Itinerary: Anzac Day 2011

A shift in departure dates has meant a shift in itinerary.

Sure, I’d still like to end up in Munich, for Oktoberfest this year; and sure, I’d like to run with the bulls in Pamplona; but other than that, I have to kick-off the big trip with a new start point.

Photo: Mike Bowers (SMH.com.au 2008)

Enter: Gallipoli, Turkey.

As I’ve said in some recent posts, I have a flight booked at 6am on April 16th out of Perth — only 42 days away now. The flight lands in Istanbul, Turkey; with a short stopover in Dubai.

I will be joining up with the Anzac Day TopDeck tour, thanks to the good folk over at STA Travel. I figured being new to the whole backpacking experience, I would start it off with a 10 day group tour before getting all independent, solo, and quite possibly lost.

View TopDeck 10 Day Sortie (Turkey) in a larger map

The tour starts in Istanbul with the usual tour group arrival and drinks, allowing stragglers plenty of time to join the tour. Then its a day in modern Istanbul, a day in “old city” Istanbul, and off to Pamukkale on Day 4 (via Bursa). Other stops included in the tour are Aphrodisias, Kusadasi, Ephesus, Pergamon, Kucukkuyu, Troy before arriving in Gallipoli on Anzac Day (25 April 2011).

The night before the dawn service is a “camp out” under the stars, which means I will have to either buy a travel-sized sleeping bag before I depart, or manage to find one in Turkey (there’s an Adrenalin Outdoor supplier in Istanbul, TRY$103,90 or AUD$64).

I’m a little disappointed the tour doesn’t go through Ankara or Cappadocia, it was another 5 days and $500 to add in the expedition tour. I figure I should be sweet with a 10-day taster, and if I really want to see Ankara or Cappadocia, I can stay on a few days afterwards; but I think I will be keen to travel on to the Greek Islands… or perhaps Bulgaria.

Let me know (comment or twitter) where you think my itinerary should take me next. Pretty sure it will be the “independent” style of travel after 10 days in a tour group. I just can’t decide whether to head into the Schengen zone, or stay in Eastern Europe a few weeks.