Chelle’s Travels

The next day we took a bus to Eceabat, a town near Gallipoli, and the day after visited Anzac Cove. It was pretty incredible. We learnt a lot about the battle – from both our side and the Turk’s side. It was so strange standing there – Anzac Cove is so beautiful as well – and knowing that one of the most important battles in Australian history took place here. It was also strange because I felt so far away from home, and to think that these young men, many younger than me, would have had that same feeling, but died on this soil as well. Pretty horrible. We went to all the memorials for Aussie soldiers and also a major NZ one and a Turkish one. We also saw the trenches and some important landmarks in the battle. As we were walking along, the tour guide found 2 lead balls – which he gave to Thad and I – that had come from a rocket used in the war. Cool.

Now we are in Selcuk, after another long and painful bus ride – we forgot Turkey was so big! We went and saw Ephesus today – a very important city of the Roman Empire. The ruins were insane. Tomorrow we are heading to Pamukkale and, fingers crossed, from there to Olympos for treehouse accomodation and more roman ruins. Unfortunately because it’s the end of Ramazan, all the locals are catching buses everywhere for festivals, and almost everything is booked out, so we have to try and wing it. Eek.

Turkey is fantastic and refreshingly different to anything else we’ve seen on this trip. The people are very friendly (and slightly manipulative), the food fantastic, the landscape dry and very much like Australia. Because of Ramazan, Muslim people do not eat when the sun is up, so we’ve gotten used to being woken up at 3am by two men walking through the street banging big drums to wake people up so they can eat. Also, 5 times a day, the loud speakers crackle into action to tell people when to pray. Turkish people really are very friendly though. And they love Australians. We’ve gotten discounts and hand shakes and kisses and everything haha! Oh, and most Turkish people speak English with an Australian accent, especially around Gallipoli, where all the tourists are Australian. It’s hilarious. I actually asked one of the hostel workers which part of Australia he was from – his accent was SO THICK, but he’s actually Turkish. He’s becoming an Aussie citizen though in a few months, because of the passion he has put into Gallipoli and anzac cove. His citizenship ceremony is going to be held on the beach that the troops landed at. Wow.