The term "turkish bath" has never conjured a specific image for me. Rather, invoking a sensation of luxury and intrigue, foreign culture and ritual of a distant past.
The term took on very tangible, hot and sweaty, manifestation when Clare and I visited Budapest on our honeymoon in the summer of 2014. We "took the waters" at the historic turkish baths on multiple occasions, forming some of my fondest memories of Hungary. There, it means an ancient complex of mineral baths and saunas of varying temperatures and atmospheres. Massage and other wellness services also being offered, but self guided relaxation being the most prominent activity.
The hot spring and sauna enthusiasts that we are, really took to this new variation of the theme. We are accustomed to these activities in undeveloped natural solitude, the ancient and elaborate setting in Budapest added a fun new element.
A local north east minnesota masseuse and spa owner told us that his visit to the turkish baths in istanbul many years ago literally changed the course of his life. (In hindsight, i can see many turkish bath influences at his oasis on the north Shore of lake superior) We were sure to heed his advice.
After some Internet research, Clare decided that, unfortunately, due to her pregnancy that she should refrain from going.
There are many hamams in istanbul, and most of them that are findable online are geared toward tourists. The reviews are all mixed (probably because people are either prude and unadventurous, or they expect a spa treatment more customary to their home country), but one theme was consistent, over priced.
Luckily for me, there was a less advertised place down the street from our apartment in old town. This was a very "local" street, so I thought it should bode well. Also, very minimal online presence.
After inadvertently walking in the seperate women's entrance (sexes are split up), the experience began.
I walked down a flight of stairs into the courtyard of a three story room lined with changing rooms, obscured by clear plate glass and some stained glass. Kinda like a small hotel lobby. A large domed ceiling.
There were a couple old men sitting around on benches, one got up and greated me at the door with a laminated piece of paper. The two options were written in english, either a simple self service entrance fee, or the complete package including sauna, scrub and massage. For 50 lira, i took the full package (the big tourist hamams offer the same for 150).
I was led to one of the rooms and handed a pestamal, a stiff table cloth looking thing, that i was to wrap around my waist. The room literally was all clear windows, so no privacy. My kind of place!
After changing, another man showed me into the hamam, gesturing that the "sauna was back there." He then muttered in broken english to get him when i was ready.
I felt only mildly self concious about not really knowing what to do. I had done enough prior research to know the general routine. Plus, I have uncanny mimicry skills. Experience with saunas and being naked amongst strangers also helps (don't ask).
The marble room had a large marble platform in the middle under the domed ceiling and was lined with marble basins perched on a six inch step. The basins each had a hot and cold tap (really hot, really cold) and no drain (they kinda looked like toilet bowls). There was also a row of semi private marble stalls, each with its own basin. The sauna was in the back corner. There were a few other people in there, each sitting by a basin on the step, dousing themselves with water using a little plastic dish. The taps running full blast, the basins over flowing.
I sat down at a basin and started copying. After i drenched myself, i moved into the sauna. It was a marble room with wooden planks covering the bench, heated by steam pumped under the benches and was very hot. It wasn't really steamy, though, like a steam room. It was more like a dry sauna. There was a basin in the room. I settled in, feeling at ease.
After a few rounds of sauna, i was sitting on the large marble platform cooling off when a man came up to me and asked "massage?" I said yes, and he led me to one of the stalls and told me to wait. I sat on the step near the floor and continued to douse myself with cold water.
A few minutes later, the man who initially showed me the hamam appeared before me. Large belly, grey hair, balding and draped in a pestamal like mine. He had a towel over his shoulder, a bar of soap in his hand and a black scrubber pad. I felt vulnerable as i looked up at this half naked figure filling the stall.
After getting the water in the basin just right, he doused me a few more times. He then got down on one knee and started rubbing me with the rough scrubber mit he had attached to his hand.
He tilted my body forward and scrubbed my back, then my chest and my arms. He held my arm out and rested my hand against his chest. The scrubbing motion jostled my arm causing my fingers to course through his chest hair. It was oddly intimate.
He moved onto my legs, propping my ankle on his hip as he knelt and scrubbed my sauna softened, wet skin.
The pad was rough and he was strong and deliberate. I wouldn't call it relaxing. He doused me with water, and i could see coils of skin rinse away.
He then led me to a marble bench where i laid on my stomach where he proceeded to lather soap on my back. He simultaneously washed and massaged my back, legs and arms. Again, strong deliberate motions, not particularly enjoyable in the moment. He rubbed the back of my legs so hard, my knee caps painful as they ground into the hard marble.
I turned over and he continued with my chest, stomach and legs. He propped my legs, one at a time, on his hip and rubbed hard, my knees hyper extending. When he got to my left leg, (knee recently operated on), I kept it bent to protect my knee. He did not like this. After a few grunts and hand gestures, he conceded that he needed to "go slow".
He then doused me several times, rinsing away all the soap. I was led back to the stall where he washed my hair and beard. Once i was thoroughly rinsed, he left me to relax.
I emerged from the hamam and was wrapped in towels and sat on a bench. A cup of tea was set in front of me. There were a couple of other middle-aged turkish men relaxing.
After 20 minutes I dressed and headed on my way, squeaky clean and refreshed.
(Unfortunately i don't have any pictures of my experience, but if you follow this link you will get the idea. )
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