Istanbul 23 April

Day 26

Following the directions given to me by Richard Leane who I saw on Facebook had been in Istanbul a few weeks earlier and whom id known from travelling in south America with ...

They made our trip to the hotel (Best Town Palace) very easy via metro and tram and the Istanbulkart card has been very helpful!

After arriving we went for a walk taking in viewa of the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia within minutes of leaving the hotel.

We went looking for the Intrepid meeting point for our trio to Gallipoli the following day and unfortunately my pre printed Google map was not helpful.

We had so many men offer to help us and at first were reluctant after our experiences in Egypt but soon found they were genuine and did not want payment or to take us to their carpet shop!

After finding the intrepid office (thanks to one of them making a phone call!), we went for dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Aya Sophia and Blue Mosque and watching a spectacular full moon rise.

We walked back stopping at one of the many sweet shops to try their wares - this time choosing chocolate baklava!

Day 27

We were at the Intrepid office on time (11am) to join our tour - I was surprised to find a bus of only 20 going. The tour leader Caglar was nice and friendly. We had a supplied turkish pide and salad lunch in the park before we departed.

We also were given an Intrepid bag and commemorative Anzac Day tshirt - with Gallipoli mis-spelled!!! (They spelt it Gallipolli - I doubt most Australians would notice ... I didn't! ).

Stopped along the way for a 3pm dinner - my first golzeme with kofta and salad (getting slightly frustrated at this point with all the wheat and dairy filled food that im mildly allergic too!!!).

We stopped again just before Gallipoli for a few more passengers and bought some souvenir shirts.

We arrived and were reminded by Aussie volunteers hopping on our bus several times that there was no booze or drugs.

We then hopped off and went through security and made our way to the site.

We found a seat with some of our group in the grandstand and soon after saw Erin and G again who sat nearby!

There was lots to keep busy as at the entrance they'd also given us a satchel which contained a program, pencil, commemorative pin, poncho and beanie! They also had large screens playing the 'reflective program' which had many great documentaries to learn from, a pre recorded address from the Australian and Nz prime ministers, and a choir had come from All Hallows and Gregory Terrace in Brisbane to perform. There was also a defence band which they had on early in the night and again at 1am ... just in case you were trying to sleep!

There was plenty of food vendors so I needn't have worried about packing the care package Vered gave us and buying more snacks.

About midnight we rugged up in our sleeping bags as it was cold but felt toasty warm in them! We didnt sleep as it was loud and uncomfortable but Susie and I took turns lying on the seats vs sleeping on the floor.

At one point when I was on the seats I tried to rollover but lost my grip on the seats that I gad through my sleeping bag and landed on Susie and the people also on the floor at her feet! As I was in my mummy coocoon it also took some time to get my arms into a position to unzip myself and get up! It was quite funny and had an audience!

Finally the dawn ceremony commenced at 5.0am - unfortunately we were all half asleep and it seemed to go so quick!

Next I farewelled Susie who got the mobility bus, bumped into Tom from our previous tour and had a chat, then found new friends Nicola and Greg from Brisbane and walked up to Lone Pine for the Australian service at 10am.

It was a steep walk on a dirt track and we stripped off our many clothing layers as we went. In the grand stands we were in full sun and were getting burnt!

The ceremony was good and quick finishing at 11am.

I saw Gillian Lee from work so spoke to her for a little while then headed off to Chanuk Bair and our bus meeting point with sisters from Melbourne - Mary and Lisa.

We viewed the cemeteries along the way, and saw the trenches of the Australian and Turks that were all but metres from each other.

It was a very hot and hard walk carrying our back packs filled with clothes, snacks and water and our sleeping bag. It made us appreciate what the Anzacs achieved potentially carrying more, making their own paths, being shot at abd shooting back!

We also went out onto the 'Nek' and were amazed at the view and how beautiful and turquoise the water was in the full light of day.

It was only 8km from the northern beach commemorative site to our final destination Chanuk Bair but we arrived about 1.30 and were hot and tired.

They were providing plenty of free water and we had the ice cream we'd been dreaming of since leaving Lone Pine - a pistachio drumstick!

We saw Erin and G again and said our goodbye.

Our bus was one of the last to leave about 3pm so after the same stops back we arrived about 9-9.30pm at our Istanbul hotel.

I'd only had a couple of hours sleep so was tired and cranky when I bumped into our tour leader and new group at reception - we'd missed our pre tour meeting and dinner.

Day 29

We were still cranky when we awoke and met our group at 8.15am. I soon got over it though and enjoyed being a social butterfly, fluttering around the group to meet everyone.

We did a walking tour of Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofya, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar - along the way we saw people from our Gallipoli tour and Erin and G again!!!

After the orientation we had free time so had a quick look about then off to the hammam for a scrub and rub! (Turkish bath)

It was supposed to be the oldest in Turkey so wad more expensive than previous and more gentle. It was also more communal so you see everyone on the marble slab getting their treatment and getting around in nothing but the hamam issued black cotton 'disposable' full briefs. I'm running out of underwear as keep losing them so kept mine!!!

There were still plenty of Aussie accents about every where we went and locals would pick us for it in the street chanting 'Aussie, aussie, aussie' as we passed.

We had dinner with newly married Sydney couple Bec and Lou, and Columbian Esteban.

The other girls getting and ice cream for desert from a very cheek seller.

Day 30

We were up early to depart for Bursa via tram and ferry.