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Turkey Part Two: ANZAC Day
When I awoke this morning, the feeling of near exhaustion after two nights of little sleep quickly gave way to a new fact: Today was the day we were travelling to Anzac Cove. Today, the reason we all travelled to Turkey was here.
We boarded the ferry that would take us from Canakkale to the Gallipolli peninsular along with everyday Turks - workmen & a large group of turkish kids around 8 years old. As soon as I walked into one of the large indoor cabins on the ferry with another girl on my tour, the wide eyed stares, nervous smiles & chatter amongst the kids began. I waved to a little girl who was smiling at me and around 20 kids faces lit up! Suddenly one boy came up to me and said, "Hello!", followed by another, then a nervous "What's your name?" in slow, broken English. That's when the cameras started. At first just a sneaky click from side on to take a picture of the white skinned foreign girl. At least half a dozen then shyly taking a picture and running away with excited smiles. I encouraged one girl to come and have her picture taken with me and then I may as well have been in a rugby scrum because around 30 kids jumped on our knees, behind us, beside us, cross legged on the floor in front of us - all beaming at their male teachers holding a dozen different cameras. For ten minutes we were famous. Even the teachers wanted to have a photo with us - and sure enough one of them asked me to marry him too! Pointing at my bare wedding ring finger, he says to me, "I marry you. So pretty". Well that was the end of my fame coz I was outta there! I waved goodbye to all the kids and made a quick exit.
We were still laughing about my declination for a turkish husband as we neared the peninsular. On the distant hills, massive red Turkish flags adorned the hillside, large Anzac memorial statues dotted across the countryside. The next few hours were quite emotional for us as we travelled between the different memorials and heard stories where so many Australian soldiers were killed. Boys as young as 16 and 17 that never made it home to their families...it was pretty unthinkable that boys that young went to war. It felt so real to be standing in the places that these events took place and it was silent...everyone felt the same feeling standing there overlooking anzac cove... not something ive been able to put into words.
We began the long walk into Anzac Cove, grateful for the sunshine and to be on the other side of the world with so many aussies. Everyone spoke to everyone because you were all mates, all there for the same purpose. The scene was set as we trekked in as we looked up around the cliffs and saw snipers and soldiers dotted behind bushes watching the crowd melt in. At 2.30 in the afternoon we arrived at the Cove after passing through all of the security, and set up our gear on one of the last grass spots. We relaxed in the sun, drinking in the 18 degrees as we were expecting it to get down to 4 degrees that night.
As night set in it began to get colder, beannies and thermals were put on and we settled in for the long, sleepless night ahead. Busloads of people continued to arrive throughout the night with nowhere to put them so we were getting more and more squished together. Definitely no sleep for us as we sat huddled together watching short films and stories of survivors and those that were not so lucky. I guess the advantage of sitting like sardines was that we kept each other warm until 4.30am when a violinist began playing in the darkness of the cove. It was really something that took my breath away after sitting up all night underneath the cliffs, right next to the water, freezing wind whipping straight onto us and thinking how many soldiers endured that kind of cold all those years ago. There were ten thousand people there to commemorate this years service and watched the sun rise over the cliffs and slowly light up the darkness we had seen for the last 10 hours.
Here is Ataturk's speech to the mothers of the ANZACs:
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives...
You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore, rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side,
Here in this country of ours.
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries...
Wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now lying in our bosom
And are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land, they have
Become our sons as well.
The 3km uphill trek after the service to reach the Australian memorial, Lone Pine, on zero sleep and no breakfast was surprisingly refreshing. We arrived at Lone Pine for the Australian Service and took the only seats in the stands we could find. Colder than I think I'd ever been in my life, wind whipping through our sleeping bags with every bit of clothing we had on us, 5 or 6 layers, huddling together for warmth. So tired and cold that we kept jolting awake with the chattering of our teeth...that was a really tough hour. The next 6km walk was a bloody big test as we were beyond exhaused and needed food and water. The only thing available after a 30 minute wait in line were chicken kebabs...and after a whole night in Anzac Cove sitting near a Turkish man yelling " Chick, chick, Chickeeeeeeen...get your Chiiiicken kebabs here' we refused to eat them on principle. It was now 1pm and we had been awake for more than 30 hours, walked 9km uphill, frozen ourselves into snowmen and hadn't eaten since the night before. It had been a really long night and day, emotionally and physically testing, but at the end it felt amazing to have done it. Something told me we would sleep so well that night back in Istanbul. And sleep we all did for 5 solid hours on the bus drive back there. We even forewent a Turkish dinner in favour of Maccas & a very early night. Bed had never felt so good.
Our last day in Turkey was the next day, where we found ourselves in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Wow! We got so lost in that place and I'm sure they made it that way on purpose. I did really well not to spend too much money...although I did indulge and walked out of there with 9 gorgeous pairs of earrings. Yes...9. But I liked all of them so much and they were so cheap!! That night we went out for our final dinner together as a group, to have a few drinks and to celebrate everything we had seen in Turkey. Walking...well, getting very lost in the streets of Istanbul between the restaurant and our intended bar, a girl crossed the road in front of me and did a double take, looking at me strangely and saying..."Belinda, is that you?" I was so surprised to run into Katie, a fellow Tassie travel agent who I travelled to Malaysia on an educational with last year! We had a great laugh about never knowing who you might run into on the other side of the world.
So that pretty much sums up my Turkish experience - interesting and interested people, colourful, cultural Istanbul, fun seaside towns and the natural beauty of the Anzac peninsular. I would leave with memories that would stay forever and of course with some great apple tea and real turkish delight!
Hope you enjoyed the next installment of my journal, as always great sharing the journey with you.
See you all soon!
Belinda
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