Katy and I landed in Turkey after a quick layover in Ethiopia and a looooong layover in Cairo. You would think after 24+ hours of traveling to only go about 3000 miles, we would be quite crabby upon landing in Istanbul. Incorrect.
After clearing customs, we were able to use Istanbul's very clean, very efficient public transit to get us to Sultanahmet, the prominent neighborhood for tourists. We stepped off the light rail and were greeted by literally breathtaking views of Aya Sofya on our left and the Blue Mosque on our right, with Sultanahmet Park resting in between them. Our hostel was about a five minute walk from the light rail stop and we loved it from the moment we stepped into it. Good thing we have a loose schedule for Turkey....our original plan was to only stay here for two nights but we quickly changed it to four.
There is an insane amount of history and culture in this town that I am going to blog about when I have some stellar internet and little bit more time....and I can't wait to share that all with you.
However, I wanted to quickly share with you our experience this morning just because it was so hilarious and it won't take long.
Many people had told us that we had to try a Turkish bath while we were here, and Lonely Planet and our hostel recommended it as well. So this morning we set off for what I pictured to be something similar to a massage. What followed was a smidge of an awkward surprise. We found a hamam (bathhouse), headed in, and bought the standard package. We were led to a changing room an a Turkish lady instructed us to essentially "drop em" and throw on the towel. 2 minutes later, clothes off, towel on, check. It was funny to us that in a city where about half of the women have to cover all but their face, and probably 5% of women wear a full burka (covering everything but their eyes), that we were led out of the changing room, through the bathhouse, past numerous men and women to the women's bath. But I'm not a modest person, so no big deal, right?
Next we were led into a room with some facuets and an area to sit against the wall. Upon entering, the female worker attempted to take my towel completely off of me....to which I nervously laughed and gripped it around myself, saying "No thank you." She shrugged, sat us down, and started dumping bowls of hot water on us. She told us "20 minutes," and walked out. This room was similar to a sauna, and I think you are supposed to sit there and continue to dump water on yourself for the following 20 minutes. I think this would have been a funny place for a hidden camera, as Katy and I sat there like idiots staring at each other, trying to figure out what was going to happen next, and throwing some water on ourselves about every 30 seconds in case she walked back in.
After our 20 minutes were up, the woman (aka bath giver) came back into the room (and can I please create a proper mental picture: she had changed out of her clothes and into a very small bikini.....) instructed me to follow her and Katy to stay. We went around the corner into a room with a slab of granite in the middle of the room and a bucket of water nearby. She motioned for me to take off my towel and lay down. At this point I figured there was no escaping the nakedness of this experience, so I conjured up my strongest "When in Rome" attitude, dropped the towel, and embarked on my very first Turkish bath.
The bath had a few parts:
To begin, more buckets of water are thrown on you. Next up: the exfoliation. A coarse hand mitten is used to scrub you from head to toe. Albeit a somewhat violent experience, everyone appreciates (and usually needs) a really good exfoliation, so I was alright with that. After that? Soap massage. This part was actually really interesting...and if I didn't feel so awkward I probably would have taken more time to observe how these bubbles were being formed because one minute I was laying there and the next moment I felt like someone was rubbing clouds all over my back. Post-massage....more buckets of water thrown on you. And then? The shampoo. The awkwardness continues as I now am sitting up, naked, with a Turkish, bikini-clad woman washing my hair and even going so far as to clean my ears for me. After that? You guessed it. More buckets of water, 180 degree turn, more water, and finito. You are then led over to a hot slab to lay, relax, and think about just how awkward you feel. Haha. No, no- it was a nice experience, I guess...and now I will be able to say I have had a Turkish bath. However, I don't think it is something I will be repeating in the near future.
So that is how I spent my morning....essentially paying 60 Lira for someone else to bathe me :)
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