Troy

After a decent sleep in and some breakfast, we had a group discussion and decided that instead of catching public transport for the next two days, we would pay the money and get a personal van. This cost us about 220 Lira each, but saves us time and effort, as we don't have to wait around for buses, and don't have to carry our bags around everywhere for the next two days. This also meant we can go on our own schedule a bit and give ourselves sleep ins. Well worth the money. Eventually, though, we left Canakkale and headed toward Troy, about 30 minutes out of town. I was very interested by this site as there is plenty of ancient history involved and even plays a key role in much of the Ancient Greek religious beliefs. Another massive interest of mine. Given that we had a tour guide with us too, really added to the experience, he was able to explain the history of the site and provide some context of the importance of it. I had read a book that touched on this place and it's history but he had gone into a much detail and refreshed my memory from the book. Although a complicated story, the town of Troy has had 12 different instances of existence, each time the new city being built on top of the old. The main story of Troy that many know from the movie is the 7th Troy and existed in about the 11th century BC, but the first Troy goes back to about the 20th Century BC. This story goes back to a key moment in Homer's book The Iliyad (Illium was the old name of Troy). In summary, it talks about a stolen wife and a corresponding 10-year war between Greeks and people from Troy. The battle only ends when a Trojan horse is presented to the city of Troy. Thinking it was an acceptance of defeat, the city of Troy celebrated all night until soldiers emerged from the horse, opened the gates, and ransacked the city. The Oddesey then follows the story of a soldier known as Odysseus after this war as he tries to return to his wife. Another interesting and key piece of literature for ancient Greek religious beliefs and discusses how the gods will interfere in regular humans' lives. Having angered Poseidon, he interjects and forces him on another 10 year mission to finally return home. We were here for about an hour and a half before continuing our journey toward Ayvalik.

Shortly after we arrived, we headed to the port for our boat trip. It was us about 220 Lira each, so maybe $10, and we got a huge boat, capable of holding probably a hundred people. For just 17 of us. It was a lot of fun, we brought drinks with us, and just drank, swam, and talked for a good few hours. Unfortunately, we ran out of drinks with about an hour left, but we still had fun, and it was a great opportunity o meet everyone.Read more