ANZAC Day, Gallıpolı, Turkey.

It was a dark and freezıng nıght. The sound of thunder, whıch was really just the wınd ın a mıcrophone whıch they forgot to turn off, was ın our ears. Any attempt at sleep was obstructed by boomıng voıces from above (where the speakers were) exhortıng us to 'move up, there are more people comıng ın'. Any complaınts were stıfled wıth the admonıshment from the pulpıt that the ANZAC spırıt ıs all about endurıng hardshıp and makıng sacrıfıces for others. So we moved up, stayed awake, and froze.

Unimpressed at Anzac Cove

Before I go any further I wıll mentıon that no, ıt ıs not your eyes - my 'ı's really don't have any dots. Crazy Turkısh keyboard.

'But ıt was worth ıt, rıght?' you ask. Well, at the Dawn Servıce we had Wınston Peters talkıng about somethıng or other, and no fırıng of guns ın salute. We then struggled out of our sleepıng bags (more aptly named frostbıte protectors) ınto the freezıng Gallıpolı mornıng and hıked for half an hour or an hour up to Lone Pıne for the Australıan Servıce. Thıs was the best part of the day. Theır MC was some cartoonıst guy and, as we were early, he kept us entertaıned. He was very amusıng - I know thıs even though I fell asleep a few tımes whıle he was talkıng. The Australıans had organısed theır area so that there was enough room for everyone, so I could lıe down. I am now much better dısposed toward my trans-Tasman cousıns!

After the Aussıe servıce was over we had to really boot ıt to get to the Kıwı servıce on tıme. It was about the same dıstance as ıt had been from the Dawn Servıce to the Aussıe one, although thıs tıme we dıdn't have to clımb a hıll - thankfully, ıt was only a gentle rıse the whole way, as opposed to a clıff. We got there and there was nowhere to stand or sıt. Chunuk Baır, where the NZ memorıal ıs, ıs a tıny, rocky, monument encrusted hılltop so there wasn't anywhere near enough room. We peered over people's heads at the bıg screen they had up, whıch was ok. The Aussıes put on a much better servıce though.

After the Kıwı Servıce fınıshed, we trudged back to the coach. I had run out of water so the hour and a half-ısh walk was not very good for me - by thıs tıme the sun had come out, so I got burnt and a lıttle heat-struck. I was nauseous and headachy and exhausted by the tıme we got back to the coach, and I slept the whole 4.5 hours to Istanbul.

Was ıt worth ıt? Well, put ıt thıs way: I'd do ıt dıfferently next tıme. I'd waıt untıl the mornıng to arrıve, lıke some people dıd, or just waıt untıl I can get VIP seats. I dıdn't enjoy ıt; the servıces were dry and I was too exhausted to really lısten anyway. However, I am glad I can say I have been to Gallıpolı, and seen what our soldıers went through. My dıscomfort and lack of sleep wıll be forgotten ın a few days as I get back ınto sıghtseeıng. Theırs...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Contiki III - Greece and Egypt

Well, it seems like so long since Rome! What's that? It is, and I'm a slacker for not updating? Well, you try blogging when you're in Egypt, geting up before dawn and going to bed after 10pm! The pace was absolutely hectic, but it was awesome. Anyway, I'm geting ahead of myself again.

We drove from Rome to Greece, stopping in Pompeii for a little tour. It was cool, though not as fabulous as I had imagined. Probably because we had a tour guide who was all information and no free time. I think it really makes it when you get a chance to sit down and absorb the atmposphere, letting your imagination fill in the full picture of what it was like then. We drove past Naples, which I think is a good thing!

From there we caught the ferry to Corfu, an island off the Greek mainland, near the border with Albania (if that tells anyone anyhing!). I got some beautiful pictures of the sunrise over the coast from the ferry. We had a toga party one night we were there, which was fun until I got tired and went to bed early. I am so old! Hehe.

Corfu is a typification of Europe in one way. It has two forts on the island. One is called the new fort, and the other is called, imaginatively enough, the old fort.
The new fort was built in 1538. That is older than my country! Real new.
The old fort was was built in 2000BC.
What can you say?

The next day, still on Corfu, we did the infamous "George's Boat" cruise. I was great fun - I went parasailing! It was basically just a relaxing day on the water - apart from the parasailing, of course :p

We arrived in Athens, did a quick tour of the Acropolis (Parthenon, Charybdids etc. - cool but covered in scaffolding), then we were off to Egypt!

The Charybdids, on the Acropolis in Athens

I found Egypt to be much like a cleaner, friendlier, richer India. I enjoyed it immensely. Highlights were the sandstorm that blew in a window of the museum we were in ('What was that? Terrorists? A vandal? No, a sandsorm! Cool!'), going INSIDE the second pyramid (!), seeing the pyramids after the sandstorm stopped, having my butt touched by my 15 year old camel guide (ew!), getting an actual good deal in the markets in Aswan (you knew there had to be shopping!), flying in a rust-bucket aeroplane to see Abu Simbel (temple with colossi - pretty sweet), taking an early morning hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings in Luxor (more dead dudes - also cool) and going out on a yacht / launch thingy for the day on the Red Sea off the resort town called Hurghada.

I'm in Egypt! At Abu Simbel

Something else worth mentioning is the armed escort we had to and from Hurghada. If you remember, they had some trouble with exploding people there recently-ish, so to reassure the tourists they make heavily armed police babysit busloads of us. If you ask me, five coaches of tourists with an escort with outmoded weapons and a fixed, publicly available time to leave makes a better target than one coach. Eh, luckily I'm pretty sanguine about these things *vacant happy smile*.

Early morning balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings (with the tombs and stuff). No head-turning required - thanks Gus!

We got back to Athens and I caught the last six laps of the MotoGP, which was a highlight of the week for me, if not for you! I'm now waving the Casey Stoner banner as well as the Valentino Rossi one. "Vale" will always be my favourite though. ^^

We are now in Kavala, and tomorrow we see Troy and then camp out (in the loosest sense of the word: no fire, no caming equipment or tents, no alcohol - just a sleeping bag and your toilet roll) to wait for the dawn service at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli. Awesome.

In other news, I am well; I finally got rid of that cold, at least for now, and no Delhi-belly in Egypt. The only problem is I am going stir-crazy! The scenery and culture and stuff is amazing, but I'm geting homesick for meaningful work which occupies my mind! I've been through so many books, but I really miss using my brain. I found a New Scientist at a magazine shop today (don't ask how much it cost - all English language reading materials are vastly expensive here) so hopefully that will keep my brain occupied for a while.

I hope everyone is well. Hugs to all, and do write or comment - keep me up to date!

Contiki II - Italy

Well, the weather has finally cleared! I had to wash my shoes because they stunk so badly from getting repeatedly soaked in Paris, Barcelona and Nice. Oh well, at least it was exotic European soggyness.

Since my last post I have been to Aigues Mortes (a short stopover), Nice on the French Riviera, Monaco for an evening, Venice, Florence, Pisa, and today I am in Rome. Aigues Mortes was super cute, but touristy. Nice was nice (heh, sorry), though I had to find a dress for Monaco so the whole day was spent on errands rather than enjoying it, so it was less cool. Florence was unmemorable, Pisa had a tower and many street hawkers (lookee-lookee, good price) but nothing else of note.

Monaco was awesome. I would have liked to have spent a day there rather than just the evening watching people gamble, as fascinating as that was. When I get home, however, you can all touch the hand which has touched the hairpin of the Monaco racing circuit. How cool is that?

Venice was indescribable. I'll describe it anyway though, just for you ^^ It was a beautiful little Italian town with winding cobbled streets and window boxes with flowers and washing out the windows, but with no cars at all. Only pedestrians! I was quite surprised to see this. In addition to being all that you think of when you think of picturesque Italian villages, it also has canals - little winding streets made of water. SO cool. And the food! All of Italy wins on the food thing. Sorry Paris. Though Paris wins everything else.

Today... well, Rome is awesome. We arrived last night and did a bit of a walk around, some of it guided. The Trevi fountain is the coolest thing ever - I want one. I never knew it was so big! I really want one. The P....on... - um, the place with the columns which is not in Greece - is cool. I saw the Vatican, complete with listening to the pontiff pontificate and recieving the benedictions of Benedict. I also looked at the Sistine chapel, and ate gelato. I will miss Italy. But mostly for the food.

Oh, and the Pope sends his blessings. Apparently he blessed me, and through me all my friends and family. So if you want 'em, consider yourself blessed. Sweet, huh?

Contiki I

I fell in love with England as soon as I caught my first sight of it. It was the middle of the day, with clear skies, so I could see Dover heading towards us over the curve of the earth. Flying into Heathrow, beautiful green patchwork quilts of land which reminded me so much of home gradually resolved into small, modern but still picturesque towns huddled around ancient looking churches. And then we flew over a castle. What can I say?!

I caught the tube in to London, managed to navigate that and the streets to find my way to the Royal National Hotel (a place with the most uniformly terrible service service I´ve ever encountered - I was only there for one night though so it was not a problem), texted Tony and realised I didn´t have Jamie´s mobile number, then checked in and had a shower. My roommate for that night arrived while I was in the shower which was a bit of a surprise...

After the shower I had the meeting where we met out tour leader and driver (both awesome people) and met the people we´d be on tour with. I met some people and went out to dinner with them, at a pub around the corner. Dinner was ten pounds, but I got my steak! Holy cow it was good. Hehehe. There was salad, too, and chips! With no spices on them! Oh man. It was awesome.

Anyway, after that we all went to bed to be rested for our 6am leaving time. I was pretty excited so I managed to stay awake until then, but it was four hours later than I was used to (because of the change from India) so I slept through my alarm in the morning! There was no problem, though - I just packed a little haphazardly and got downstairs in plently of time.

Met a few new people on the drive to Dover, but mostly listened to Michael (our tour leader) talk about all the basic stuff (no hot food on the coach, double-bag if you´re going to throw up, etcetera). The ferry across was cool, though I was sad to be leaving England so soon after arriving.

Calais, the French port across from Dover, is nothing really to look at. We drove on through and were in Paris for that night, doing a night tour of the illuminations before bed. Our intrepid driver, Kim, even managed to drive us on the uninsurable roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe not one but about three times (!) , and into the Louvre with about an inch of clearance for the coach on either side. Go Kim! Girlpower and all that.

I loved Paris! I was prepared to be unimpressed, but the Eiffel Tower was really very cool, as was the Arc and the two islands in the Seine. So was the Champs Elysees, so was the Rue St. Honore, and so was finding out that I still speak enough French to be able to get around. I am SO going back there. The Moulin Rouge was pretty average though. Meh.

After a three nights we moved on to the Beaujolais region, where we stayed in this fabulous old Chateau. We had a party night that night with another group that was staying there; the theme was ¨come as something starting with P¨. I bought some fluffy white fabric in Paris and went as a panda. It was cool.

Well, my time is running out, but I am now in Spain which is less cool, but still pretty sweet. The wine in Beuajolais was not to my taste (vinegar never is unless it´s on chips). We are off to see flamenco dancing tonight, but until then it´s museums, shops, and tapas! Whee!