Day 17; Belören
The day starts with a lie-in as breakfast doesn't start until 8:30am. First on the agenda today is a church; the Greek Orthodox Saint Nicholas Church to be precise. It reminds me that I usually post far too many pictures of churches and that on this trip - in Turkey where the prime minister and his government is working to make Turkey more religious - I have been guilty of not taking many mosque photos though even small villages may have a new and impressive mosque.
I am probably missing some subtlety on the dress code but the female Western tourists in this particular location near Saint Nicholas Church are all wearing newly bought head scarves while sporting skimpy shorts. It may have more to do with Greek Orthodoxy than Muslim dress code or just as likely a prank by the tour guides.
Yesterday I mentioned I would think about how Lycia became rich and naturally it is the same way any state becomes rich; generating wealth from what you have, trading and raiding. Though in today's terms the land is only profitable when covered in greenhouses for mass food production the economic situation would have been very different back in the day. I am seeing Lycia at the end of September after the summer when everything is dry. Compared to the frostbite inducing Northern parts of Europe Lycia had a good climate and very good access to the sea. The Lycian's themselves were organised, democratic and gained some of their wealth from trading and from the unfriendly raiding of other lands using the friendly seas.
I know the church of Saint Nicholas will have peaked your interest and sure enough....
This photo also captures a couple of the tame stray dogs that roam major towns in Turkey.
This American style diner is ideally located between the church of Saint Nicholas and the Lycian rock tombs at Myra and continues the Saint Nick theme. The website https://www.livius.org/articles/place/myra-demre/myra-church-of-the-tomb-of-st-nicholas/ has more information on Saint Nick.
I am unsure if it will show clearly on your device but this photo shows the ever present greenhouses butted up against the monuments and the amount of excavation work required to reveal the theatre in full.
This mosque tucked behind a dwelling in the photo was close to where I start a steep climb towards Belören. It is typical, set in a sprawl of houses and greenhouses on the road out of Demre. Surrounded on three sides by cliffs each line in the Muslim Call To Prayer or Adsan was echoed off the nearest cliff. The timing of each line - and the pauses between lines - appeared to acknowledge that the cliff was going to echo back.
The long walk out of Demre.
I couldn't work out what this sports stadium was used for and had to do some research. The sport is Turkush oil wrestling and the national championships are held annually near Edirne, Turkey and have run from 1360.
My accommodation when I reach it doesn't proclaim itself, no sign, no obvious reception desk, and it is a matter of enquiry that I know I'm in the right place. Through the power of Google Translate I agree dinner at 7pm and an extra nights stay though I may be the only one here.
A large cup of Turkish coffee is brought to my room with the perfect sweet things on the side. For sure the more remote the lodging the friendlier and more personal it is.
It is far from the madding crowd and just the retreat I need especially as my room has no WiFi or mobile signal.
The planets have certainly aligned as my rest day should allow me to jump in the pool and my Sunday transfer day is the storm day. The nights are drawing in and I'll need to account for that on future long days.
