This place is(tanbul) awesome!

Howdy folks, and apologies for the terrible pun in the title- just couldn't help myself!! We have had the most awesome time here in Turkey- I think Istanbul is fast closing in as my favorite city we have visited on all our travels- I just love it! One thing that struck both Adam and I on our first day in the city is how clean it is- for such a big place filled with so many people you would expect a certain amount of rubbish on the streets but not so- it's a very neat and tidy place- the obvious exception is the amount of smog in the air- makes the whole place look like it's hiding under one giant smoke haze- but when you see the number of cars on the roads (loads) and the number of factories and industrial buildings (heaps) you can understand why that is.

My last post was mainly about my Turkish bath- an experience that is still vividly implanted in my mind- but over the past few days we have managed to squeeze in so many more fabulous experiences (though Adam managed to resist a visit to the bathhouses!).

Probably one of the most poignant and moving experiences of Istanbul, in fact probably of our entire European trip was the visit we made to Gallipoli. Now Gallipoli isn't exactly neighboring Istanbul- it's a five and a half hour bus ride away and we ummed and ahhed about if we should make the journey or not, because as well as being a huge amount of traveling in one day it also cost a reasonable amount of money and at the tail end of our trip, the budget is being a little tightened to ensure we don't run out of funds before as get home . In the end however we came to the conclusion that a visit to ANZAC cove was important to us enough to justify the cost and long travel time.

So, at 645am we set out on the bus and as the day slowly dawned we got a good look at the turkish countryside (very green- in parts it could have been Ireland) and littered with lots of little fishing and farming villages, all in all rather pretty. 

At about 12.30pm we hopped off our bus as a small dishing town on the Gallipoli peninsula and were met by our guide, a very friendly Turkish man who had studied ww1 history at university and was absolutely passionate about telling the stories of the soldiers who were at Gallipoli, both Allies and Turks, to ensure their memory lives on- he was a fantastic man and we were so lucky to have him as our guide. 

We had a quick look around the ANZAC museum which had lots of photographs, and artifacts like uniforms, rifles, shoes and glasses.there was also a huge map of the region and our guide used it to explain and demonstrate why the allies wanted to gain control of Gallipoli so badly, and why the Turkish fought so hard to defend it ( if the allies had secured the objective hill at Gallipoli they would have secured the only ice free body of water to get from england to Russia and perhaps this would have altered the course of how ww1 played out).

From the museum we drove to Anzac cove itself and I was amazed at how small the beach was, both in length and in width. It's hard to imagine how all those thousands of soldiers managed to land on the beach, with the hills starting only meters from the waters edge, and the cove providing a natural barrier to landing further north or south. Standing on the beach itself, the beach I heard about for so many years on the 25th April and in endless history classes, looking up at the impenetrable hills and back at the rough, grey water, it's amazing to think any soldiers survived at all. 

Just along the road from the cove is the first of MANY cemeteries that are all throughout Gallipoli , that are marked 'here it is believed lies..' who died between  25-28 April (for example) 1915. Such was the carnage and mass confusion that no one can be sure when individuals died, because it was offer days, if at all, before their bodies could be safely retrieved, and burials often occurred so rapidly and under such conditions that there often wasn't the time or ability to make certain of the identities of each of the fallen men. The cemeteries themselves were beautifully maintained and are very lovingly and respectfully upkept- it was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had, to walk among the rows of headstones, in the rain and wind and to look out at the beach that so many died on. It was hard to describe all the feelings and emotions that were stirred up just being there.

From the beaches (we visited a few others that were sights of later landings) we drive up to lone pine (where the bloodiest battle of Gallipoli was fought) and from there up to the hill that was the overall objective for the entire Gallipoli campaign. I can understand why the allies were so keen to gain control of the hill- from the top you could see everything in every direction, both land and see, for miles and miles. The hill was only ever under Anzac control for 8 short hours before it was regained by the Turkish forces. Standing on the hill I can understand why from a military vantage point the hill was important, but I had to wonder if it was worth the thousands of thousands of allied and Turkish lives who were lost or wounded fighting for it between April and December 1915. 

Gallipoli was a hauntingly special place to visit, it surprised me how moved I was to be there- but it's an experience I shall treasure forever. Even though it was a big day of traveling the day was entirely worth it, I would whole heartedly recommend the visit for anyone who visits turkey.

On a less somber note, the remainder of our stay in Istanbul was spent exploring and discovering as much of the city as we could. We walked from the European side over to the Asian side (because I walk between continents all the time- no big deal..!), had a famous (and amazing) fish sandwich from the base of the galata bridge (seriously- take my word for it- fantastic!), climbed a 14th century lookout tower for some uninterrupted views of the city (residential buildings spread without break from the center of the city over the horizon in every single direction), caught a whirling dervish performance(got seriously dizzy just watching!), haggled and (probably) got a bargain at the spice markets and grand bazaar, drank liters of apple tea (I'm going to miss that!), were impressed continually by the beauty of the  mosques and were woken up each morning, without fail by the loud speaker announcements of the call to prayer- I love this city!

But a little sadly Istanbul signifies the sort of 'turning point' in our trip, its the furthest east we get on our travels, afterwards we will turn and work our way back west to London where we will board a plane Perth bound. So, in an effort to go out and soak the last tiny drops from the city I shall close this blog now (actually turned into quite a long one- congrats if you are still reading!)
Hope all is well on your various sides of the globe
Love
Lauren the loudspeaker and Adam the apple tea