October 2015
Alexandroupolis - Kesan, Turkey 80 km
Definitely a step up in border security compared to every other country we have been in and a huge police presence checking buses and other vehicles, for refugees but finally we were on our way to Kesan. It fined up but we didn't quite dry out. Late afternoon by the time we arrived to start the hotel hunt. Immediately we noticed how many young groups of males there were. A bit like Morrocco. All smoking. Hanging about. And very aggressive impatient drivers. An almost gridlocked narrow street going uphill, we were going the same speed but the car drivers were trying to get us out of their way. And absolutely no tolerance for pedestrians. We found a hotel, after 4 previous no goes, thankfully being rescued by the man at reception, he could obviously see us trying to extract ourselves from a group of guys who had insisted on tagging along and then wanted paid for showing us the way... yeah right. We were shown the expensive, lovely, spotless 3* option and then the 1* option across the road where we could store our bikes for the night. We decided we would rather stay there. It was more spacious, old and tired but also much cheaper, honestly the 3* was just not right for our muddy wet bags, shoes, raincoats and there was nowhere to hang up our clothesline! I did get a kind of - Are you daft - look from the guy showing us around.
We ventured out to a restaurant for dinner almost falling asleep waiting for the food to be cooked, the last couple of big days catching up on us.
Kesan - Gelibolu (Gallipoli) 83 km
The bonus for the day was that breakkie was buffet back across the road at the 3* , We stayed quite a long while enjoying the comfort and delicious food, lots of feta cheese, olives, cucumber, tomato, eggs, fresh bread, fruit, yoghurt, jams and lots of tea, we were not at all keen to venture out in the rain. But finally we set off. A highway ride all the way, but a good shoulder. Also heavy rain all the way. Everytime a truck hurtled by we got even more drenched. Luckily it was rolling countryside so we warmed up going up the hills and then froze going down. Gelibolu, or Gallipoli to us, is a funny little place. Spread out, touristy, kind of run down on the opposite side of the peninsula from Anzac cove. We wandered around - fair to say a little unimpressed.
Gelibolu to Hill 64 - 53 km - Over the hills and far away...
We took the cross-country option instead of the highway. All the rain had muddied things up a bit (photo 1) but an interesting ride. We came across huge kangal dogs sporting dangerous looking spiked collars, the dogs were almost as big as my bike. They usually look after the sheep and certainly don't like it if you get too close. I didn't get any photos being a little too concerned for my welfare. It's hard to describe some of the villages out here. Like going back in time. Peasant life. Just eeking out an existence while actually quite close to modern life. Finally we made it to the otherside of the peninsula. We chatted to a family from the UK who had visited their grandfathers grave and were thrilled that they saw his photo in the museum.
It was getting late so we made the decision to stay the night in front of Hill 64, a NZ and Australian memorial outside of the main cemetery and no camping areas. Very quiet and peaceful night.
Hill 64 - Canakkale 40 km
We were packed up and away early on our mission to find the name of Trevors great uncle who died here 100 years ago.Just a few kms down the road to Anzac Cove where we lingered for a while. It was a beautiful day. Calm and sunny. Very few people about. Probably quite the opposite to 1915 and hard to imagine how so many people could be here on Anzac day.
We stopped to look at every memorial on our way up to Chunuk Bair which is at the top of a big hill. There are separate cemeteries and/or memorials for different battles. It took us a while.
At Chunuk Bair, the last place to visit, we found the name we had been looking for- Charles Hayward- It was in alphabetical order among the roll of inscribed names. He was a part of the Wellington infantry group. We were thrilled to find it, not sure if any other family members have been here or not so we took plenty of photos to show them back in NZ.
Mission accomplished!
A memorable day, emotionally exhausting and all the inevitable thinking of the enormous waste of young lives and the futility of war. Never the less it is a place we have wanted to visit for a long time. We were so close to here in 1986 and later regreted not making the effort.
A short cycle back across the narrowing peninsula then an even shorter ferry crossing to Canakkale. A modern, vibrant city full of students. Nice cafes and restaurants, good food and nice hotels. We wandered along the promenade to see the wooden sculpture of the horse used in the movie Troy. Enormous! The place Troy is not far from here but we decided not to make a detour to visit.
Canakkale - Can - 85 km
Tough riding on a boring inland highway. Just a hard slog up and down hills. Huge wide expanse of farmland for as far as we could see. Pleased to reach Can.
Can - Bandirma - 110 km
Another huge day but more enjoyable as we kept getting stopped and offered chai (tea) which we accepted and then chatted to the locals. But it made for a long day and we really had to push the last 30 km just making it to Bandirma on dark. Another nice coastal city.
Bandirma - Istanbul
We took the midday ferry which took about 3 hrs to get to Istanbul. Great to land so close to the centre. This is the stretch of water that in 1915 the allies were trying to secure in order to get to the black sea...
Next blog, character building week crossing Turkey
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