Day 11- Gallipoli, Turkey

We got up early this morning so that we could load the bikes on trucks and catch a ferry from Kanakale to Eceabat on the European side of Turkey and the Gallipoli Peninsula. 

The ferry was packed with school kids, and our friend James tried to explain tandem cycling to a group of young teens. 

They couldn’t speak English, but thanks to the IPhone photo technology (that was a plug for Sawyer), they definitely got it.

Most of Turkey is in Asia, but a portion of it lies in Europe.  The Gallipoli Peninsula is separated from Asiatic Turkey by the Dardanelle Straits.  At one end is the mouth to the Aegean Sea, and at the other end, Istanbul, and the Bosporus Straits into the Black Sea. The Dardanelle Strait is about 40 miles long but ranges in width from only ¾ to 3 ¾ miles wide. The Gallipoli Peninsula was an extremely important strategic area especially for the Ottoman Empire as well as Russia (with no warm water ports other than on the Black Sea) in the early 20^th Century. As we road along the southern coast of the peninsula, we saw many forts and fortifications that have now been long abandoned. 

The cycling was fantastic with newly paved roads, a tailwind, and little traffic. 

Our first stop was the war memorial for soldiers killed in the Battle of Gallipoli during WWI which lasted from April to December of 1915.

     

Russia was in turmoil, and the British and French were trying to prop up the Russian government so they would fight for the Allies in the war.  They had to be able to get supplies to Russia, and the Black Sea was the best and quickest alternative.  The Ottoman Empire was in decline at this point and had sided with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty (like the Secretary of Defense) at that time, sent a fleet of ships (many ageing and about to be mothballed) to destroy the Ottoman fortifications in preparation for troop landings.  The Turkish troops were highly underestimated by the British, and between sea mines and ferocious bombardment from shore, the fleet was turned back.  Australian and New Zealander (ANZAC)troops were landed, some on wrong beaches, and fought pitched battles with Turkish troops in trenches sometimes only 50 yards apart.  The ANZAC troops were decimated and after 8 months of trench warfare, they retreated.  This was the biggest and last Ottoman victory, and it was led by Mustafa Kamal Attaturk.

He became a national hero and led Turkey to independence 8 years later.

The memorial was very moving and we spent quite some time wandering around the grounds.
       


We passed ANZAC landing beaches and stopped at another memorial and lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula.

The ride back to our bus for the ferry crossing would have been perfect if not for the 20mph headwind the whole way back.  It felt like we had climbed a couple  thousand feet.

At the ferry dock there was a depiction of the trench warfare in life-size bronze figures. It was a bit chilling.

We got back to the ship around 4 and I began the ordeal of dismantling the tandem.  I was in my bike attire, and didn’t notice the cold wind that dropped the temperature as the sun went down until it was too late.  As the last pieces of the bike went into the case I began to find my core temperature dropping.  I was nearly done, but couldn’t quite get the case closed.  I enlisted the help of Leland (by far the most helpful person of the Santana crew) who removed my rear derailleur and chain, and modified the case inserts and got it closed.  It will be interesting to see if I can return the tandem to working order when we get it home.

Tomorrow we arrive in Istanbul and head to the airport for a flight to Milan where Dave and Molly will be meeting us with a van.