Gallipoli - Chuchills great plan - Not!
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2005
1
15
31
Trip End
Mar 13, 2006
Gallipoli,
Turkey
Saturday, December 3, 2005
We stayed at Kadirs, one of the original places with tree house accommodation - definitely original... this place hasn't been repaired in years - scary thought. With Ant and I being tight, we dormed it with 4 of our other tour buddies, and stayed in 'The Penthouse', which is the highest tree house of them all.
Olympus is a wicked little place, in summer it would definitely go off! During our stay the boys and I (Ant, Tia & Wazza) hired mountain bikes. We thought we'd be able to find some tracks etc, though after riding to the end of the town - all of which took about 5 minutes - we were told that we would not be able to ride through the ruins
Kiwi Memorial
. We were also informed that there was nowhere else we could ride either... the bastards dupped us, all for 30p an hour(not to mention that it took an hour of repair to make them rideable)! The ruins of Olympus were wicked, and the water of the Med freezing but refreshing. The boys thought it would be funny to bury me in the pebbles.. and take photo's - boy's who'd ave em! - it was however surprisingly nice, and warm. We also walked a 14km round trip to look at the eternal flames of Chimera, and to roast marshmellows - yum, yum! So.. after another couple of boozy ghts in Olympus we headed off again... next destination Pamukkale.Pamukkale is famous for the "cotton castle" of terraced pools (caused by cascading calcium rich mineral springs), and the ancient ruins of Hieropolis. What a wicked little haven to find. To get to the terraced pools, first you must walk through Hieropolis. This place is filled with what seemed hundreds, upon hundreds of tombs... most had been desecrated, and the ones that remained untouched - to only think what could be inside. This place was amazing, the crumbling ampitheatre though not large, was still elaborate, and our imaginations ran wild trying to picture what went on in here those many hundreds of years ago. Once through the ruins, we bathed our feet in the small heated pools of the terraces - so soothing. It was said that up until 15 years ago you could sit in the pools, though the locals were taking the water for their own person use, so now there are only a few areas remain to put your feet - thanks a lot locals, is all I can say!
Pamukkale to Ephesus - built by the Greeks a thousand years before Christ and then rebuilt by the Romans, this immense ancient city boasts an amphitheatre that can seat 24000 and a harbour with no water. We stayed in a dodgy wee hotel with a lovely mama and papa, sadly though their son was a dodgy git... which no-one liked or trusted! Anyway, Ephesus, although an amazing site I didn't appreciate it for what it was. I don't want to cause disrespect to the people that slaved over this site to build it, but I think I was now officially tired of seeing old ruins - and to be honest I had actually enjoyed Hieropolis more!
So, our next and final stop we would make with our tour group would be Gallipoli - now I know I don't have to explain this to you all! This is a place that I had wanted to travel since I could remember. Having my Great-grandfather and Poppa fighting in the war made it even more special to me! We had a local guide who kept everyone fascinated with tales of the war - by this stage in the tour, it was hard to keep even a couple of peoples attention. We were able to walk through the trenches, and as you did you thought of all the people that once sat here before me, for the bloodshed and lives lost... so many different emotions ran through my mind at once. The Australian and NZ memorials were simple yet poignant. Our day ended with all of us having some quiet time, to reflect on all the information we'd received and sites we'd seen. The same night, after having a few too many beverages and carving up the dance floor with our crew of 8 (the others were nanas), my mate Kirsty and I went and sat on a pier overlooking the ocean. As we spoke about our day, we watched in amazement as this haze came across the ocean onto the land - this has to be one of the most eerie experiences I've ever had... the silence of the night, the mist, and the thoughts of all those ships in the harbour coming into Gallipoli some 80 odd years ago - what must of these men been seeing, thinking... it's still sending a shiver up my spine!
So... after an amazing time in Gallipoli our trip was about to end, final destination - Istanbul!
