Gallipoli continued ...

Have moved to a room with a view over the ferry terminal and across the Dardanelles. Troy visit this morning was actually better than I expected - from reading about the excavations there, I didn't think there'd be anything more than piles of rubble. But the archeologists had managed to excavate some clear walls from various of the 9 manifestations of Troy, plus some roads and lots of chunks of marble etc.

The group I was with - most of them from yesterday - were extremely annoying but on reflection it was only the South American representatives:  Sergio, plus an Argentine couple, who spent all their time whingeing and criticising. Sergio tried to ridicule the old lady at the shop we stopped at before entering Troy because she didn't look like she'd know what a cappucino was. A few minutes later, I noticed him drinking one. At the end of the Troy tour, the Argentine woman said to me "All confuse", I  responded with "do you feel confused?". She seemed greatly annoyed and thought for a minute before replying "no, the tour is confuse". I don't think they or Sergio had read a single word about Turkey before coming here. Sergio also asked Hassan the guide if he'd ever been out of Turkey and when he humbly replied no, Sergio told him he should go to Australia and visit a Turkish restaurant, where the food would be excellent. As for the food he'd had so far in Turkey - it was terrible. Perhaps he's right but I can't imagine a more patronising way to express it. Thankfully, Sergio has gone to Selcuk this afternoon and hopefully I wont bump into him again.

Didn't manage to speak to Nadia earlier due to problems at her end. Have had two kebabs for lunch, plus the ubiquitous Ayran, which Marie-Claire rightly pointed out yesterday was the ideal thing to be drinking when taking antibiotics - stomach flora and all that. And now I'm back in my room, tapping away. Perhaps I'll even get a bit bored this afternoon.

Hassan mentioned a number of New Zealanders yesterday who will warrant further research. Freiberg was the one I knew - later governor-general - who had acted as a one man army to create a diversion down near the salt lake next to Suvla. There was Henderson and his donkey, the Maori contingent who captured a hill near Lone Pine due to their stealth and lack of need for rifles. There was one other, who ended up dying later but who Hassan said would've gone on to be a great leader. He organised sniper teams to allow shrapnel valley to effectively remain under allied control and allow supplies to get through. Commander of Wellington forces. And Percy Black the Australian who rose from private to major within 18 months but then died in France. He was so well respected that some generals once saluted him. On the Turkish side, boys as young as 8 or 9 fought and died.

Another ferry is docking, packed full of cars and holiday-makers on this day of voting for a change in the constitution, which would give the High Court jurisdiction over the army for the first time. Coup leaders from 1980 could be tried for atrocities committed back then, but not forgotten.