Gallipoli and Selcuk

First stop after Istanbul was Canakkale. We had a bit of fun getting there after expecting to get a midday ferry across the Sea of Mananma. There was no midday ferry so we had to wait until 6pm to get a ferry. The ferry took us to Bandirma where we a short stop for dinner before getting a bus onto Canakkale. The staff in the restaurant we ate at were very happy to have us there, and the chef sent us complimentary cups of tea. When we finished then the waiter decided he wanted to treat us both to cup of tea as well. All well and good except we had a bus to catch so had to leave rather abruptly.

Canakalle is the stop off point to do a tour of the Gallipoli battle field. I have to say I knew next to nothing about this battle other than it took place at some point in World War I. Ask an Aussie or Kiwi though and they will tell you all about it. The first allied landing took place April 25th 1915. This is an ANZAC day and a national holiday in both Austraslia and New Zealand. It was a pretty humbling experience walking through the war fields and learning about the thousands who lost their lives. It seemed really paradoxical to me that on the one hand the soldiers actions on both sides were heroic and inspiring, but at same time the whole exercise they were involved was completely foolish and a complete waste of life to acheive nothing.

Well after that sobering experience we headed onto Selcuk, the stopping off point to visit the ruins of Ephesus. We checked into a hostel with a rather eccentric set of staff, including an owner who couldn't decide if he was Australian or Turkish, a woman who only ever said "Tomorrow", whcih we eventually discovered meant she wanted to clean our room, the cook Simon who only ever blurted out one word answers to our questions and did his best to be as unhelpful as possible, and most disconcerting of all a little boy who ran around all day barking like a dog. We spent a couple of days hanging about in town eating Kofte kebabs, getting drunk in the evening and generally doing very little. Finally on the third day we got off our lazy arses and went to visit Ephesus with stinking hangovers. Ephesus is the ruins of an old Roman town and amazing amount is still intact so you get a really good idea of how the place was laid out. There's a huge amphitheatre there, and some roman baths. The only problem with the place, apart from the guys outside selling 'genuine fake watches' is the fact that there were just too many other goddamn tourists there, but again of course I was one the goddamn tourists making it so busy there. I've managed to my photos loaded onto smugmug so you can check them out there.

After wandering round the sites we headed back into town and got a bus to Pamukkale. More about that in my next post...