This year we celebrated our fortieth anniversary by making a tour of Turkey. We made our reservation for the “Highlights of Turkey” tour with Exodus Travels. More details can be found here. We started the tour on a Sunday morning, with the first destination being the Gallipoli Peninsula. Refer to this map for details of the entire itinerary.
Beach, Gallipoli
This is a picture of our tour guide, Tolga Kinas. He was an excellent guide and had extensive knowledge of the history of Turkey from ancient times up to the present. Thank you, Tolga.
Our Guide, Tolga
The Gallipoli peninsula forms one of the entrances to the Dardanelles, the entrance to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Turkey was dragged in to World War I by two German battleships that sailed with Turkish flags and then proceeded to bombard Sevastapol and Odessa. Later, Churchill sent a British naval force into the Dardanelles. The straights were mined by the Turks and caused significant damage to the naval force. For more information, take a look on Wikipedia. Later, Churchill sent troops from Australia, New Zealand and Britain, as part of a land invasion. The was a disaster for Allied and Turkish troops. The Gallipoli invasion special significance to Australians and New Zealanders (the Anzacs), who lost many troops during the campaign. The troops landed on the narrow beaches, including the one shown earlier. Turkish troops had the high ground and held a significant advantage.
This image is one of the memorials to those who lost their lives during the campaign. This memorial includes words by Ataturk, who led the Turkish troops and later founded the Republic of Turkish.
Anzac Memorial, Gallipoli
We visited a couple of Allied cemeteries, including this Anzac cemetery.
Anzac Cemetery, Gallipoli
And this Turkey cemetery…
Turkish Cemetery, Gallipoli
After leaving Gallipoli, we headed for the ferry that would take us across the straights to the port city of Çanakkale. After checking in to the hotel, we headed to the waterfront (and later to dinner). The Trojan Horse that was used in making of the film “Tory” (2004), is located on the waterfront.
Trojan Movie Horse, Canakkale
Fishermen had arrived back in port, where they were busy cleaning their catch of the day. We encountered this cat that was avidly watching events… with the hope of getting some fish?
Cat, Waiting For The Fish, Canakkale
Within a few minutes, the sun was dropping down behind the Gallipoli Peninsula. I made this image of the setting behind one of the ferry boats.
Sunset Behind The Ferry, Canakkale
After dinner, I decided to make some night images around Çanakkale. This is one image of the clock tower in the main street.
Clock Tower At Night, Canakkale
We had a great first day of the tour.