IF YOU POKE AROUND in enough big cities, they start to look a bit samey. I mean, see one – you’ve seen ‘em all. But that’s not true here. If you stick your head out your hotel window and see a forest of spiky minarets thrusting above the skyline … if you hear the cry of muezzins (holy men), calling Muslim devotees to prayer … if you breathe in the tangy aroma of spice markets, or the smell of lamb-kebab roasting at roadside rotisseries … you know you’re in Istanbul!
This vibrant Turkish capital, home today for 15 million people, was called Byzantium in very old history books, then later Constantinople. Check your map and you’ll see how the city straddles both sides of the narrow Bosphorus Strait. In fact, Istanbul straddles two continents – Europe and Asia (which is more than enough straddling, I reckon).
We happily lost track of time, oohing-and-aahing at the stunning, world-famous Blue Mosque with its marble pillars and shimmering tiled dome … the Hagia Sophia, once the Christian world’s largest basilica, eventually re-decorated with Arabic mosaics and symbols … and the vast Topkapi Palace, used-to-be residence of sultans and their harems, now Istanbul’s most-prized museum, crammed with bejewelled weapons, royal leftovers, holy relics, and diamonds the size of golfballs.
(Confession: my wife and I get museumed-out quickly. So, in between oohing-and-aahing, we found a likely café and practised drinking thick, black, gritty Turkish coffee. Warning: #1 let the dregs settle before you take a gulp – and #2 don’t stir, whatever you do!)
Day Four saw us driving south out of Istanbul alongside the Sea of Marmara. Our destination: a small, bush-clad peninsula that witnessed a fateful WW1 battle between Anzacs and Turks.
There’s not much to see here at Gallipoli, but the names say it all: tiny Anzac Cove, where that fateful first-landing was made … Chunuk Bair, the high ridge that was fought over so savagely … Lone Pine, where Turkish trenches were taken at such an appalling price … the memorial to Turkey’s 57th Regiment, not one of whom survived … monuments, flags, and cemeteries all over the place …
For eight brutal months, Allied forces battled the Ottoman army for this strategic location – a campaign that ultimately failed, at enormous cost to both sides. Among the dead (officially 131,000, but likely way more) were 2721 Kiwi soldiers – roughly one quarter of the New Zealanders who fought here. And the gravestones of the fallen seem to stretch forever.
The astonishing respect felt by both sides is reflected in a bronze statue of a Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Australian. And the gracious words of Turkey’s wartime leader, Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), are especially poignant:
“Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives … you are now living in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours … You the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries: wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
It was a moving few hours for us Kiwis – eyeballing the sites, soaking up the stories. And we were all in a sober frame of mind as we laid Anzac poppies on the NZ Memorial. It was impossible not to think about the insanity of war – and the brave young men on both sides (many of them teenagers) who paid with their lives.
By the time we got back, a fiery orange sun was setting over Istanbul. And a bunch of distractions were tempting us to stay. Like a hip-twitching Belly-Dance class … or some yummy Turkish Delight (soft, jelly-like sweets) … or a glass of raki (Turkey’s national brew), served with feta cheese and melon … or an authentic Turkish Bath, for those inclined to take the plunge.
Or like the Grand Bazaar’s 4000 shops, where you can bargain-till-you’re-broke for gold, jewellery, ceramics, clothes, antiques, rugs and endless Turkish junk.
Mmmm. Next time, maybe …?
JOIN JOHN & ROBYN COONEY ON THEIR NEXT ADVENTURE. SEE WWW.MIDLIFEMADNESS.TOURS, OR PHONE 0800 323 333.
