Going to a Hamam (Turkish Bath)

After the visit to the Seven Sleepers I had a very Turkish experience. I went with a group of other women in our group to the Turkish Bath. The picture to the left is NOT the one we went to, but it is similar. We were in a room with a domed ceiling and laying on a marble table in the middle. Around the sides there were stalls with curtains. I always wondered what a public bath was like!

Here is what we did: First we dropped off our valuables to be locked up at the main desk. Then we went to a small room to change to wearing a towel. We all decided that we wanted to wear our bathing suits under the towel, but I am not sure what most Turkish women do. When we were changed the man who was in charge walked us to a really large domed room and told us to shower and then to lay down in the middle. We weren’t sure what he meant by showering, but he sat each one of us down and poured water over our heads! We then lay down in the center on a large marble “table” and sweated. It was hot and steamy in that room.

When we were about to get desperately hot two men came in and we each took turns at different treatments. First a man with a rough sponge-like thing rubbed our whole bodies to scrape off all of the dirt and sweat. Then we moved to a spot where another man created a whole pillow-case full of soap bubbles which he dropped on us and rubbed on our fronts and then on our backs. Then they asked us to go into a cold shower and rinse off. Wow! Did that feel good! Then we all sat and had Turkish tea while one at a time each of us went and had an oil massage. This was a great experience. It was fun to go and do it with a group, but I think it would be difficult to go by myself to such a strange place. An added bonus is this chart of how to say English numbers that I though you would enjoy. It was behind the main desk where you pay!