We were up bright and early with our cases out before breakfast and ready to leave by 0830, so far everyone seems very punctual which is a nice change. The drive out of Istanbul wasn't particularly interesting and the weather a bit flat as we headed along the north coast of the Sea of Marmara towards the Dardanelles Strait.
Opened in 2022, this is the 1915 Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1 1/4 miles. Its name 1915 honours an important Ottoman naval victory against UK and France during WW1.
A few fishing vessels as we drove parallel to the coast.
The first memorial we visited was Ari Burnu which commemorated the lives of Australians and New Zealanders who died in the Gallipoli landings. The inscription, which is attributed to Atatürk, is rather moving,
I rather enjoy looking round cemeteries as they are usually very soulful, peaceful places, but this one was somehow a little lacking.
By contrast a few minute's drive away was Lone Pine Cemetery which stands on the site of the fiercest fighting and overlooks the whole front line of May 1915. This had a beautiful feel to it and the memorial commemorating more than 4,900 Australian and New Zealand servicemen who died in the Anzac was quite superb.
Snapped from the coach this is a Turkish cemetery (you can tell by the shape of the memorial stones which resemble the Turks helmets).
A rather poignant statue honouring a Turkish soldier who held up a white flag of peace so he could carry a British casualty to safety.
The next stop was Chunuk Bair which is the name of the hill overlooking this peninsular.
It was the sight of a famous Ottoman victory, led by the then relatively unknown soldier Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk). His brilliant strategy resulted in the defeat of the advancing Anzac forces and was a turning point in the Gallipoli Campaign. Following this victory and the loss of so many lives the Allied forces withdrew from the peninsula.
This was Atatürk's favourite lookout point.
Reconstructed trenches although at the end of a hot dry summer it's hard to imagine the hell the soldiers went through living in mud.
On the same hill is also this memorial to the New Zealand casualties.
We then drove onwards to the little port of Eceabat for the 25 min ferry trip across the Dardanelles Strait to Çanakkale. But first lunch, for which Göksel took us to a little fish restaurant just near the harbour which had rather a strange choice of decorations.
The place was run by two ancient gentlemen (still can't get used to the fact that most waiters/ shopkeepers etc are male) and one came around showing us what was on offer - we chose a plate of grilled sardines to share and they were delicious.
We were allowed to leave the bus on the ferry crossing so a few shots along the way.
The caption on this statue reads "Monument in respect to history"
I studied this guy for ages and still couldn't decide if he was real or just another statue.
This was quite a distance away but I presume it's some kind of naval base.
There were certainly a few military looking vessels on the water.
This is taken with my latest acquisition, Canon R7, and I was quite impressed with the eye tracking (wings deliberately cropped).
Definitely a Bird's Eye view.
The Turkish flag is everywhere, but I think it's more noticeable because it's such a vivid scarlet.
Absolutely no idea to whom or what this refers to (or even if the translation is correct) "Wait, passenger, before you get upset, you came and ruined this land that you stepped on".
This is what our little ferry looks like.
Approaching Çanakkale where we had a couple of hours to wander around.
I think these tat sellers knew they were selling complete rubbish; they made no attempt to entice us to look.
This wooden horse was apparently used in the 2004 film Troy starring Brad Pitt amongst others and after filming was completed it was given to the town. Ian happily providing a sense of scale for me.
The 1897 built clock tower got a specific mention on our itinerary but unfortunately it was closed to visitors.
As I was taking the picture of Ian with the wooden horse, the clasp on my camera strap suddenly broke but luckily I was holding it quite firmly so the camera was undamaged. Without any mobile internet we couldn't find out if there was a camera shop nearby (unlikely) but we eventually found a bag shop which we thought might have something suitable. They didn't but luckily, with no language between us, they were able to direct us to a nearby cobblers who had the very thing I needed = 60p result!!! Once again we couldn't communicate with words, but actions got us through and a lovely photo too - in fact before leaving the town we went back and bought another clasp just in case.
Given the modernity of Istanbul I was surprised to see hand/bicycle carts here.
Hoping for a scratch card win - it's the same the world over.
We'd heard how Turkish people love cats (and dogs) and sure enough whilst we were sitting people watching, this lady simply picked this stray tabby up and began stroking it.
Our hotel for the night was quite a long way out of town but, as luck would have it, almost opposite as Migros 5M superstore so we were able to stock up with some Chilean Sauvignon at a very reasonable £10 per bottle (exactly the same was being sold in the hotel restaurant at £30).