Gallipoli

Saturday 18^th September

Today seemed quite hot as it was in the mid to high 20's. Spent the first three hours on the bus travelling in the direction of Gallipoli. With a fairly strong mix of NZ/Australian passengers on the tour there was a strong historical link to the area. We visited ANZAC Cove , ANZAC cemetery, Lone Pine Cemetery and Chunuk Bair . Despite my limited knowledge of the events around the Gallipoli event I still found it had quite an impact just standing there imagining the young men from NZ and Aus who had travelled half way round the world (or as the NZ monument at Chunuk Bair notes that they came “from the uttermost ends of the earth”) and found themselves involved in a battle in a foreign place that they had very little connection with. The memorials were nicely done, and the place was very peaceful. (for those who do not know the wording of Ataturk's memorial it says:

"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives…

You are now living 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 here in this country of ours…

You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway 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 have become our sons as well."

We then took the ferry across the Dardenelles to Cannakkale and travelled on to Troy to visit the archaeological site there. This was a bit disappointing as it was a bit rushed and there are a few parts of the site that have little more than partial walls left (although we appreciated the complexity of the dig as they have been excavating up to 9 different levels of the city for about a 100 years or so).

The reconstructed Trojan horse was basically an amusement figure for children to play on (and a couple of adults who wanted their photos taken in the horse).