Oh my god... What an incredibly awesome and humbling experience. I was wide awake from 3am onwards and just as the sky was beginning to lighten ever so little, the ANZAC service of 2007 commenced. I've been to several dawn services in Perth before and am familiar with the format and atmosphere however todays had me spellbound and captivated from the very start. The highly emotion charged atmosphere, the intense level of respect and the complete silence of approx 10,000 people all culminated in creating an unforgettable moment in time. The service wasn't long or boring and easily held our attention all the way through. Even before the last post sounded, the tissues were out. I recommend every Aussie, Kiwi and Turk make the pilgrimage to Gallipoli at least once in their lives. You never have a better perspective or appreciation for your history until you've been there.
After the dawn service at Anzac cove, we repeated the ceremonies at Lone Pine (top) for the Aussies, and Chunuk Bair for the Kiwi's and passed some trenches on the walk between the two. We stopped in at the Turkish service as well and were amazed at the formality and solomness of this service as well as the hundreds of children all waving the Turkish flag.
Before taking the 5 hour drive back to istanbul, we stopped in at the musuem. This is only a small museum but contained a lot of little exhibitions. Below is a pic of one of the exhibits.
And, now that we're back in our hotel in Istanbul, I'm looking forward to a long, warm sleep...
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