Galliant (or Galling) Gallipoli

An unquestionable essential for any Aussie in Turkey, Gallipoli was nonetheless a highlight. We found a fantastic hostel appropriately named Crowded House, run by the super friendly Pauly. The hostel played only Aussie and Kiwi music, and its ground floor bar was ably run by Pauly each night. The hostel tour of Gallipoli was amazing; mainly because it was guided by a university professor who had led people like Bob Hawk around the various sites. Much has been written about the experiences of Aussies visiting Gallipoli and suffice to say its hard to walk amongst the gullies, beaches and headstones without being moved. Our guide gave us such a realistic picture of the battlefield you could almost see the boats coming ashore at Anzac cove, or the boys going out of the trenches, bayonets fixed, at The Nek. For Australia it will always be the first major conflict we were involved in as a nation, a conflict that brought us together. But for the Turks it is just one in a long string of wars fought either under the guise of the Ottoman empire, or independent Turkey. Until recently Turkish interest in Gallipoli wasn’t that high, there weren’t many cemeteries or memorials and the burial places of thousands of soldiers were still unknown. But slowly, after watching thousands of Aussies wander the battlefields and cemeteries, the Turks have erected their own monuments and cemeteries, often close to Australian ones, but always in a spirit of peace. It wasn’t always like this. The first Turkish memorial was erected in 1916 on Anzac Cove and visiting Aussies found it so unacceptable they photographed it, blew it to pieces with TNT and then sold the pieces in Sydney as souvenirs. Now, the whole battlefield is a peace park, and ANZAC Cove has been officially recognised by that name by the Turkish government. (Photo - Lone Pine cemetery)

After the tour of Gallipoli we finished off our stay in Eceabat with another great night with Pauly and his all Australian (and NZ) music. Next we were bound for Istanbul, our last stop before leaving the trials and tribulations of independent travel behind. (Photo - Near ANZAC cove)