Çanakkale - Gün 7

Iris in [reconstruction of] the Troy horse
The tour of Troy began at 7:45 am. Our tour guide was amazing. He had published a tourist-y book or two on the site, and his English was perfect.


A view of the Dardanelles from Troy
Behind the Trojan War. When the Greek Goddess Eris wasn't invited to some happening on Mt. Olympos, she became angry. To punish them, she placed a golden apple saying "To the most beautiful." Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all thought they deserved it. Zeus sent them to a Trojan prince named Paris to choose who received the award. So, each of the goddesses tried to bribe him. Hera offered him the chance to be the most powerful man, Athena said he would be the most clever, and Aphrodite would give him the most beautiful woman. Paris chose Aphrodite, and kidnapped the Greek queen Helen. This is the mythological explanation behind the Trojan War. There could have been a kidnapping, but the real reason was most likely that the Greeks had grown tired of the Trojans having complete control of the Dardanelles.

Our tour guide said that when he asked boys under 14 years old, they would choose to be the most clever. Boys until the age of 19 would choose the most powerful, and after that age, they'd choose the most beautiful woman. Ah, tour guide humor.


Mud bricks which were solidified by a fire.


Ruins with labels showing the 9 Troys
Troy was actually established nine times. The third one was constructed during the time of Priam, and the Trojan War.

The tour showed only about 10% of Troy. Much of the remaining unexcavated area is Roman ruins, and Turkey has so many Roman ruins, they may not even excavate these parts.

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A view from the Gallipoli Museum
We headed back to Çanakkale to meet up with our group headed to the Gallipoli Penninsula. Our group was really only one other person, an Australian backpacker.

Gallipoli Background. During WWI the British were aiming to control the Dardanelles, which they had to take from the Ottoman Empire. It was the first time they were using troops from Australia and New Zealand (Anzac troops). The Anzac troops landed a mile North of where they were supposed to, and had to climb up steep cliffs instead of sloping hills which is what they expected.

Mustafa Kemal [Atatürk] was in command of some troops at that time. He immediately sent his reserves (against orders) to meet the invading Anzac Troops, and to guard Chunuk Bair. If the troops captured Chunuk Bair, the highest point of the peninsula, they would easily gain control and the Ottomans would most likely lose.

Due to Mustafa Kemal's actions, the Anzacs were unsuccessful. Although both sides lost about 250,000 soldiers each, the battles in the trenches eventually ended in a ceasefire. The Anzacs retreated and removed all their troops in 2 days without any fatalities.

There didn't seem to be much animosity between the two sides- the sides would sing songs to each other at nighttime; during the ceasefire, a Turkish soldier delivered a wounded British officer to the other side, etc.


A cemetary


Lone Pine Cemetary
There were so many cemetaries. There's apparently 31 monuments in the Gallipoli Peninsula/Park area, and we only saw a sprinkling of them.


Ottoman 57 Cemetary


Up the tower at the Ottoman 57 Cemetary


The view from Chunuk Bair, the highest point


Iris in some reconstructed trenches
At some point in time, the enemy trenches were only 8 meters away from each other. They could hear their enemies moving around and talking. There was so many bullets in the air, that the museum actually collects bullets that hit each other in mid-air.


Mom at Chunuk Bair


Atop Chunuk Bair, Atatürk was shot, but his pocket watch saved his life. He gave the watch to his commanding officer (as a sign of respect) and the commanding officer gave him his working watch.

After the rather depressing tour, we dropped Mom off at the Eceabat bus station, for her 4:30pm bus to İstanbul.

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I ended up waiting a half an hour in the nice Maydos Restaurant where we had lunch. I was sitting at a table by myself, while my tour guide and all his buddies (the driver, waiters, etc.) sat at a table at the other end of the restaurant. Nice and awkward.

Another tour group arrived, and we got on the restaurant's private boat to cross the Dardanelles back over to Çanakkale. It had a beautiful view.


A boat on the Dardanelles


Another reconstruction of the Troy Horse, this one on the Dardanelles shore in Çanakkale. It's made of fiberglass, and from the (recent) movie Troy. Look familiar?


Boats tied up in Çanakkale


Sunset over Çanakkale


Sunset over boats in the Dardanelles

So, I was set free in Çanakkale until 8:30pm, when I would catch my 11 hour bus (yippee) back to Ankara.

I wandered around a bit, took some sunset photos and photos of the Trojan movie horse, I spent an hour in an internet cafe, and then headed to dinner.

I chose a sort of nice-looking place, but it was empty. I asked the waiter, "Is the restaurant always this empty?" He didn't understand me, and got another waiter who said, "I speak English." I said my question wasn't that important, but I asked it again anyways. The new waiter responded, "Can I help you pick out something to eat?" So, he more or less didn't understand me either. I was on a roll. I was so much on a roll that the power went out, and the waiter brought me over a candle and said, "Is this romantic enough for you?" I was only very minorly freaked out, as there was a table in the corner with some Turkish men, so I wasn't completely alone. I was glad to finish eating and leave.

I spent the rest of my time at the Anzac Hostel, watching Troy, the movie, and some documentary on Anzac Day.

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It was a great trip.