Its another peaceful night in the back-blocks of Bulgaria. A cold morning but soon becomes warm and the shorts are out. First stop is a toilet empty, and I have spied a spot about 20minutes away. We find the carwash come cafe and after a quick chat we are directed to the chamber to empty. Its a quick and easy process, all free thanks to the generous proprietor. We head off a bit lighter and next stop is a Lidl to stock up on the necessities like wine and gin, oh plus some groceries to tide us over. The Turkish border is about an hour and a half drive on the motorway with minimal traffic. We make our way through the necessary passport and visa gates before being directed to the insurance office. Like most UK insurance policies we are not covered in Turkey so have to purchase 3rd party insurance. Having been through these type of situations before I knew its going to be a long process. Eventually its €178 for 3 months insurance thank you very much and we get a good look over by the customs guys before we are let loose. By now we are pretty tired and attempting to find a spot for the night. In the end we go with our gut feel and head to a remote spot about an hour away. Its down a dirt road for about 2km, isolated next to a small lake, this will do fine.
Early morning brings some rain but clears by the time we leave. The coast is about 80km away and thats where we head, through farming country and a lush natural forest area before descending down to the coast. Our park up for the night is a marina area for fishing boats, very typical of areas we have stayed in Greece. And just like Greece we are greeted by beautiful large stray dogs that hang out here. They are so placid and friendly and just hang out around the van. We have some dog biscuits and other bits that we feed them with, they are pretty happy I think, as much as you can be living out in the open. We enjoy a restful day, no more long drives for a while, its great to be here at last.
Our night is broken with dog barking, we now know why they sleep all day! Its those nights when you just wish they would shut up, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm I have to stop looking at the time. Morning is clear, cold and stunning. Old mate is laying next to the van without a care in the world and looks at me with those sleepy eyes. Its like “whats the problem dude” as I curse him but don’t really mean it.
It turns into one of those days where we go from stop to stop until we find a spot to stay. First option is only 20km away but old SatNav decides to lead us down a goat track where we eventually decide thats enough, manage a u-turn and find a better route. Cool spot but right on the water and its very windy, so after a coffee we move on about another 20km but on the other side of the peninsular and views of the Dardanelles. Its lovely here amongst the pine trees and great views but not really doing it for us so again we move and head closer to Anzac territory. We end up at Boomerang Bar at Eceabat, a well documented stop for doing Anzac. Our park up is on the waters edge and after last night its nap time for this little black duck. Later we take a walk through the town where they have a life-size replica of the trenches from WW1. Only 8 meters apart shooting at each other, its hard to comprehend the courage and also the insanity of it. Our local bar owner Mesut is very happy to welcome us into his establishment and we enjoy a couple of beers while chatting with him and viewing the testament books of previous Aussies and Kiwis that have passed through. After speaking to a couple of UK people we decide to book a Gallipoli tour for tomorrow, it looks like trying to drive around in our big van will be difficult.
Wow that was an eventful night, loud music at 3 am, then a chorus of dogs barking then someone shouting obscenities between 4 and 7am. We have a tour group parked near us, they are on an Overlander tour and camping in tents and seemed to have picked up some poor sole that has issues. Doesn’t really help that the bar is there and the booze flows freely, looks like it was a cocktail ready to explode.
We are picked up at 11.30 for our Gallipoli tour, but there is lunch first in a local restaurant and then we head off on the tour. We visit all the sites, Anzac cove, Lone Pine, The Nek and cemeteries in between. Our guide is well informed and gives us a detailed explanation from day one of the landing on the beaches to the eventual retreat from the beaches. We gain a great understanding of the whole time frame that was Gallipoli. Of course like all battles it was pointless as we all know and that there are bodies lying below the ground you walk on makes it even more so. We also have a Maori guy travelling with us in the tour and he begins singing at Anzac Cove, it makes your hair stand on end, an amazing sound hearing the Maori voice resonating over the cove, his great great grandfather died near here, I think Hill 60? Once you understand that whole battle environment its very hard to comprehend why the Anzacs only made it to the point that they reached on the first day. From then they could not breach the Turkish defences despite throwing mens lives against the lines. Initially we expected to be here for the Anzac day memorial on the 25th but we seem to have travelled faster than we originally planned. As its turns out we have experienced a better understanding of the whole Gallipoli battle rather than being here on Anzac day. Of course if we can we will be back but it looks like we will be miles away by the time the 25th arrives.
After another rather broken sleep with the dogs barking we catch the ferry across the Dardanelles to Canakkale, just a short 20 minute trip at around €10. Once we disembark we head to the ancient city of Troy. So at this point its a decision on expenditure, obviously travelling so long you need to make these decisions. Yesterday it was €100 for us and we are happy with the result, it was worth it. Today its a toss up, the ancient city is like many we have visited before, and at times for free or little cost, here its €27 each and the Trojan horse replica was under renovation so its a no from us. Still we now know where its located, and up to today had no idea. The rest of the day becomes one of those journeys from place to place looking for a spot for the night. By 5.30pm we park up at the marina of Babakale, the most western point of Asia. Its also the home of a huge fishing fleet, massive commercial boats all moored ready to strip the oceans.
Its a beautiful morning, the sun is still behind the hill overlooking the marina. Just above us is an old fort and we take a walk up for a birds eye view of the harbour and out to sea. Further along is the lighthouse which is part of the massive seawall protecting the marina. Again we walk past the huge fishing boats and wonder at their size.
So from here we head to the ancient town of Assos, its up and over the hill with a staggering ascent in first gear, boy I wish I had a few extra horse power as we make our way across a fertile landscape passing herds of sheep and their shepherds. Something you don’t see very often anymore, the shepherd, and we make sure we give them a hearty wave as we pass, which we receive in return. Although the landscape is similar to Greece where we have travelled here the countryside is very green and lush compared to a dry and barren landscape in Greece. We park up just outside Assos and make are way up the hill passing countless stalls selling tourist bits and bobs before reaching an entrance for tickets. Hmm, we don’t think we will shell out for this one either and make our way back down then a 5km trip to the beach where we park up amongst the Turks in their tiny caravans and camper vans meters from the waters edge. Always wondering whether it will work out we settle in and eventually decide to stay. The view is stunning and after a windy afternoon it settles a bit for hopefully a peaceful night.
We enjoy probably our most peaceful night for days and awake to a clear but windy morning but with a chill factor in the wind. We leave and make our way along the coast following a narrow winding road without much traffic. Occasionally I pull over to let the odd car pass but apart from that its easy. We arrive at Kucukkuyu looking for a supermarket as we are in need of some food stocks. Its impossible to park and the Turks all double park on the highway which is fine in a small car. After an illegal uturn we head back and park outside a closed furniture store before heading across the road to a supermarket. Well probably the saddest supermarket I have seen for a long time, probably a result of being so used to easy access to huge supermarkets everywhere. What we manage to forage results in about $20 so thats not going to last long. The rest of the day turns into a progressive search for somewhere to stay for the night. First option is a dusty carpark with numerous caravans and camper vans parked up. We stop, have some lunch and reassess after a rest. Next stop is up the hill but we don’t get far, its too tight and only really suitable for a car. After that its a progression of sad spots and we become despondent as the day ticks by with further travel along the highway. Eventually we stop on the beach next to a couple of other vans, its not great, the beach is very dirty but it will be fine for the night.
We do enjoy a quiet night and its a fine clear morning with no wind. It appeared last night while studying the coastal spots that we need to head further south towards Cesme, unfortunately thats over a 3 hour drive but off we go. Once we near Izmir the traffic is heavy, the population huge and apartment buildings that seem never ending. Its a quick question to my copilot, just how many people live in Turkey? What! 85 million, Im sure half of them are on the road today. Its a dreary drive, not much to report and we make our way to Cesme to our proposed park up. Cesme is pumping as well, the coast is littered with developments that are huge. Our stop is Ok but after a rest we decide to move on in search of a quiet spot. That turns into a few hours of dirt roads, no through roads and basically nothing so its back to Cesme which now looks pretty good. To be honest the view is stunning, its just outside is littered with rubbish and not inviting at all which is such a shame. We are now reassessing our planned direction and may head inland.
Its a pretty quiet night, amazing views in the morning and its Sunday. Food stocks are very low so we head back into Cesme and manage to stock up with what we can find. The supermarkets so far a little odd but maybe we are missing the main ones, not sure. We head from Cesme back towards Ismir before turning right and down to the coast at Tepecik. Its a lovely bay here, we pull up and decide to stay. The afternoon is very windy but dies down around 7pm so hopefully that stays through the night. There is a few stray dogs here, big dogs that just lay in the shade of the cars, I manage to feed them a few treats. Later around 6pm a guy and his partner or wife turn up with a big bag of food and water for the dogs. Its a lovely site to see and I manage to grab him before he heads off with a handshake and a “good on you mate”. He’s probably still shaking his head.
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