Canakkale and Troy - 29th to 30th of August 2011

Having spent a full day in Gallipoli, we made the half hour car-ferry crossing from Europe into Asia at 6pm. We were staying a few hundred metres from where the ferry dropped us off, so we dumped the car and the bags at the hotel in Canakkale, grabbed some kebabs and watched the sunset over the water.
With nothing really to see in Cannakale, we had a (failed) attempt at finding some nightlife, and ended up having a pretty quiet night.

On the road early the next day for an hour and half trip around to Troy. Bad news awaited us, because of the public holiday it wasn't opening until 1pm! Very annoying since we had got up so early! A quick team talk and we decided to trek out to the coast, approximately 40 minutes away, to spend a few hours at the beach until opening time. Thankfully it was a pretty decent beach, although the water a bit nippy for swimming!
40 minutes retracing our steps back to Troy. Obviously a pretty famous place, but not even close to some of the best ruins we've seen. We finished up at Troy mid-afternoon for our drive further south to Foca.

The Gallipoli Peninsula - 28th to 29th of August 2011

On and on and on west we went, along the top of the Sea of Marmara to the Gallipoli Peninsula. The trip took most of the afternoon, arriving in Eceabat around 5pm. Gallipoli needs no introduction, especially for Kiwis and Aussies, and the place certainly has a Kiwi/Aussie feel - our hotel ("Crowded House Hotel") even had an Aussie bar.

But the main reason for visiting is obviously to see the battlefields, Anzac cove, the war memorials etc. We decided to do it as a little tour put on by the hotel the following day, which was probably the best decision we made all tour as it gave us real insight into the objectives, successes, failures of the mission. Our tour guide was even the grandson of one the Turkish soldiers!

The first stop was Brighton Beach, a nice wide expanse of beach where the ANZACs were supposed to land in 1915.

Around the corner to Anzac Cove, a rocky little beach flanked by hills, were they actually did land. The error (made in the middle of a very dark night) is one of the reasons for the failed campaign, given the Turks had a strong defence helped by the natural terrain.

Inland by less than a kilometre to the highest point actually reached by the allies in 8 months of brutal fighting, to see some of the memorials.

Fairly sobering afternoon really but very insightful. A full afternoon in the sunshine, we made it back to Eceabat for the 6pm ferry crossing to Cannakale.

Istanbul - 26th to 28th of August 2011

Istanbul, the start of our week-long tour of Turkey. Well, when we finally got there that is, after being bumped by Emirates to the later flight. We only arrived at our hotel by early afternoon, were we met our buddy Nicola, who had arrived earlier in the day (without her bags). Not such a great start, and only time for a quick walk around and a local dinner.

With only two nights in Istanbul, we really only had one full day to explore. So we were up at a decent-ish hour to wander over to the Topkapi Palace, the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years from the 15th to 19th centuries. It sits on a great spot overlooking the Maramis and the Golden Horn, so got our first look at wider Istanbul, the joining place of Europe and Asia.

From there, it was around the corner to the Haigia Sophia, originally the cathedral of Constantinople when it was built in the 4th century, until it was converted into a Mosque in the 15th century.

And next door to the Blue Mosque, relatively new at only 400 years old. It's referred to as the Blue Mosque due to the blue tiles on the inside, although we thought it should be called the feet mosque due to the smell (they make people take their shoes off and carry them around inside the mosque, so it doesn't have a particularly pleasing aroma...)

After a full on morning we were ready for some lunch, and found some at the nearby Grand Bazaar. Its a very old indoor market, very colourful, and actually quite pleasant compared to some of the markets we've been through.

A few shawls and knock-off belts later, we got the tram over to the newer part of town for a walk down the main shopping strip. More sunglasses, shoes...Half way down the strip is the Galata Tower. Built in 1348 as part of the fortifications of Constantinople, its not the tallest tower in the world, but still offers great views back across the Marmara and Golden Horn to the many mosques of the Istanbul skyline. Back to our hotel to get dolled up before a gourmet dinner, followed by a few cocktails at one of the many rooftop bars that are the place to be in Istanbul.

Having spent a day and a half in Istanbul, we realised how crazy the drivers are. So it turned out very nicely that we weren't picking up our hire car in downtown, but rather out at the airport. No dramas in picking up our beast, we hit the road west around midday...

Ras Al Khaimah - 19th to 20th of August 2011

There was some serious regret when Warren woke up at 3.45am to get to Ras Al Khaimah ("RAK") in time for the 7am tee off with the boys. In hindsight, maybe not such a good idea...

We were playing at Al Hamra, which is just outside RAK. RAK is another emirate within the UAE approx 1.5 hours north of Dubai. Al Hamra is a golf and spa resort, and so we were staying right next to the golf course.

The golf was fun and we missed the worst of the heat, but the rest of the day was a bit of a write off next to the pool having met up with girls who drive up at a more sensible hour.A nice dinner and few drinks at the hotel bar, before Warren was up early again for a 6.30am tee off again on Saturday (never again). More snoozes in the afternoon before the 1.5 hour drive back south to Dubai.