A Trip Down the Garden Path

Hello, we're back. We've had a whirlwind trip through Turkey, though I think we only drove around less than a third of the country! Saturated with very old cultural wealth, beautiful beaches, amazing mosques, bargain shopping and friendly people, Turkey is certainly an amazing place to visit. I could write a mammoth post, as usual, but will embrace the 'less is more' paradigm (ha ha - yeah right) and do the top 8 highlights:

1. Ephesus - The colossal ruins of an ancient city
Firstly a Greek city, then years later, a Roman city, the ruins of Ephesus were absolutely amazing. One thing that really struck me was just how immense the city must have been.  There were hundreds of marble bricks and columns standing upright or toppled over. Arches still intact, steps and marble roads cracked but still accessible and even a mosaic floor still displayed in its brilliance as it once would have been along the hall of little alcoves for merchants and tradesmen.  The city's glory days begin as far back as about 400 BC! Imagine that?!? It just floors me, to walk amongst the ruins of something so old,  yet something that survives (to a lesser degree) still today.  I highly doubt that the little red brick home Glen and I lived in for 6 years will still be around in thousands of years.  The many people of this ancient city were master craftsmen. Early Greek elements mingle with Roman modifications and additions, it's so interesting to imagine the fate of this city passed from hand to had as one population fell and another rose, as war was lost and won. Here are a few images of the ruins:

Entry tickets

Those amazingly old columns

Just look at all the bits and pieces. And what really horrified me was the fact that touists were climbing all over them to pose for photos! For some reason I thought they needed to be behind a barricade, perhaps even wrapped in cotton wool or something.  But really, preservation is important...

The lovely friends I made on the tour: Emily, Mel, Claire and Celia.

Amazingly intact facade of the library

A theatre, it was immense and still pretty amazing. I can just imagine the peeps of the day coming along to see 'Wicked' or 'Priscilla' - ha ha

Main street

Me at the theatre

That amazing mosaic floor. It, and much of the rest of the city, is so well preserved because it lay covered in earth for many a year. I'm not sure if was ash, or something else...

Now, I think this was Aphrodite....not so sure though. I should really look it up and get my facts right!

Pillars. You can see the grooves in the centre where they fitted the pieces together - cool

Fleeting memories of high school history surfaced in my mind: Ionian and Corinthan columns,  The Peloponnesian Wars, Alexander the Great, Persia, The Roman Empire...words of great historical significance, but alas lacking of any substance in my mind,  as my knowledge of these things has faded with time.  Brain, why don't you remember everything, is it too much to ask?
These ruins secure first place by the width of a hair, as second place was just as special.

2. Gallipoli - Anzac Day Dawn Service
Gallipoli was an equally amazing experience, but in a different way. A more personal thing, I guess. We spend years learning about the significance of the landing at Gallipoli and of the bravery of our Anzacs in World War 1. But to actually be there, standing on the exact ground at the exact time and date the first troops were dropped at Anzac Cove is really something special. We arrived at about 2pm on the afternoon of the 24th of April. The gates weren't to open until 6pm, but already people were waiting in their hundreds. Many Australian volunteers were on hand, and a few of these very passionate blokes entertained us with Anzac stories as we waited. Come 5:30 the gates opened.  Crushed like cattle we waited to be allowed to trickle innside (10 at a time), to go through the security measures of a metal detector and bag scanner. Inside was just as crowded.  Fighting for a a little strip of grass was a challenge.  And come late evening, we were toe to toe and shoulder to shoulder. Snuggled up close was not so bad, the night turned out to be freezing! We were entertained by an Australian military band, and the lovely voice of a lady who sang all of the old fashioned wartime songs: 'Nursie, come over here and hold my hand, Nursie, there's something I don't understand, 'round my heart I get a funny pain, oh oh oh oh, it's coming on again!' (My grandparents taught me that one when I was little, love it). There were also a number of documentaries, short films, interviews and authentic transcripts of original documents displayed on the big screens in the area.  This entertainment went for the duration of the evening, and was a nice touch.  Though sleep was difficult, I only had about an hour. Everytime I'd drift off, something new would blast out over the speakers. Ah well I say, suck it up sista...

Glen enjoying the space, while it was available

and it just got squishier

An afternoon game of cards

And the cold sets in

Glen and Jann, staying warm

Up just before sunrise for the dawn service. Staring out to the tranquil and empty ocean as the last post floated on the wind, it wasn't hard to imagine, 96 years ago, the first Aussies jumping from the ships, often into neck deep water, and then running up the sand to the steep cliff faces of Anzac cove dodging the fire of the Turks.

The Dawn Service

The Last Post

Glen's Turkish friend, his name was hard to pronounce, and he told us it meant 'hero', so that's what he became.  Hero even offered us to stay at his place next time we're in Turkey, nice bloke.

On the beach at Anzac Cove

The wreathes. Behind them it reads 'Anzac Cove'. Looking out to the ocean where the Anzac ships arrived, 96 years ago...

Afterwards, we walked 3 kms to Lone Pine to the Australian Service.  This also was very special.  Sitting across from graves and around one lone pine tree, we heard the tragic story of the attempt of the Aussies to take the hill of Lone Pine. Little did they know that it was a Turkish stronghold and what ensued was a bloodbath and complete failure to achieve the target.  Onwards past a Turkish ceremony, we didn't arrive in time for the New Zealand service at Chunck Bair. The Kiwis achieved only a mildly better outcome at their great stand, securing the hill top temporarily, only to have to abandon it afterwards.

Beachside cemetery

Lone Pine

Waiting for the ceremony to start

I found a Cavill! But no Harkers.

In the trenches

A bunker

The Turkish cemetery, just beautiful

One thing that really struck me about the war, from the stories and descriptions shared in the ceremonies, was the tragedy of it all. To imagine the life of not only one man, but sometimes twenty or fifty, or even hundreds of men hanging on the simplicity of an order from one officer. One word, and these men faced their own death. It wasn't only a battle of guns or artillery, of strategy or tactics. It was a battle of individual will and strength: who could run faster, shoot straighter, slide down quicker, keep a level head, bear the disease, endure the loss of mates and follow the orders of another when every bone in your body was unwilling. That is what is truly amazing about these men.  And you know, the taking of Gallipoli was a complete failure, hundreds of lives lost, only to retreat back out of the channel. So very, very sad.

But I will tell you the thing that really amazes me. The fact that while enemies at war, nowdays the Turks have so much respect and love for the Aussies it's astounding.  To allow the service to be held in their country every year is a pretty special thing.  Considering the Turks had far more casualties than the allied forces, it could have been quite easy to pass down an animosity towards Aussies and Kiwis from generation to generation, but that's certainly not the case. The power of humanity to heal and forgive is truly something special.  Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is Turkey's iconic leader. He was an army commander during the war, who went on afterwards to revolutionise the country.  He is much loved by his people.  Yet most significantly to us, he is famed for saying this to the families on AUS and NZ who lost men to the fighting in Turkey:


Funnily enough, one night when we were browsing in a few little touristy shops in a town, as usual all of the sellers were asking where we were from (if I had a dollar for every one of them who then said 'Ah, Australia? Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi oi oi' I'd be a very rich lady). Anyway, a couple of younger blokes saw our jumpers and said in broken English 'Anzac! We love Anzac, we are brothers, your grandfather and my grandfather fought in the war, they are brothers'.

That was just touching.


3. Istanbul - City of delights

Outside the Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque, courtyard. We encountered the Muslim call to prayer five times a day. An Arabic voice was broadcast across the city to announce prayer time.  Even at 5am in the morning!

An older palace

The undergroound cistern. An old water storage facility. Very pretty

The Aiya Sophia. Another mosque, that was previously a church

4. Food - yum!

We went to a a cooking school and Glen got to weild the big chopper

Me with my hollowed out eggplant, filled it with onion, tomato and herb and braisded in a pot, yummy

getting ready to fold the Dolmades

Glen in action

Yummy syrup cakes, just divine, I will make these again

Here they are finished

Something random: chocolate with pistahio nuts, yummo!

Bakalava, just delicious too. And more pistachios, obviously a favourite in Turkey

5. Travertines at Pamukkale
These are natural spring pools that have formed into what looks like snow. It's actually rock that has been developed through carbonation from the flowing water over the years.  They were pretty amazing looking, and the water was nice and warm.




6. Troy
 Not much of this left, except for a giant timber horse.  I was amazed to discover though, that Troy had been a city about 9 times over. Each time a new one being built or expanded. So there are ruins all over the place from a variety of times.  Pretty cool hey?

Layers of civilisation

The big horse

7. Shopping in the Grand Bazzar
This was a real experience.  With over 4000 stalls spruiking their wares, there was a bargain or two to be had by all. I got some lovely scarves and fake sunnies and Glen got some rip off brand name shirts. We managed to sneak a few photos trying on a sultan's hat, take a look, I think I look super hot - ha ha.



8. Turkish Bath
This was an experience. No photos, sorry. Women's area and men's area. We went into this steaming hot chamber, it was huge with a domed roof.  In the centre of the room was a huge marble bench. it was packed in the women's chamber, but not so busy in the men's one Glen tells me.  We both had an exfoliation done and then could enjoy the sauna. Afterwards I got a face mask and Glen had a head massage.  This was a real experience. There were a few people in there bearing all, I on the other hand am very modest and covered up all the important bits.   Would I do this again, not any time soon! But it was interesting. A number of Turkish ladies in there too, so it's obvioulsy a cultural norm for many.

Well that's my Turkey saga. I'll leave you with this last photo, I thought it was hilarious, and really sums up the fake/knock off market over there.  I had a few sellers tell me their fake brand name shirts were 'good quality', 'you can have bad quaility fakes and good quaility fakes'.  Well there you have it. And here I was thinking that all fakes were cheap, silly me.