Every year on the 25 April in Australia we honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. Gallipoli was where the allied troops landed in a vain attempt to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in order that the Black Sea could be accessed by the allied navies. Unfortunately for both sides it ended up being a stalemate after eight months of fierce fighting and significant loses on both sides. Today the losses are honoured by Aussies, Kiwis and Turks in a joint commemoration at what is now known as the ANZAC Commemorative Site (formerly it was held at the Ari Burnu War Cemetery at ANZAC Cove but so many people attend now they moved it.) Though technically my family has its origins in China I can still appreciate the sacrifices that the members of ANZAC made and I was eager to join Rache and Nic on the pilgrimage this year.

I’ve never been to Turkey and I was torn about whether to combine our ANZAC pilgrimage with a bigger and more encompassing tour of Turkey. In the end I decided to focus on the ANZAC part and come back and visit the rest of Turkey another time. Let’s hope I get that opportunity because it is a gorgeous country. During my short time in Turkey I completely fell in love with its people and its beautiful landscape and culture.

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When?	End April
Weather	Hot and sunny for the most part, sometimes cool and wet

The Experience

We decided to do our ANZAC pilgrimage on a tour, with Travel Talk. Relatively cheap it also took the hassle of getting around out of our hands. I’ve never traveled with them before but was pleased with how it turned out, even if some of the hotels we stayed in were a little bit skanky. The funniest hotel was Temizay Hotel in Canakkale where our “triple” room consisted of one double room and then a smaller side room with a single bed. It was funny because the single room had a door and key of its own. Well, it loses a bit in translation – guess you had to be there!

Day 1 – Istanbul, Bosphorus Cruise

We landed in Istanbul late in the afternoon so that didn’t leave much time for exploring. As it was we had to wait at the airport for over an hour anyway as they were waiting for our bus to “fill up” before we were brought to the hotel. As a result we missed the tour briefing at the hotel (though as it turned out it wasn’t that informative anyway!) We did however arrive with enough time to relax before heading out on the pre-organised evening cruise of the Bosphorus, which is the strait that separates Europe and Asia. Though being on a cruise at night was pleasant enough, because it was night there wasn’t a whole lot to sea (get it, see/sea)! The drinks on the boat were also very limited and, rather cheekily, also scarce so after the first round of drinks they were only selling large ones!

Day 2 -Travel from Istanbul to Gallipoli and Overnight Stay

Day 2 started off fairly early though not ridiculously so (8am start) as we had nearly 300kms to travel from Istanbul to get to Gallipoli and we didn’t want to arrive too late and miss out on the limited spots to lay out our sleeping bags. The area they’d allocated for sleepers at Anzac Cove is not huge by any stretch of the imagination.

But before we even left Istanbul we had a stop at a Carpet Seller! It wasn’t actually too bad because the seller went into great depths to explain what the carpets were made of, what made some more valuable than others, what to look out for when buying carpet etc. and they even gave us some apple tea (though I understand in Turkey it is tradition to negotiate over cups of tea.) I actually expected a much bigger push for us to buy the carpets but they weren’t at all aggressive.

When we finally got to Gallipolli it was nearing 5pm! I don’t know where time went. There was a massive queue to get through security but ridiculously we were split up into males and females. Typically the male line went through quickly and it took us girls over 45 minutes to get through. I couldn’t understand why it was taking much longer for us since everyone had the same amount of gear (overnight bags and sleeping bags in the main.) Luckily the guys on our tour had staked out some space for us where we all just managed to squeeze it. It was well cosy. The Fanatics got the best area though right near the stage which made us wonder just how much earlier they’d gotten to Gallipoli (apparently the gates didn’t even open until just before we got there).

I was actually very surprised at the amenities at the site for us overnight campers. There were giant TV screens, there were food vendors (the chicken kebaby men were hilariously singing out their wares all night) and most importantly there were a lot of porta loos which were quite well maintained and cleaned throughout the night. There was also always plenty of toilet paper and soap for washing of hands. The toilets barely even got clogged up. I was quite impressed.

For those not lucky enough to get any laying down space there was stadium seating surrounding the sleeping sites. What was amazing to me was that all night people were arriving. At no stage did the influx of people stop. I couldn’t even estimate how many were there but surely it was thousands and thousands.

We were really lucky with the weather because although it got fairly chilly I didn’t even need to get into my sleeping bag until nearly 2am. It was apparently fairly mild compared with previous years and additionally the rain, thankfully, stayed away.

Sleep-wise I did manage to snatch probably about an hour’s sleep all up throughout the night. It wasn’t actually the people and laying out in the open that stopped me sleeping – it was the fact that there was “entertainment” going on all night. It would either be live bands or singing on the stage or documentaries on the video screens. They certainly had the volume cranked up so everyone could hear everything. Many of the documentaries were extremely moving but the most moving was the still photos they showed of all the young men who lost their lives in the fight. I couldn’t help shedding a tear, especially when I saw that some had died only a month after joining the service.

The thing that hit me most was how respectful people were. Sure we were searched to make sure we didn’t bring alcohol on to the site but I’m sure if people really wanted to they would have found ways to. For the most part our overnight stay was solemn and of a quiet contemplation. There wasn’t any rowdiness, not sound systems and thankfully no one playing ball. It was mostly card games and quiet talking amongst each other.

Day 3 – Dawn Service, Ceremonies, and Anzac BBQ

I didn’t take any photos during the dawn service so this bit is all about the text. It didn’t seem right to do anything more than listening and absorbing the ceremony. I must admit getting twitchy when they started to lay down all the wreaths along the ANZAC commemorative site wall but otherwise it was an amazing experience to be a part of. Mostly the joint contemplation by the entire site whether they were Aussies, Kiwis, Turks or random nations it was very touching. And when they played the Last Post. Goosebumps much?! Unfortunately our PM at the time, Mr Rudd, didn’t make it to Gallipoli instead sending along Australia’s first female Governor General: Quentin Bryce and actually she was a pretty cool lady and I was proud to have her representing us.

After the dawn service everyone started their trek to visit the respective ceremonies held on separate sites, the Aussie one at Lone Pine, the Kiwi one at Chunuk Bair and I can’t remember where the Turkish one was held. The trek is not an easy one and we were keen to get to both the Aussie service and the Kiwi service (which were also about 3 kms apart uphill!) But we made it.

At both services the reps, Quentin Bryce for Australia and the PM John Key for New Zealand, were really generous with their time – going around to the crowds, shaking hands and even in the case of Quentin Bryce accepting gifts! One girl passed her an Anzac biscuit and she said a polite thank you and put it straight into her pocket. So down to earth it was great to see.

Both services were interesting but it was so difficult to keep our eyes open (not having slept really the night before and it being so hot!)

Because the area was so beautiful it was actually difficult to picture that 95 years ago the whole peninsula was a big giant war field. But what brought it home was something that the MC said at the Australian ceremony. He said something to the effect of “as you walk around today just remember that you are walking on ground where people have died and shed their blood.”

After a long day of ceremonies and memorials we headed finally to Ayvalik where we would stay for the night before heading to Troy the next day. Our hotel was such a stark contrast to the night at Gallipoli. It was a lovely hotel, we all had giant balconies and the pool was gorgeous (though it was too late and cold to have a dip.) Admittedly there wasn’t much of a nightlife (we were the only ones in our hotel club!) but it was nice nevertheless.

Day 4 – Troy and partying in Canakkale

Troy was, shall we say, underwhelming! The history, of course, is fascinating but what remains at this ruin is not a whole lot. The most fun thing is the replica Trojan Horse which you can climb and poke your head out of the windows. Tolga, our tour guide, did his best, however, to impart the history and tell the story of the ruins that did remain.

Later, in Canakkale, there was another replica Trojan Horse – apparently the one that was used in the movie in which Brad Pitt starred. It looks a lot bigger in the movie and this one couldn’t be climbed.

We only spent a couple of hours in Troy and jokingly, but also seriously, our tour guide said that we could now at least say we’d been there for what it was worth! After all the driving to and fro we had about some of the afternoon to spend in Canakkale. We didn’t see too much except for the waterfront, the replica Trojan Horse and an internet café!

After some dinner, drinking games in our hotel lobby (for which we kept getting shushed – heh heh) it was off for a night out at a local bar or two.

Day 5 – Gallipoli again

We spent our next day back at Gallipoli visiting all the sites again sans the crowds this time. Our first pitstop was the Kabatepe War Museum which is worth a look if you’re interested in seeing some photos from the war and bits and pieces such as original uniforms (blood included), bullets, weapons, diaries and letters. There were actually so many bullets in the air that they even hit each other mid-air!

After this we visited all the memorial sites at Gallipoli including Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair, Jonston’s Jolly, North Beach, Ari Burnu, and many more. Visiting the cemeteries in particular were very moving. Seeing all those headstones laid out brought goosebumps to my arms again. At some key sites we were posing and taking photos with our Aussie flags etc. but it felt really awkward. I mean – do you smile for your photo, do you grimace, do you even take a photo?

Mid-afternoon we’d done all the sites and started our long trek back to Istanbul for our final night in Turkey. We were all totally exhausted and there was not really a peep from anyone on the trip back.

In Istanbul our night’s entertainment consisted of some belly-dancing but we ended up there too late and didn’t really see much. Actually, Nic got pulled up to do some dancing so we saw that and then there was this random guy doing the belly-dancing. A cross-dresser! It was strange!

And finally we finished the night with some shisha. Good stuff but went straight to my head with my lack of sleep.

Day 6 – Istanbul

Our final few hours in Turkey was spent hitting a couple of tourist spots such as the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace. Both were beautiful but it was absolutely heaving and with so many people about made it a little difficult to enjoy the serenity of the beauty.

At Topkapi Palace which is huge with many rooms and courtyards to explore some of the highlights include the Harem (extra entry fee), the Imperial Treasury (look out for the Topkapı Dagger and is three large kick @rse emeralds and the fifth largest diamond in the world) and the gardens themselves. We had about 45 minutes to get around to everything – impossible when there are hundreds of rooms!

After the Palace Rache and I made a quick drop in to the Grand Bazaar. Now all over Turkey I was expecting the same attitude and pushiness that I experienced in places such as Marrakech and even Dubai to some extent but to my surprise, in the majority, we didn’t really get that. Sure I got a lot of attention from the men, including our tour guide, heh heh, and even many men on the street declaring they were in love with me but their flirtations were harmless and friendly even. I didn’t sense any pushiness to make a sale or any sleaziness or anything and I quite liked it. In fact as a whole the Turkish people, men and women, were very friendly and helpful. The Grand Bazaar, on the other hand, was completely different. They were extremely aggressive in there and once you encouraged them even a little bit they were on you like white on rice!

Last Words

I felt a little sad to be leaving Turkey. Sad because I didn’t feel I got to see much of it (probably a day all up doing touristy things) but only a little sad because I know I’ll definitely be back. The country is beautiful, from what I could tell from the hours spent driving on our tour bus!, and the people equally beautiful. I look forward to coming back and experiencing more. Maybe try some more of that Turkish ice cream: