The first surprising thing
about Istanbul is that the place works. You would think after all the
stories about Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan ect this place would just be another
basket case. It's not. When you fly in you arrive at a modern airport, your
baggage arrives, you can pay for a coffee in any one of twenty currencies even
AUD, and the place is clean. EG you know straight away this isn't
Heathrow. Next surprise. They have a good Metro, and it has a smart card
ticketing, which works, as well as tokens that cost about a dollar for a
trip. The place ain't Melbourne either. As you ride into town you see the
beautiful Bosporus. The place is a bit like Sydney with mosques and friendly
people. Half of them are trying to sell you carpets, the other half food, but
that's all part of the game. most are quite happy to sit down and have a chat
to you. Lashings of hot apple tea to help the conversation along.
Mick and I lobed down to Sultanarmet, which is the
tourist central. It's like a Turkish Chaple St. Hostels have names like
Sydney, ANZAC and Gida, and so on. Shops sell Tshirts with "Raki is the
answer" I can't remember the question. The place has lots of
accommodation. Tourists are a bit thin on the ground so we manage to
bargain our way into a room for about $50 per night split between the two of
us. The place has a roof top restaurant with a sweeping view of the city
and ocean. A happy hour that goes for three, where you can buy one liter
of beer for the same price as two half liters at non happy hour price.
Turk Logic I guess. It also sits in between the Blue and the red
mosque's so you get the call to prayer 5 times a day. After a while
you get used to it, a bit like traffic noise. The place is quite cosmopolitan
with most women walking around in western dress checking out the fashion.
Head scarves are only worn by the odd couple of people. Turkish blokes
spend most of there time when not working following football and
chatting up the western girls. Every restaurant and carpet shop has a spruker
trying to get you in, then there are the mobile ones just
wandering around trying to start conversations that end up with an offer
to visit a carpet shop. They are quite persistent, often following you for a
block just chatting or stopping you to say "I have a Question?" I say
"The answer is Raki" and keep on walking.
I like carpets so in my spare time I've been to a few
shops. Carpets come in lots of varieties. Kilms(basic woven rugs) Rug Rug (kilm
with embroidery over top) and carpet( Hand knotted rugs), then there are
natural dyes synthetic dyes wool and silk types. Old carpets are worth more
than new ones so as you walk along the street there are carpets layed out for
you to walk over to give them that antique look. All carpets are a bargain no matter
how much you pay for them. Now you know the basics you won't have to visit a
carpet shop if you come here.
After a couple of days
of carpet shopping we decided to do the Aussie thing and head off to Gallopie.
On the metro out to the Outogar to catch a Bus . The bus station is huge
with 160 platforms and multiple companies going to each destination,
fortunately there are touts to point you in the right direction and whisk you
off to their company. Buses tend to cost about $5 per hour of travel no matter
where you are going, where going about 5 and a half hours or 300 Km so that
about $30. The buses are fantastic, when you get on a conductor offers you a
glass of water. then once the trip starts they wheel out the cart to run up the
isle with a snack and tea or coffee all included in the ticket price. No
beer, but it is a Muslim country after all.
We arrive in Egerbat which is only
about 5km from ANZAC Cove but on the other side of the Peninsular. The place is
a little fishing village with about 20 sea side restaurants serving good cheap
food and beer. The ferries run from here to Chankalle which is the major town
where most people stay at. It's a one dollar half an hour ride
across the water. We settle in for the night at the Crowed house Hotel
which has a real happy hour. The place is full of tourists who race in do the
battle field, the take off to Chankalle or beyond. The few who stay here
tend to race off early the next morning on there organised trips, so even
though we stayed here four nights we never saw the same people
twice. Next day after our leisurely rise for breakfast at ten we took a tour
out to the cove.
A brief bit of history. The Gallopie
campaign was a stuff up. They landed in the wrong place. After nine months
of fighting they gained their first days objective for two days, only to lose
it again. They never made it more than two Km inland from the beach. After the
British general who ran the campaign was relived, the new one decided the
position was hopeless, and evacuated the troops. About 500,000 troops where
killed or wounded on both sides.
One thing you notice about the battle
field is how small it is. Brighton beach the long flat beach they where meant
to land on is only 1 km away but they never got there. They climbed up these
huge cliffs towards the high ground which is a five minute drive away. On the
way you pass through all these names you have heard of Shrapnel Vally,
Lone Pine, The Neck till you get to Chunak Blar, the objective which overlooks
the Dardanelles straight. Our guide Bullant gave us a very well balanced view
of the conflict. The Turks naturally see the Galopie campaign as a great
victory even though they lose more men than the allies. The whole thing
is a bit depressing but well worth the visit.
Over the next couple of days we went
swimming at Brighton beach, over to Chankalie, and just chilled in
general. Turkish food is great. Kebabs in twenty different varieties, Pide
which is great Turkish pizza, Stuffed tomatoes and peppers called dollmades,
and baklava, crepes and ice cream for deserts. Chuck a couple of pints of
Effies the local beer on top of this and its no wonder I'm not loosing any
weight.
Anyway all good things must come to
an end. Back on the bus to Istanbul, and back to the old haunts.Dinner on the
roof tops overlooking the Bosporus.Off to the Grand Bazaar for a bit more
carpet education at one of the 4000 shops crammed in there, a quick look at a
mosque, and a trip to Asia (cross the Bospours on a ferry $3 return.) I loved
the old Roman font which is a huge underground water storage. Its a great place
to go in the middle of the day when its hot. Its huge with about 150 columns
holding ap a stone vaulted roof. Walkways keep you above the water.Fish swim up
to greet you as you as you pass over them. Water drips from the roof to
keep the place cool, and they pipe classical music into it to give it that
serene feel. Before we know it where back on the metro to the airport. Our
cousins wedding is calling us to England. Its summer and the weather doesn't
look good. What else is new.
Cheers 007
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