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If
you're a hiker with good
shoes, strong legs and
a bag with water, snacks, sunblock and
a good guidebook,
you can tour some of the northern
highpoints of the Gallipoli
battlefields in a day of walking
(about 16 km/10 miles)(map).
The
Gallipoli peninsula is long, and
the distance from the northernmost
battlefield to the peninsula's tip
is over 35 km (22 miles), so this
day-hike does not show you any of
the southern Gallipoli battlefields
such as those at Twelve Tree
Copse, Lancashire Landing, Pink Farm,
Y Beach, V Beach, Seddülbahir or Cape
Helles.
(Backpackers
Travel of Istanbul organizes great
value-for-money guided
tours,
if that's what you'd prefer. More...)
Start
your hiking tour by taking
the car ferry from
the center of Çanakkale to Eceabat,
then hire a taxi to
take you all the way uphill to the New
Zealand memorial at Chunuk Bair (Conkbayırı), 13
km from Eceabat. By starting here
you immediately get a breathtaking
view of the battlefields,
and most of your walking will be
downhill.
From the New Zealand memorial at Chunuk
Bair it's about 3 km (2
miles) downhill to Lone Pine and
the Australian war memorial, another
3.75 km (2.3 miles) to the Kabatepe
Information Center & Museum,
and 9
km (5.6 miles) from the museum
back to Eceabat and the ferry docks.
From Chunuk Bair,
walk south and east along the road
for 100 meters and turn right. The
five gigantic stone tablets of the
Turkish Conkbayırı memorial loom
nearby.
600 meters downhill is the monument
to Talat Göktepe,
the heroic Chief Director of the Çanakkale Forestry
District who died here on July 25,
1994 fighting the disastrous conflagration
that denuded these hills.
One km farther downhill is Düztepe and
a monument to the Ottoman 10th Regiment.
1500 meters farther along are Baby
700 and the Mesudiye
Topu memorials.
300 meters more brings you to a road
heading west to The Nek and
the Mehmet Çavuş memorial.
100 meters farther downhill is the
cemetery and memorial to the Ottoman
57th Regiment, and one km
farther down is Lone Pine,
the Australian memorial, and numerous
other monuments recalling important
events in the campaign.
From Lone Pine a path of sorts leads
west across the hills and down Shrapnel
Valley to the Aegean coast
near Anzac Cove.
From Anzac Cove, with its famous memorial
by Atatürk honoring
the fallen of both sides, it's about
3.5 km (2.2 miles back to the Kabatepe
Information Center & Museum.
At this point you may have walked
about 12 km (7.5 miles) in
about 4 or 5 hours,
depending upon how much time you spent
at the various monuments and memorials.
To return to the ferry dock at Eceabat (9
km/5.6 miles), try to hitch a ride
with a passing car, or ask at the museum
for help in summoning a taxi.
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