Day 12: Assos

Aristotle statue at the entrance of the village

Assos, Behramkale with its Ottoman name is an ancient settlement founded from 1000 to 900 BC. It is also a village where Aristotle opened an academy of philosophy and gave lessons. It is located to the sides of the hill where there are the ruins of temple of Athena. There are also the ruins of the ancient city down hill near the ancient harbour where the archeological excavations are still going on. The most amazing remains are the city walls, entrance of the necropolice and the amphiteatre.

temple of Athena

gates of the Necropolis

amphiteatre from web

Behramkale village is still active and the old small streets of it is full of toursitic stands selling handmade touristic stuff.

Behramkale village from the temple of Athena

touristic stuff hanged to the village walls following the route of temple

village square

Behramkale Hüdavendigar mosque from Ottoman times

There are lots of things to say and to see about Assos but it was a disappointment for me about my country and its attention to history. I walked around the ruins of the temple and the ancient city but couldn't find any information about what they are or why they were there. I was walking maybe at the streets of old houses or passing in front of a stoa but I couldn't even understand that. I had to buy a book about Assos to learn what is what and where and also learned that the stone relieves of the temple were given as a present to France by one of the Ottoman sultans. This also shows how important the history for my people. Anyway, if you will come to this part of Turkiye, you should definetely visit Assos. Maybe things can change at the future as I still have hope.

Day 11: Babakale; the most western point of Turkiye at main land

two lighthouses of Babakale welcoming the passengers of Aegean Sea
the land we see at the horizon is a Greek island, Midilli (Lesvos)

Babakale is a small fishing village at the very western point of Turkiye. As I've mentioned before, Gökceada is the western most border of Turkiye. You can read my blog post about Gokceada from here:Gökçeada. Babakale is the most western at main land because of the pysical shape of the land.

Babakale is at the south west of Çanakkale city

Through my journey, I wanted to feel being at this very west but also heard about its castle and delicious local calamary which gets caught daily by fishermen of the village.

Babakale Castle

Babakale is a village founded by Ottomans around 1723. Before the village it's said that one of the Ottoman generals of a navy ship died during they anchored in front of this cape and the soldiers had to barry him to this cape and after that they started calling this cape Baba Burnu which means Dad's Cape. In turkish culture the impression of a father is strong, protective, strict and also like a teacher. So it shouldn't make you feel odd to read the relation between a general and a father for the soldiers who left their lives to his hands. After this, because of the prite attacks to the land Ottomans decided to built a castle to this cape and called it Babakale which also means Dad's castle uniting the two names. The village founded after the castle. Today, most of the houses are rebuilt but there remained a hamam, turkish bath from that times which needs to be restorated immediately. The old ladies of the town told me that it was still working when they were little girls.

the Ottoman hamam needs a restoration immediately

As the village is very small, it is very easy to access to nature and have walks around the village at the afternoons. The days I was there were the hotest days of summer so I had to wait for late afternoon to walk around. First inside the village and then around it...

the beach is at the end of the harbour and the water is very clear

As they live beside the sea, they live with the sea. Because of this, fishing is the main living style here. Of course they all thank to the fertility of the Aegean Sea and Babakale is very famous with its calamary and octopus.

Babakale certificate

When you come to Babakale, at any place you eat or stay, they give you this certificate mostly as a memory of this beautiful fishing village.

Days 7 and 8: Çanakkale and Troia

on the way to Çanakkale

I took a phone call from one of my close friends at saturday. She was asking me where I was and how long I will stay there and other things about my route. Then added that her family whom I also know very closely lives at Kilitbahir and I should go and visit them. For Turkish people family is one of the most important things in life. Family protects the children no matter what, mothers cook incredible tastes and in usual cases they know what you want better than you do. On the other hand it's been a very long time since my last visit to them and I was passing to Çanakkale from Kilitbahir. Every condition was suitable for this visit and I went. They welcomed me at the door. The mother, Aunty Lale prepared the lunch table immediately and within half an hour my stomach was so full that it started to ache although I knew that it wasn't the end of feast. They had made cherry liquor at home. It was waiting under the sun for more than one month and they decided to open it for me. It was over delicious. After the evening seccion with cherry liquor, turkish coffee and chocolates I was on my way to Çanakkale as my friend was waiting for me on the other side. So I jumped to the ferry, wave hands to the family and passed to the other side of the Dardanelles. 

The Troia horse gifted to Canakkale after the shootings of the movie 'Troy'

My new couchsurfing host welcomed me at the ferry dock and took me directly to Cimenlik Castle to see the open air museum of Gallipoli battle time mines, torpedos and a sank German submarine. During our visit we also learned that these days are the days of Troia International Festival. The musician who will performe that night was worldwide famous turkish pianist Fazil Say and it was a free performance. Of course we didn't loose that chance and enjoyed the beauty of a great music.

Fazil Say on the piano 

The next day at Canakkale was a working day for me. I couldn't have written my blog for the last three days and there were other things I needed to arrange about my trip. So i spent the morning and the noon working at home and at the afternoon hit the trail to see the city of Troia.

Troia horse that waits at the gate of Troia

Everybody knows the story of Troia especially after the movie 'Troy'. Paris, the son of Priamos who was the king of The City of Troia, chooses the goddess Aphrodite who promises him the most beautiful woman in the world in a beauty contest. After the beauty contest, The Troian Prince Paris, elopes with beautiful Helena, the wife of the Spartan King Menelaus in the mainland of Greece and takes her to Troia. In response, the kings of the main land Greece besiege Troia with a fleet of 1000 vessels of ally forces. The siege that lasts ten years comes to an end due to a trick of Achaeans. In order to give the impression that they quit war and that they have been recessing, they hide thier vessels at the back of Tenedos (Bozcaada). They leave the wooden horse in front of th Troia Castle. Troians consider the wooden horse as a gift offered to the gods and take it inside the city. The Achaean warriors come out of the horse at night and open the gates of the city for the warriors waiting outside. In this way, Troia is conquered. The rest is blood and death and the end of Troia.

the city of Troia

the blue line at the horizon is the sea

As you can see from the first picture the city is near the sea. But through centuries the sea is filled with earth and today the city of Troia is nearly 40km away from the sea.

city walls

The city was destroyed around 1180BC by Greek kings and was found after 1873AC. Within this time with the force of nature there are not so many things remained from it. You can't relate the ruins with the drawings of the real city. But beside all, there is a place in the ruins where you can use your imagination to fulfill the frame. It's called "The Ramp".

The Ramp of Troia

After my visit to Troia, it was the time to go back to Canakkale and prepare myself for the next stop: Bozcaada (Tenedos). By the way, Çanakkale is a relatively small city. The transportation within and around the city is very easy. The wind reduces the effects of sun and leaves you space to breath. It has the pysical ambience of both Istanbul and Izmir. People are friendly and very modern. I really liked it here.

Çanakkale seaside is always very crowded especially at nights

4th-5th-6th Days: Saroz Bay and Gokceada by bike

sunflower fields are all over Gallipoli Peninsula

After my unsuccessful Saroz Bay diving experience in Erikli, I at least wanted to swim at this very beautiful part of Aegea Sea. Gurol, my host from couchsurfing at Gelibolu offered to go to Fatma Kadin beach close to Gelibolu at Saroz Bay by bicycles. First I hesitated a little because he was a guy who had done a two week Europe trip by bike and I was not sure about my own physical condition. He convinced me and guarenteed to adapt his speed to mine. So we decided to go. It was a lovely trip and was not like what I was afraid of. The hills were still the biggest problems but I could deal the rest very well.

bicycles waiting for us at Fatma Kadin beach

Fatma Kadin beach

It took us 4-5 hours to go, to swim and to come back. I was feeling a little tired but very happy to be able to do a trip like that. For the next day I was planning to go to Gokceada, the very west of Turkiye. Everybody told me how big the island is and there are no buses or minibuses and I need a car or a motorcycle to travel around but I couldn't have found any vehicle by then. Gurol again offered me another brilliant idea. He told me to take his bike and go to Gokceada with it. He also described me the itenary of how I can go. I accepted it immediately. 

The next day I woke up at 7am. Gurol helped me about the last arrangements and the Australian brothers who were also staying at his house prepared us breakfast. After the breakfast I was ready to go.

my bike and tent are ready to go!

The only way to go to Gokceada is to take the ferry. The ferries are very big and not only carry the passengers but also the vehicles.

Gokceada ferry and the island Gokceada

The entrance to Gokceada where I saw from the ferry was not like what I've been told. I was told that the island is green, full of trees but the hills I was seeing were very bare. Still with the excitement of riding a bike and adventure, I was eagar to go on. 

Vegetation of the island changed radically inside the island. It was like a bare shell around the island to protect its forests inside. The other unexpected thing for me was the hills. The hills were very high for me to bike. At some points, ok I confess, at many points I had to walk near my bike. Under the hot sun, it was not easy to ride and when it was 5:30pm, I understood that the route I planned to do at the island was over my limits. I was in the middle of the island, climbing the hills, thirsty and tired. So I decided to turn back and find another way to reach the sea side. 

riding the hills

I found another road seems more smooth than the other one and decided to go from there. This time it was a challange I'd excepted. I started riding and after 3 or 4 minutes I was climbing again. But this time I didn't give up. I continued climbing. After nearly one hour, I was at the top of the hill ready to go down. I jumped to my bike and enjoyed the ride. Within 40 minutes, I saw the sea and had one of my greatest screams ever. Now I was riding beside the sea saying hi to every sheep and goat I saw and singing by myself. 

free sheeps of Gokceada

There are over 6000 people living on the island. This number increases at summer times because of tourists. But the real inhabitants are not the people but sheeps and especially goats. They live and be fed freely at nature. Because of this reason goat stew of Gokceada is very famous and incredibly delicious. If you have ever tasted Patagonian sheep, you will understand what I'm talking about.

The last aim of my first day was to find a place near the sea to camp and I was lucky to find it in half an hour. So before the sunset, I was able to swim and of course watch the sunset sitting in my tent.

my bike and my tent ready for the sunset

sunset

It was my first time sleeping in nature without anybody. It was only me, my bike, goats, sea and the full moon and I loved it. During my trip I'll definetly do this as much as I can.

The next day I woke up at 6:30am, packed my tent and set out. Today's plan was to see Dereköy which was a big Greek village till 1970's. It has a church and a big laundry place where all the women were washing their clothes. After the Kıbrıs War, Greek people left their houses and turned back to Greece. Because of this the village is full of ruins. Still, there are turkish and greek people living in the village. And beside it would be lovely to have a organic village breakfast with fresh vegetables and home made cheese.

It was encouraging to notice that I perform better at riding today. The only problem was I had no water left. At Turkiye, especially around villages it is very normal to come across a drinking fountain. But this time it took me three hours to find one of them and as you can imagine, it was my second scream in the island.

my bike while I was drinking water from the fountain

totally freash and organic village breakfast with 5 different kind of jams

house ruins of Derekoy, the Greek village

Turning back to the center lasted shorter than I expected. So I decided to see Kaleköy at the north side of the island before I leave. 

Kaleköy

After a two day trip of Gokceada, I was ready to go back to Gelibolu, pick up my luggage and get ready for Çanakkale the next day.

Gokceada, Imroz with its old name has a very long history. It was a very important place at past. If you want to learn more about it, here is the link of Wikipedia for you; 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbros

Third Day: Gallipoli and the legendary battles

I came to Gelibolu after a long waiting in Erikli as it was raining cats and dogs for more then six hours. However, when I reached to Gelibolu it was a normal summer weather with sun and high temperature.

Gelibolu Harbour where you can find fresh fish from fishermen

I had requested a place to stay from some couch hosts but nobody answered me till that time. So I had to find a hotel to stay. Hotel Istanbul at the center was a nice choice with its price, clean rooms and friendly stuff. I also made them arrange my Gallipoli tour for the next day. Because I didn't want to spend time. After a short while, everything was ready and booked for the next day. I went to my room, took a shower, changed my clothes and went out to explore the town and have dinner. But before dinner, I decided to have a turkish coffee at the harbour, while watching the sunset. My dinner was, as expected, fish in bread with salgam juice which was fresh and delicious. Gelibolu is not a big town, so it took only a little time for me to walk around and see what's going on. When I came back to my room, I was ready for the next day.

In the morning while I was having my breakfast, Gurol, one of the couch hosts sent me a mail saying that I can stay at his place. He also wrote his phone number. I called him directly and we decided to meet at the evening after my tour. He was also hosting two Australian guys who came here by biking and the next day I supposed to move to his place. With the relief of finding a place and to be able to stay at Gelibolu for another 1 or 2 nights, I joined the tour from Kilitbayir where I went with a minibus from Gelibolu. The tour took me at 10am and left back at 5pm. Between this seven hours, we travelled all around the Gelibolu (Gallipoli) Peninsula, saw the remainings, cemetaries, monuments and places of the Canakkale battle. I felt like the soil was living with the death bodies of those soldiers who lost their lives for different reasons. The history was so strong and obvious that nobody could sit by. Turkish soldiers were the winner but what I understood was there were no winners at that fields but only death. It's still very normal for the local people to find human bones while they are digging the land for plantation.

Turkish cemetary

an Australian cemetary

New Zealander monument

During all this history of death, on our lunch time, I could find a traditonal taste belonging to Gallipoli; cheese desert which made me refresh my hope for mankind:)

two different kinds of cheese desert famous around Canakkale region
It's recommended to be eaten with ice cream

I was really tired and sleepy on my way back to Gelibolu. I decided to sleep a while and then write my blog. But things didn't happen that way. Gurol called me and added me to their plan for the night which I also wanted to be involved. So I had my shower and went out again to meet with new people.