It's so hard to know where to start - it feels that way when you are conflicted with the pride, rage, frustration, admiration, comradeship, futility and sheer disbelief that a visit to Gallipoli imbues. I wrote in the visitor book at Lone Pine that we should all visit here so that we can remember, learn and not be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. It's hard to say that I enjoyed the visit, but it was something that I wouldn't have missed for the world. I feel both richer and poorer for it.
It's an interesting contrast to visit Troy and Gallipoli in the same day. If you choose to believe the legend, the Spartans and the Trojans fought a war for 10 years all for the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. In this sense Troy and Gallipoli could not be further apart ideologically. Nevertheless the two are irrevocably linked. Troy owed its wealth to its location at the head of the Dardenelles and the need for ships to anchor in the harbour and wait for favourable winds before sailing through to the Black Sea. In this sense both wars were due to to the strategic importance of a bloody stretch of water.
The practical side of me knows that it is easy to see why. Today more than 10,000 ships a year (mostly oil) pass through the Dardenelles, which at it's narrowest point is only 1200m wide.
The ideologue in me wants to argue with all my breath against this rationale. One thing today has reinforced for me is the sheer waste and futility of war. The price paid, in all terms imaginable, is just not worth the perceived or potential economic or political gain; it simply can never be. Our guide today, Murat, told me that, from his village 43 men went off to fight the war. Only 8 returned.
Both guides today were excellent and Cannakkale is an enchanting town. Both tour groups I
went on were pretty good and it seems I've picked up a couple of travelling companions for the next couple of days. We are going to head down to Permagum tomorrow and just follow our noses from there. They seem like good fun guys to hang out with for a while. It might be interesting to see what we can get up to in Selcuk!
In a later post I'll have to fill you in on some of the people and characters I am meeting along the way.
It's an interesting contrast to visit Troy and Gallipoli in the same day. If you choose to believe the legend, the Spartans and the Trojans fought a war for 10 years all for the love of the most beautiful woman in the world. In this sense Troy and Gallipoli could not be further apart ideologically. Nevertheless the two are irrevocably linked. Troy owed its wealth to its location at the head of the Dardenelles and the need for ships to anchor in the harbour and wait for favourable winds before sailing through to the Black Sea. In this sense both wars were due to to the strategic importance of a bloody stretch of water.
The practical side of me knows that it is easy to see why. Today more than 10,000 ships a year (mostly oil) pass through the Dardenelles, which at it's narrowest point is only 1200m wide.
The ideologue in me wants to argue with all my breath against this rationale. One thing today has reinforced for me is the sheer waste and futility of war. The price paid, in all terms imaginable, is just not worth the perceived or potential economic or political gain; it simply can never be. Our guide today, Murat, told me that, from his village 43 men went off to fight the war. Only 8 returned.
Both guides today were excellent and Cannakkale is an enchanting town. Both tour groups I
went on were pretty good and it seems I've picked up a couple of travelling companions for the next couple of days. We are going to head down to Permagum tomorrow and just follow our noses from there. They seem like good fun guys to hang out with for a while. It might be interesting to see what we can get up to in Selcuk!In a later post I'll have to fill you in on some of the people and characters I am meeting along the way.
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