sightseeing we were treated to a cruise on the Bosphorus Sea which goes right through Istanbul splitting it between Europe and Asia. 

On the cruise there were plenty of sights and plenty of beer. 

A bridge joining Europe and Asia

That night we went and found a nice restaurant for dinner. There were impressive fish dishes, deboned at our table. There was also a lot of Raki, which probably wasn't a good idea. The next day wasn't easy.

We were on the bus for quite a long day, leaving Istanbul we crossed to the Asian side and went to Bursa to a carpet factory. There was some pressure to by carpets, and in hindsight we feel maybe we should have got one, but I think it wasn't cheap and we weren't flush with cash.

    

From Bursa we made our way to the Pergamon Accroplois. We hadn't been to Greece at this point so this was our first opportunity to see Greek ruins. It was impressive

This is looking down at an amphitheatre, it was steep and huge. 

Crowd gathering at the amphitheatre

After the Accropolis we made our way to Avyalik to stay the night and have dinner by the water fronts. We'd had another busy day, covered a lot of territory on the bus, with some very hungover backpackers, not just from our crew. I'm pretty sure we slept well the night but think we had an early start the next day.

Our view from dinner at Ayvalik, looking out towards Greece. 

The next day was the trek to Gallipoli. Back on the bus, and then to a ferry. Before we got on the ferry we had a short amount of time to stock up on food and there were recommendations to buy rubbish sacks to use for warmth if we didn't have suitable clothing and bedding.

On the ferry, some passengers didn't fare too well being on the sea, despite it being relatively calm.

We could start to see the mayhem we were heading towards with the number of buses filled with Kiwis and Aussies.

On to the Gallipoli peninsula it was busy. Our bus decided to give the museum a miss in favour of getting to ANZAC cove earlier. Probably a good decision. 

Once arriving at Gallipoli we had a bit of a walk to ANZAC cove where we would sleep under the stars for the night. 

After recent bad behaviour from visitors, thre was strict security and absolutely no alcohol allowed, I think our group was very happy with this rule.

There was already a lot of people set up but we found a good spot, marked out our territory and tried to get comfortable.  

Our crew

Sun setting

The ANZAC troops faced this when they arrived. 

Rugged up and ready to get some sleep

One of the memorials at ANZAC cove

A view from the beach where the troops landed. It was very moving standing in this spot thinking about what had unfolded in WW1

I guess this beach would have been filled with bodies.

Lone Pine, Aust memorial 

Lone Pine, Aust memorial 

Now it seems like a beautiful spot. 

Winnie representing NZ

Gravestones everywhere

Headstones say: "Believed to be buried in this cemetery..."

Lone Pine, the Australian Memorial

Chunuk Bair, NZ memo

Jackie nailing the "happy cowboy in a historic war trench where people died while holding an ice cream but hiding an the wrapper behind her back " look

The ANZAC memorial was incredibly moving, being there and hearing the stories,  able to visualise the terrain the troops were thrown in to and seeing how impossible the task ahead of them would be led to emotions of anger, sadness and pride. I don't think I'll ever understand the rationale for war and this really drove home how ridiculous war is.

The formalities included the dawn ceremony at ANZAC Cove as well as an Australian ceremony at Lone Pine and an NZ ceremony at Chunuk Bair. After this we were back on the bus, back to Istanbul. Turns our there's a short cut, it was much quicker to get back to Istanbul than it took to get to Gallipoli. 

We had another night there which included an awesome dinner in a private dining room which finished off with belly dancing for everyone. 

We also made sure to visit the Grand Bazaar, the massive shopping precinct which was enormous and a fascinating study in daily life of Istanbul.

One thing I haven't mentioned because I didn't have any photos was the food. Breakfasts were European/Mediterranean, olives, cucumber, tomato, bread, meat. Yum. 

Lunches on our travels usually ended up trialing the local dish, usually a particular type of kebab. I think there might have been a buffet situation along the way as well. All the food was very enjoyable. 

As with any group tour there were a couple of annoying people. On this trip it was a couple of young Aussie girls who clearly weren't cut out for a trip across Turkey. Being vegetarian wasn't too easy and they just hadn't really grown up enough to realise how to get along with a big group of people, which sometimes involved making sacrifices. 

I think this is roughly the route we took

And that was that. It was a pretty short trip but the sights and history we experienced was probably more significant than anything we saw on our travels. 

I think Istanbul is a place we'd love to visit again,