A Focan good time

Foca (pronounced Fotcha)

local handing out free doughnuts to celebrate a new baby

steep theatre at Bergama

one of many orange juice stands in Turkey

fishermen at Assos

breakfast at Assos

the same typical Turkish breakfast (eggs usually hard boiled)

Kitty in the "original" Trojan horse

Lone Pine cemetery Gallipoli

Turk's eye view of Anzac Cove Gallipoli

Saturday: Well dear reader (if we have one left) we awoke in the tiny but upmarket fishing village of Foca. We have a Focan good breakfast, a Focan good walk around the town a Focan good ..... never mind then leave for Yenifoca (“New Foca”) = by the way the c is pronounced “sshh”.

And then to Bergama (Permagon as in “Pergamon Press”) to see yet another Acropolis high on a hill. Stunning views especially from the unenclosed steep, amphitheatre cut into the mountain, high above the town. Bergama is also home to Galen and his treatment centre , the Asclepias. This is the home of psychiatry - the doctor would get you to sleep in the Temple of the God of Medicine and – if you were lucky – you would dream of your own cure. Hey Mark you could develop a great practice with this. Being an old medical institute they charge like wounded medicos and we have just about had our fill of ruins, so we did not do the tour of facilities.

We skipped though the potentially interesting isle of Cunda Island then on to yet another tiny but popular seaside village of Assos near the Greek Island of Lesbos for yet another seafront meal. Lousy Kitty made me drive the last 100 km – I bet considerate Mark never made Ruth drive in Turkey. (Kitty's note – and we had many cases of windscreen wipers on instead of indicators, lots of high revs due to wrong gears, a missed turnoff, etc – funny about that!!)

Sunday: Last full day in Turkey – The First Myths and the Last Post

After the castle at BehramKale - high above Assos -Troy is first on the list. At least various people claim that the 9 towns all piled up on each other represent Troy. I guess the wooden horse (see photo) proves it. It looks like a stone age archaeological site gone wrong. Still it stirs the imagination. I can see the body marks where Brad Pitt (Achilles) dragged the dead body of Eric Bana (Hector) 3 times around the city walls. Good one – Brad ! Shows respect.

Gallipoli was more real. I stood on the very spot where Mel Gibson and the rest of the WA Light Horse were cut to pieces thanks to the stupidity of the British Generals. (I really must stop going to the movies). The British tried to storm the flat areas to the N and S of Anzac Cove and left the steep ascent (see photo) to the Aussies and NZ's. The Anzacs almost made it then the British took over. The Turks, under Ataturk, strengthened and a deadly stalemate occurred until the surviving Allies withdrew 9 months later. The stupidity of war – and of men who swear blind obedience to their bosses – no matter what.

Anyway Gallipoli is our 'Last Post' for Turkey – except for an FAQ post. Tomorrow we are off to Angleterre. An old blog ends and a new blog will begin. Thank you to the last surviving reader whoever you are.

PS – Kitty has done a great job driving (despite a FEW foibles) – 3800 Km. And she has proved that flashing the windscreen washers actually works ! I apologise.