Myra

Myra is a short stop, not a day. We are in Demre because the car from Çıralı drops us there at the start of the walk. If we go in, we go in before the packs stay on, and we do not try to make it a second hike.

The site is two things stacked. Above, a cliff of Lycian house-tombs: facades cut to look like timber houses, rows of them, some with inscriptions in the Lycian language. Below and in front, a Roman theatre that is still very much a theatre — high cavea, stage building, the usual later Roman bulk. The tombs are older than the theatre. Lycia had its own burial architecture and its own language before it was fully absorbed into the Roman east. You can see that order without a guide: cliff first, Roman bowl second.

If we only have twenty minutes, do the theatre from the inside and look up at the tombs. The cliff is the picture. The theatre is the thing you can actually walk into. Midday sun on the stone is harsh; morning, which is when we would be here, is the kinder light.

Demre is also the town of St Nicholas, the fourth-century bishop of Myra whose cult became Santa Claus. The Church of St Nicholas is in the town, a separate ticket and a separate building. It is not on our written plan. If someone wants it, it is a town stop, not part of the archaeological site, and it should not push the walk start. The trail notes for today are an easy coastal path and a pebble beach, not a ruins marathon.

The walk after Myra is the warm-up day: 7 km, about 180 metres up, dirt and stone, nothing steep, a swim if we want one. Lunch is packed or bought in Demre. There is no trail café. Istlada tonight has no phone on our page — Maps only.