Because our hotel was on top of the hill in Istanbul, and in a really difficult place to get to, we had instructions on our transfer voucher to go down to the St Sophia Church at some ridiculous hour in the morning. Of course, our hotel wasn't open for breakfast, so it was a cold, hungry start to the day.
Here I am, trying to wake up in front of the largest mosque of the city, just across from St Sophia.
To make matters worse, it transpired that the tour company weren't even aware of our booking, so after a few frantic phone calls, we finally arranged a pickup by the tourist coach.
After a couple of hours of criss-crossing the old part of Istanbul to pick all and sundry up from various hotels, we were finally on our way.
We stopped at a little Turkish road house along the way for a bite to eat and a toilet stop. The burgers were very basic, and the range of food available for extremely limited. Just as well Pringles are available in Turkey.
After more driving we stopped for lunch at a great little restaurant for lunch. We had a traditional meal, and a few pints of beer before jumping back on the tourist coach for our afternoon tour of Galipoli.
Galipoli is an amazing, awe inspiring, and sad place. The number of stuff ups by the army high command and sheer ignorance of the conditions on the ground resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of young men from both the Allies and Turkish armies.
Sadly Turkey were dragged into the war by Britain reneging on warship orders paid for by the Turks, and a double cross by the German navy who fired upon Russia from two warships under Turkish flags apparently given to the Turkish army by the Germans.
Such stories like reinforcements sipping tea on the beaches for a day long rest when minutes were of the utmost importance in a tightly scheduled allied push for the ultimate goal of securing the high ground, and pulling out of early pushes towards the goal in the first hours of the invasion meant the war dragged on for many horrible months.
Now days evidence of the war is still abundant with the trenches still in the hills, and many memorials for soldiers needlessly killed on both sides.
Some of the photos of Galipoli are below.
Some of the original cannons at the war museum (that was closed for renovations).
A relief map showing the Galipoli Peninsula that was so important to allowing shipping traffic from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Examples of the shells fired during the war.
Am example of the cliffs that greeted the allied forces as the landed at the wrong beach. The Australian forces managed to proceed a long way in land in the first couple of hours. Carrying full packs and provisions, they made it further in 2 hours than most people can walk unencumbered in 6 hours. Quite an effort.
This is the type of terrain and beaches where the Allied forces landed.
The first of too many cemetery's for the day. This is where many Australians are buried.
This is one of the pathways we were led along by the reckless guides. Needless to say, Jode's stayed well away from the sheer drop.
Glad to see that the signs are obeyed...
Here's Jode's at ANZAC Cove, where the annual ANZAC Day ceremony is held. ANZAC day is a pretty big deal for the Turks as well, and they are particularly respectful of the Australian's and New Zealanders who make the trip.
This place will be packed in 2015, on the hundredth anniversary. We're kind of glad we came at a time other than ANZAC day, because the maddening crowds would detract from the place somewhat, though the ceremony on the day would be very moving.
This is the famous speech by Attiturk in 1934 to the families of the soldiers killed in Turkey.
Here's Jodie on the beach where the Australians Landed.
And here I am too.
Here's the largest Australian cemetery at Galipoli, Lone Pine. The tree on the left is the Lone Pine, with the memorial behind it. Tens of thousands of people died in the small plot of land (about the size of a football field) seen in this shot. It's frightening how much death this place saw in those few days.
Here's the remains of some of the Australian trenches.
And one of the communications trenches, which occasionally flooded, drowning soldiers inside.
It's important to remember that Australians and New Zealanders weren't the only ones affected by the war. Tens of thousands of Turks were killed defending their homeland as well, and they were in much worse condition than the Allied troops, with scarce supplies and 3 bullets each per day. There was something like 10 Turks killed for every Australian killed in Galipoli. It was a truly bloody war.
Here's some more of the many remaining trenches.
This is the notorious Nek, featured in the movie Galipoli. This is where the notoriously disastrous charges took place, and where rumour has it, one of the Turkish soldiers came over to the Australian trenches begging them to stop being slaughtered.
This hill was the objective of the entire operation. From here you can see both the Dardenelles and the Aegean. The allies got to within about 1km of it, but never took this ground despite a year of bitter fighting. They made 95% of the progress in the first few hours of the battle. They barely made any more progress in the remainder of the war.
After our tour of Galipoli, we caught a ferry across the straights to stay in our hotel for the evening.
I caught up with an old friend for dinner, and we were up early the next morning for our trip out to Troy.
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