The Hammam

I should start by admitting I've never been in a sauna or anything like it.

The Turkish baths were a tradition in the Ottoman empire, and it is just as popular today as it was 500 years ago. There are separate facilities for men and women, and I'm told the ones for women aren't as nice inside (I guess they compared notes!). Walk inside and there is a lobby area where an attendant takes your belongings (wallet, camera) and locks them in little safety deposit boxes behind him. He gives you the key. If you want the massage or the scrub-down you pay more for that and they give you colored bracelets for each service. After the scrub-down or massage, the attendant will take one of the bracelets from you. Then go to the back of this lobby area and undress. An attendant holds up a sheet in front of you as you slip off underwear and then wraps the sheet around your waist. At no time is anyone interested in seeing you naked and men don't expose themselves at all. They give you wooden shoes, like slippers, and I immediately hated them. They were high in the back and my toes slid forward off the front edge, making them hard to walk in. They also gave us a bar of soap and a scrubbing pad.

From the lobby you enter a hallway at the back. Restrooms are off to the right and sport Turkish-style toilets. That is, no toilet; just a ceramic hole in the floor. Instead of toilet paper thay have a rubber hose attached to a water faucet. It takes some getting used to! Turn left in the hallway and there is a large, heavy wooden door. We pulled it open and stepped into an oven. The steam was so thick you couldn't see, and my first impulse was to panic and run outside. You feel like you're going to choke on the intense moisture and the heat pounds at your body. There are faucets with large sinks under them. People fill thenm with water and, using a bowl, scoop out water and pour it over themselves. Then they wash. I was pouring cold water on myself in a desperate attempt to cool off.

There is another room, even hotter, where they go after that. I couldn't do it. I stepped back outside to cool off for a moment, and then went on to the place where the scrubber awaited. He sat crosslegged on the floor and reminded me of Buddha -- the old fat bald one -- and sported a glove made of sandpaper. He used it like a pumice stone to scrub my arms, legs, back and chest. After this he took the bracelet and sent me on to the next guy, who gave me a massage. Far from the gentle relaxation massage you might expect in Cancun, he dug in vigorously. I certainly wouldn't fall asleep during a massage like this one!

After that you go back to the bowl room and wash off again, then come out. A guy helps you change the sheet around your waist and dries your face, then wraps a second towel around your shoulders. A third goes on your head. You go back into the lobby and sit for a while, cooling off. They'll serve tea if you like, and then you're good to go.

I gather that you're supposed to feel invigorated by this, but after it was over I only wanted to sleep.