Turkish Baths

Having heard that you shouldn't leave turkey without going to their famous Hammams (baths) I dutifully went.

The most famous, and tourist accesible, is the Çemberlitaş Hammami, right across from our hostel. The brochure said the busiest time is from 4 til 8, which I ignored and arrived promptly at 3.45. Another bonus, the marathon was run today so a lot of tired athletes (professional and amateur) were waiting in the queue. 

After wrestling the queue to pay I was lead to a changing room and given a small strip of cotton and a rather attractive pair of black granny knickers to change into.

I did as I was told and removed everything except my glasses. Even they came off as I walked into the main room; as the door opened I was hit with a face full of steam and Spanish chatter. I got a glimpse of 15 semi-naked ladies before my glasses steamed up (wink wink, nudge nudge).

I was in a group of 3 ladies that were lead round the central marble circular stone that all the ladies were lay on. We walked all the way around and were given spaces to lie on, sans strip of cloth.

As I tried to get myself relaxed a rather portly Turkish lady wearing bra and pants and the number 47 on a badge pinned to her bra grabbed my knee and told me to move closer to the edge so I could be next. I lay down and closed my eyes, finally relaxed in the steamy atmosphere. Gush! 47 had poured a bucket of oily warm water all over me. Came as a slight shock but still pleasant.

She took the mitt I'd also been given as I walked in and proceeded to scrub me all over. Yes, all over. When the front was done, I swapped to lying on my front and my back was scrubbed too. On completing the scrubbing 47 slapped me on the arse and over I flipped again. This time for a good soaping.

The soap suds are stuff of legend. A bar of soap is in a canvas bag full of air, shook around a bit and then the bag is squeezed, soap and air are forced through the material to form loads and loads of suds! This process is carried out over you and you soon disappear under a mountain of bubbles that are massaged into the raw scrubbed skin. Bliss. I even got a bonus foot scrub and massage as through a miscommunication she thought I was a marathon runner. Oops.

The finale was to walk over to the nearest sink, sit on the floor and have 47 was my hair. She scrubbed just as vigorously and torrents of water were thrown over me.

"Finished. Jacuzzi" Was the last I heard from 47 before she was off scrubbing at the next girl.

I was so relaxed at the end, it felt amazing. I walked around in a dreamlike state and you could pour me into a glass! I would recommend this to anyone. It was fantastic!