10th May Gallipoli, 11th Troy

5.30am start today. We left the hotel at 6.30am for our 7.30am bus trip to Eceabat. We arrived at 1pm, dropped off our bags at the hotel and set off for our tour of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The first stop was Kabatepe Museum with it's views over Anzac cove and Lone pine. Our next stop was the Brighton beach were the ANZAC troups were supposed to land. We saw the Grave of John Simpson who was imortalised as Simpson and his donkey. We walked around to ANZAC Cove and it is amazing to see how small the beach they landed on was. They have filled in part of the beach to build the road but to land 15,000 troops here is amazing. Just before we jumped back in the bus a military plane flew overhead and started dropping bombs into the water. Our guide told us they often did this type of military exercise here. 

We had a look around North beach and then went up to Lone Pine and the Nek. It was amazing to see how closely the different sides were from each other in their trenches. They built the road in no mans land and this picture is taken from the Turkish side looking over the the ANZAC side. We could see the trenches amongst the trees on the other side of the road. These trenches are still here after 95 years! We also stopped off to see the Turkish 57th regiment memorial which is quite new compared to the allied memorials. While digging the foundations for the memorial they found two soldiers who had died fighting. We finished off at Chanuk Bair (High Ground) where the New Zealand Memorial is. We had some free time back in Eceabat before dinner at a fish restaurant overlooking the water.

11th Another early morning, we set off on the ferry to Çannakale to meet our local guide for our trip to Troy. We were not expecting much from Troy as the lonely planet says "Of all the ancient sites in Turkey, the remains of the great city of  Troy are among the least impressive; you'll have to use your imagination." Just inside the gate they had a replica of the Trojan horse, built in the 1970's. The guide talked to us about the different ages of the cities built there. Troy I was from 3000 to 2500 BC, Troy II from 2500BC to 2300BC, Troy III to Troy V from 2300BC to 1700BC and Troy VI, the one from Homers Iliad from 1700BC to 1250BC, Troys VII to IX were from 1250BC to 500AD. They say Troy VI is the one of Homers Iliad because of the evidence of war in the layers of this time. Each city was built on top of the previous one having been destroyed by something or other. The guide pointed out the teracotta water pipes his university professor had found in an area that was thought of as a Gym but now they know it was a Roman bath. He was a very interesting and informative guide, having studied archeology at Çannakale University. He really made the site come alive showing us where the Trojan horse would have been brought in. And where Achillies and Hector would have fought and where the Greeks would have landed and attacked Troy. There were also many beautiful wild flowers growing around the site. After the tour we were able to climb up into the Trojan horse. You can see David's head in the top window. We stopped off on the way back to Çannakale to photograph the view of the Dardanelles We also stopped to take a photo of the Trojan horse used in the film Troy (Staring Brad Pitt and Eric Banna). This one is more real as the original was supposed to have been made from ship wrecks.We had lunch and boarded the bus for the 4 hour trip to Ayvalik through olive groves and scenic coastline. Our hotel for the next 2 nights is the old French Embassy called Bonjour Pansion. It has beautiful high, fresco painted ceilings and full of lovely decorations. We had a walking tour of the town and visited   çöp(m)adam or garbage ladies, a social development program that recycles rubish. Catriona bought a clutch bag made from recycled chip packets.We then went off to dinner then walked down to the shore to watch the sunset before heading back to the pansion to sit around the sitting room chatting till bed time.