Go West

The woodcutter in the room isn't Japanese. In actual fact, he's Morrocan. The reason I know this is his pals decided to come into his room and proceeded to have a picnic, whilst he laid prostrate on the bed, sawing down an entire forest. I then became involved in one of those ridiculous sign language conversations with the picnic people where neither person adequately speaks the other person's language. The Moroccans asked me ( I think) how I was travelling, and I did my best to explain, stopping just short of "me fly in big iron bird (arms outstretched), from far away land (motions off into the distance). It was all quite daft.

This morning, I find time for a few final shots of the city's attractions in the snow. The town of Cannakkale beckons today. My lift takes me some distance away from the Istanbul's "peninsular of history", which has been my home for the last few days. Taking the bypass out of the city, It's always interesting to see see so many new parts of the city, just as you happen to be leaving. The city sprawls, large scale housing schemes dominating the vista.

The sky turns blue, almost instantly upon leaving the suburbs. Through the ice splattered windows, the overall effect is dazzling as a fierce sun beats down on the white. On the one side of the bus, we witness the shimmering waters of the Marmaris Sea, whilst on the other, there are wonderful snow covered mountains, which are difficult to appropriate from the distant clouds overhead.

A neatly attired steward expertly serves tea and biscuits on board as we make our way west. He's a nice fellow, and completely overlooks the fact that my ticket does not entitle me to reach my intended destination. There is a real sense of travelling through history when our bus rejoins the coastline, and for some reason, I just know that this is the Dardanelles. We reach the small port of Eceabet, and the bus immediately pulls onto the ferry which will take us across the straits to Canakkale . The water is a very strong aqua marine colour, suggesting the chill in the afternoon air.

On the other side, I'm upgraded to a hotel as my hostel is temporarily out of action. I meet my Canadian room mate, and one of his travel buddies. We decide the best course of action is a few beers in the very quiet looking watering holes of the town. Canakkale is a university city with several big institutions, but tonight is not student night. We do, however, meet a few university employees and their friends, and it's a very enjoyable, if slightly wacky evening discussing a vairety of topics, particularly Mel Gibson war films. I just can't escape Braveheart. If I had a penny for every incredulous look I get when I mention that a lot of it is complete nonsense...