Turkish Bath Day - Thursday

I know I haven't posted yesterday's trip to Prince's Island yet, but I have to get this out while it's fresh in my mind. 

Well today was a first, that's for sure. We got traditional Turkish baths at this place:

http://www.cagalogluhamami.com.tr/

You have to go to the Web site to see the photos ... this black and white one was all I could find on the Web, and once you read below, you'll understand why I couldn't take photos myself. Please look at the link above, as the building itself is beautiful and historic. Coming here is listed in that book "1,000 Things you should See Before you Die" and I'm so glad that I did. 

Back in the day, the weekly trip to the bath was the only social outlet women had, as they were to be seldom seen and never heard.  They spent the whole afternoon there gossiping and gabbing with their friends. 

So you go in and let them know what service you want - we got top of the line, obviously. Full bath, hair wash, foam massage. Here's the rundown:

We get a dressing room and are told to strip. They give us a little blanket called a pestemal to cover up with. We walk into a room that looks like the one pictured above - all marble with little holes in the ceiling to the sky. A very large woman guides us to one of many faucets along the wall with a marble sink and hands us each a metal bowl. To demonstrate what we are supposed to do, she scoops some water up in the bowl and throws it on me. Temperature and humidity of a steam room. 

At this point, Kezia and I realize that the other women have at least their bathing suit bottoms or underwear on, which we do not, so we go back to the room to remedy that. Good thing we did because that's the only smidge of privacy you get in the whole process. 

So after a lot of sitting around in your birthday suit, dumping water on yourself with the bowl, your "bather" comes in and orders you to "LIE DOWN!" on the central marble octagon in the middle of the room. Before you can protest, she starts scrubbing every inch of you with a rough fabric glove called a kese (as a side note, we were given the option to buy our own kese or to use the "community kese". Needless to say, we bought our own). This part of the bath is like a full body pedicure. Skin comes off in handfuls. It's shocking. 

Then, you get a ten minute massage with soap. Let's just say there are  no "towel covered portions" that are off limits like there are during a regular massage. There are three or four other women on the octogan with us. When it's time to "TURN OVER!", it's like trying to walk down a Slip N' Slide or pick up a goldfish. Instead of the huge, also naked, Turkish woman moving herself to get from your head to your feet, she just slides your body along the soapy marble. 

Back to the marble sink to rinse off with the metal bowls and "LIE DOWN!" again. She uses what looks like the end of a witch's broom to slop huge suds of a new kind of soap all over you and you get another massage. 

"SIT!" in front of the marble sink and she washes your hair. "NOW YOU FINISH!"

Despite how it may sound, it's been the highlight of the trip. I have never felt so clean - exfoliation in the States is a joke. The bather was harsh but sweet at the same time, and it was actually relaxing - which we appreciated on our last day in Istanbul. 

You can see them scrub the marble surface thoroughly after each person gets up. I don't know how, but it seems completely sanitary. Kezia thinks that's a strong statement, but I am going with it for peace of mind. Jennifer Wright and Cameron Espy would no more step foot in this joint than jump off a cliff. If given the option, they'd both choose the cliff and hope for the best.

And that's our day at the Turkish bath house. 

I leave for Budapest tomorrow (without my traveling companions :( ) and my hotel has the most famous thermal bath in Hungary. I'm hooked!

I'm so sad to leave Turkey tomorrow. This has been an incredible experience. I'll definitely be back .... when I can afford to stay at the Four Seasons Ortakoy.