Gallipoli and Izmir

 Sitting in a slightly cramped hostel in Izmir, it is hard to believe that it has only been a few days since the last post back in ​​Istanbul. We decided to leave Istanbul at the crack of dawn in order to avoid the bedlam of Turkish rush hour and so found ourselves at Gallipoli surprisingly early. Whilst not a particularly 'gap yaah' thing to do, we thought that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit. What we hadn't fully appreciated was that we visiting only a couple of days before ANZAC day. We plugged ANZAC cove into the satnav and soon came across a couple of signs saying 'no unregistered vehicles beyond this point'. At this point we came to the decision that this was one of those times when you just ignore the official line and keep driving; we had seen coaches going through anyway and so thought what was the worst that could happen. We soon realised that these weren't coaches full of tourists but were the Turkish army being positioned as security for the event. However, this did have the upshot of ensuring that we were the only tourists on what is an incredibly moving yet beautiful site. Having stopped by the museum (bit of a Turkish propaganda machine), we drove to the nearby port to catch a ferry over to Asia. The experience was slightly ruined by the fact that the Bodrum SPOR football firm appeared to be on our ferry; whilst undeniably enthusiastic for a team which is in the 4th Turkish division, the quality of their singing seemed to mirror their standing in Turkish football. Following a slightly dubious yet stunning campsite in some Turkish farmer's field, we pressed on for Izmir via Pergamum. We had chosen Pergamum as a visit to break up the days driving but were completely blown away by the experience. Given that Turkey has received a fair amount of bad press recently, there are literally no tourists around and so we had the site to ourselves. Given that it was by now reasonably warm, the idea was to drive to Izmir where having found our hostel we would decamp for the beach.  Thinking of going to Izmir on holiday? Don't. I suppose its rather like Rio de Janerio without the beach, Jesus statue or any of the charm. Imagine Portsmouth but 10 degrees warmer and you're there. Izmir did, however, act as a staging post for a trip to Ephesus the following day. Whilst it is a bit of a tourist trap (sellers selling 'genuine fake watches'), the sheer size of the site is jaw dropping. Although it is essentially just a load of stones, these stones have been arranged in a quite amazing way and so is certainly worth a visit. Tomorrow we power onto Cappadocia; a hefty 10 hour drive so lets hope its worth it. KBO.