Gallipoli
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2008
1
60
102
Trip End
Feb 26, 2009
Gallipoli,
Canakkale,
Turkey
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We got up early for the drive, but ended up waiting for 1.5 hours before leaving, as Gokhan and the driver broke the key when they were loading the bags. Then the first replacement key we got delivered didn't fit! In the middle of the drive, police stopped us for speeding, and later the fuel system stuffed up too! The bus is tiny - a 24-seater for the 22 of us.
Gallipoli
What struck me about Gallipoli was the size of the place - it never occurred to me that it would be so big and steep that we'd need to go around the site by bus. We began at Anzac Cove, where the Anzacs landed. It's a pretty beach with many graves, and descriptions of the events in WWI - this is where the Anzac Day festivities take place.
Next was Lone Pine, high up, where there's a lone pine tree, and now monuments in tribute to the Anzac soldiers. Other sights we saw were the Nek, Chunuk Bair memorial, Turkish memorials, and several trenches. It makes you realise how difficult trench life would have been, with opposing trenches often no more than 5 metres apart!
Quite moving was an inscription by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, first President of the Turkish Republic and an important figure in the Gallipoli campaign. To me it represents the lack of animosity held by either the Turks or the Anzacs. Here's the quote:
"Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears, your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well."
Post-Gallipoli
After the day in Gallipoli, we caught a ferry across the Dardanelles to Asia, to sleep in a town called Guzelyali. For some reason, James and I were given our own rooms - as much as I don't mind sharing a room with him, I can't help but enjoy the first night in months that I've had to myself.
