[Canakkale, Turkey] If I was an explorer

If I was an explorer, I would settle here. In this town. Cannakale. I would retire and let Marco P. and Christopher C. do their thing. If I had a list with requirements a city must satisfy in order for me to live in, this place would easily fill the sheet with red checks. Why? cus its just so damn fine.

I actually didn't expect much when I first landed (on a ferry from Istanbul). It didn't say much on the guide book either, only that it was the most convenient location to make my way to Troy. So who would of guessed that I would end up staying here for 3 days.. and believe me, I wouldn't mind ending my trip here and just relax on the beach until going to Peru. So what's so fascinating about it? Well first of all, it's not a huge tourist destination. The beach is nice. There's an awesome military and naval museum. The city has a buzz that's not generated by tourists but by locals.

Arriving at Canakkale at 3:00am

The bus ride
Getting to Canakkale from Istanbul consisted of a 6-hour bus ride then a lay over to an hour long ferry ride. From people I've met on the road, I've heard about buses in Turkey being really nice and luxurious. Coming from countries I've been to, I thought "luxury" meant not having chickens and sheep next to you, or people sitting on the roof. But the bus turned out to be so nice that I had my first "OH DEAR" moment in Turkey. It was better than some in Japan.

What is Cay, really
A tea. Duh. (Cay is chai, btw). And what is hospitality. What is the relationship between the two. The relationship also existed in Egypt. So my wild, baseless assumption is that it has roots in their Islamic culture. But even that assumption is skeptical. I bet that if I ask about this to the Turkish or Egyptian people, they'll just laugh at me for attempting to tie such a small practice to their religion. But think about it, there's no such custom anywhere else in the world. Is there something the Japanese would do to send a welcoming message? Do they offer tourists to come over for some free sushi? How about the Americans? No. There's no such practice. So what is cay? It's not just a drink that people consume everyday. It's not an item on the menu that runs a business. It's something more than that. It's another form of saying "Merhaba (hello)". Or it can be a way to show respect and welcome someone.

Here's why I thought this. When I arrived in Canakkale at 4am, the city was still asleep and I went into the only restaurant open. It was a small store and ran by a man who looked bored as hell (don't ask why, I don't know). I felt bad for just ordering Cay and staying in there for about 3 hours, or whenever it was bright outside for me to explore the city. So after couple hours, with an empty cup of chai on my table, I went up to the man to pay. He said "No" (or something like that in Turkish that meant "No, I don't need it"), and refused to take my payment. I was so confused because, I mean, I was the only customer during the 3 hours so it's not like he didn't have a problem generating profit. And he was telling me "no"? So confused.

Boxes of bread can be seen in many cafes and restaurants (more so in local ones). It's there as an appetizer, but you majority of the people eating it with soup. Soup and bread makes the daily breakfast for many Turks.

He gave me lots of bread..and told me it's alright because it'll become stale. Crazy man..

Another time was when I was in Istanbul. When I was sitting on a bench right by the Blue Mosque. This guy comes to me and asks if I wanted Cay. I didn't realize that the bench was part of the restaurant, so I said sorry and was going to walk away. But regardless of my refusal, the guy still came out with Cay. Turns out the bench was in fact NOT part of a restaurant. There was no restaurant in the first place. The small building was actually a police station, and the man was the Sheriff. So, a Sheriff who saw an Asian tourist thought that he needed help getting somewhere, so offered to help and a cup of Cay for free. We had a nice talk (because he spoke perfect English), and he told me to come how ever many times I want, whenever I want.

The police office and the bench.

Cay and the Blue Mosque

The Hostel miracle
I decided, for the first time since India, to stay in a hostel. The reason for this is simple. I was tired. I've slept in too many buses, trains, ferries, stations, terminals, people's home, and airplanes. Looking back, staying in a hostel at Varnasi (India) was the only time I decided on doing so out of my own will (the other time in Egypt was because the Hussein family insisted on doing so). So, this was a treat for me. The Lonely Planet (Backpacker's traveling guide) insisted on this place called Anzac Hostel due to their fair price and good location. They told no lies. The place was literally 20 seconds from the bus station. I found it before even looking for it. The service there was excellent, room was comfy (enough for me, at least), and there were even showers! Beauty. I took a shower for the first time since...I don't know, maybe the Nile River!??

The dorm room that cost 25TL (approx 17USD) per night. The Chinese guy on the right was playing a comp game the whole night..

He gave me some baklava (popular Turkish sweets)! and gave me a Lonely Planet guide for Cyprus. What a great guy. I wonder what his name was..

The city
I mean the city is great. The beach, museums, the people, the food. No doubt these all make it an ideal location to visit. I'd like to mention two particularly interesting part of the Canakkele that I enjoyed: the Museum and the horse..

The Museum
The museum that I visited is called the Dardanelles Straits Naval Command Museum. Confusingly, it's also called the "Military Museum". Either way, the building contains numerous remains of the Gallipoli battles, including weapons, written records, and actual bullet remains. The fort played an essential role in protecting Western Turkey from the Allies, which consisted the French and the British. There was a display of a bullet that supposedly hit another bullet in mid air. It's said that the chance of this happening is one in 160 million (just shows how much bullets were being shot..)

The museum was so well preserved

The inside of the fort

Damage caused by a missile. They say that it was launched the famous British battleship, Queen Elizabeth

A park outside the museum

The horse
By this, I mean the Trjoan Horse. Everyone's heard of it. Seen the movie "Troy"? The horse in the photo below is the actual model thats been used in the movie. The real one, of course, no longer exists. This model stands right along the beachside in Canakkele. By the way, everything in Canakkele is so geographically compact that I can walk from the ferry terminal, to the hostel, to the museum, to the Trojan Horse all within 20 minutes. This is the reason why I ended up seeing the Trojan Horse not once or twice, but 5 times in total during my stay. And two more times when I actually went to Troy (which I will mention later). Anyway, so the horse. Not to fascinating unless you know the story behind it. Because without imagination, well, it's just a big horse..

Skip this part if you know the story.
Imagine. You're fighting a battle thats been going on for years and years. You are a Greek warrior fighting the Trojans. You're struggling to break down their wall and enter, while they are struggling to make you retreat. Both are suffering from tremendous amount of casualties and if the status quo maintains, there won't be a winner in the end. So, you (the Greeks), decide to gamble. You have the best Greek architect to build a beautiful wooden horse, and leave it in front of the gate to show you have surrendered, as it is a ritual to offer a gift (which can be anything from slaves to money). They (Trojans) see this gift and confirms that you have sailed away, and acknowledges that they have finally won. At first they debate whether to burn the damn horse or keep it to remember their victory. They decide to treasure it. For two reasons actually. First, because Greek art were said to be the best, and second, Trojans are crazy braggers. These two factors decided everything. After the horse was taken inside the fort, the Trojans got drunk and celebrated their victory until the morning. You, along with 29 other Greek warriors, are inside this horse, waiting for the right time to trigger a surprise attack. Once the Trojans were intoxicated, you jump out of the horse and lit the fort on fire, which is a signal for Greek ships to turn back and attack the Trojans once again. This strategy works, and the you successfully conquer Troy.

So that's the story of the Trojan horse. It's a myth, though. It's based on the writing of Homer (The Iliad and The Odyssey), a famous poet. His writing is actually a love story, and the Trojan Horse is just a part of it. If you heard of the story in Greek Mythology where Paris, the Trojan prince, chose Aphrodite as a winner over Hera and Athena, and then Aphrodite brings Helen (wife of a Greek king) to Paris in return, that's what led to the Greek-Trojan war..I think.
Anyway, just imagine being in a horse for like 6 hours, not knowing whether your enemy is going to burn you, shoot you, or anything really. Keep in mind this gamble was the last resort for the Greeks, and half of them probably didn't expect it work. It's said that the Greeks on the ship were actually surprised to see smokes go up from the Trojan fort.

I enjoy Greek myth. I should of paid more attention during class in high school..

Trojan goods.