I needed no coaxing or cajoling to head to the Hammam. We found a discounted rate on entry tickets and, leaving Paul and Chloe behind in the hostel, off I went (just me and my ticket. I had read up on Hammams and understood I would be given a cover-up so no bathing suit for me).
After checking in a woman came to get me, gave me a key and showed me to the locker room. After changing and donning my "tea towel" she took me by the hand, led me to a bench and brushed a mask on my face. I was then led into the sauna and told to leave in 30 minutes (or when the sand timer is up) and hop in the shower to wash off the mask.
Showered and ready for my scrub down, I walked into a white tiled room and sat on the bench around the edge of the room, listening to the boisterous banter of the black underwear clad Turkish women who were scrubbing, lathering and massaging a group of French ladies on the hexagonal slab in the centre of the room.
My turn finally arrived and laying down on my tea towel I had a scrub down that seemed to remove 9 months worth of dirt from my body. The woman even seemed surprised, lifting my arm to show me the dirt that remained in eraser-like peelings on the surface of my skin. She finished off with a lather, a quick massage and a firm slap on the back before sending me back to the showers.
I had never felt cleaner and returned to the room with one piece of advice for Paul's visit the following day: wear a bathing suit!
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Dream Becomes Reality
TURKEY did not disappoint!! The people are, IMHO amongst the friendliest and most hospitable we have met in our travels so far. There are lots of rocks (which, if you have been reading my posts have become a bit of a fascination for me). There are "tourist" destinations that although easy to navigate, don't feel as though they have been spoiled by our presence - Olympos and Goreme were the 2 that we made it to in our short time here. There are many activities and adventures to take part in. The prices are reasonable. The culture and history are rich. Honestly, . . what more could a traveler ask for?
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| Naturally occurring fire (from methane gas in the rocks) burn in Chimeara near Olympos. We saw a number of locals cooking sausage over the flames and enjoying a mid-day picnic. This friendly gentleman offered to share his meal when I slowed to down to check out his cooking skills. |
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| In Cappadoccia people carved out the soft rocks for shelter or as a place to hide from enemies. People no longer live in these cave homes; they have mostly been converted into hotels or restaurants. |
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| Climbing around the Roman Ruins in Olympos |
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| A horse back ride through rose valley in Goreme. |
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| About 80 balloons took to the skies in the early morning hours in Goreme |
He Said......
Really - how can you come to Turkey and not partake in a Turkish Bath? That's the question i asked myself. After some consideration and flashbacks to my India massage experience I decided to stick to my travel mantra of "just say yes" and give it a try.
The Bathhouse was right across the street from our hostel so I had little time to second-guess myself. Once I entered, showed my pre-paid ticket and declined the add-on of an oil massage, an attendant quickly whisked me downstairs to the locker. Unlike the India experience I brought my bathing suit with me so I wasn't feeling too exposed.
Once changed the attendant directed me to sit down and then proceeded to paint my face with some mixture. From there it was off to the sauna where he indicated in broken English I was to stay until the grains of sand in the "timer" emptied out.
I was a little relieved to have the sauna to myself. I was sitting comfortably watching the slow trickle of the sand grains when the door opened and a different guy asked if I was ok. I said yes, but I guess he felt the sauna needed a jolt so he splashes some more water on the rocks.
Those who know me know that on occasion my sweat glands have been known to go into hyperdrive. The rapid rise in the sauna temperature basically triggered a meltdown for me. But I decided to hold steady and wait for the sand to run out. Even if I was doing my best wicked witch impression.
Thankfully the dude came to check on me and evidently determined that I was done. I left the sauna and went into another room that had marble bench seating around the perimeter and a rectangular slab in the middle where another guy was being attended to. My guy told me to sit on the bench and then suddenly started pouring water over my head, with directions to "wash" given. I guess that was to get whatever face stuff that was still there off. A few more dunkings and it was time to go to the slab.
Slab time was basically a two part experience. The first was a scrubbing that at one point I thought would totally remove my hard-earned tan. Once that part was completed there was the follow up massage and rinsing. It's amazing how much more comfortable I was strictly because I wasn't naked!
After the last rinse he told me to stand up, put my arms out and most importantly relax. He then wrapped his arms around me and proceeded to squeeze me until I could here my back crack. Never has a manhug felt so good.
After that I was basically done. He showed me to the cold water jacuzzi then I was able to chill with some apple tea and reflect on how I have probably never been so clean!
The Bathhouse was right across the street from our hostel so I had little time to second-guess myself. Once I entered, showed my pre-paid ticket and declined the add-on of an oil massage, an attendant quickly whisked me downstairs to the locker. Unlike the India experience I brought my bathing suit with me so I wasn't feeling too exposed.
Once changed the attendant directed me to sit down and then proceeded to paint my face with some mixture. From there it was off to the sauna where he indicated in broken English I was to stay until the grains of sand in the "timer" emptied out.
I was a little relieved to have the sauna to myself. I was sitting comfortably watching the slow trickle of the sand grains when the door opened and a different guy asked if I was ok. I said yes, but I guess he felt the sauna needed a jolt so he splashes some more water on the rocks.
Those who know me know that on occasion my sweat glands have been known to go into hyperdrive. The rapid rise in the sauna temperature basically triggered a meltdown for me. But I decided to hold steady and wait for the sand to run out. Even if I was doing my best wicked witch impression.
Thankfully the dude came to check on me and evidently determined that I was done. I left the sauna and went into another room that had marble bench seating around the perimeter and a rectangular slab in the middle where another guy was being attended to. My guy told me to sit on the bench and then suddenly started pouring water over my head, with directions to "wash" given. I guess that was to get whatever face stuff that was still there off. A few more dunkings and it was time to go to the slab.
Slab time was basically a two part experience. The first was a scrubbing that at one point I thought would totally remove my hard-earned tan. Once that part was completed there was the follow up massage and rinsing. It's amazing how much more comfortable I was strictly because I wasn't naked!
After the last rinse he told me to stand up, put my arms out and most importantly relax. He then wrapped his arms around me and proceeded to squeeze me until I could here my back crack. Never has a manhug felt so good.
After that I was basically done. He showed me to the cold water jacuzzi then I was able to chill with some apple tea and reflect on how I have probably never been so clean!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Changing my Tune on Turkey
I have to be honest. I was completely ambivalent about coming to Turkey. Coming here was Heather's passion, and once we did some travel planning and realized that it made sense for us to be here late April I resigned myself to being here for my birthday. I had no preconceptions, and my ambivalence was borne of nothing other than ignorance. Even after doing a small bit of research I found it difficult to get up for Turkey.
I was so wrong. Starting in Istanbul we have experienced a piece of the world that, in retrospect (which BTW tastes quite like humble pie) has greatly surprised me. It starts, as it does for most countries, with the people. Getting off the plane I had my first (semi) mass encounter with the Muslim faith as many of the travellers put their mats down in the hallway (and cleaned up first in the men's bathroom) for prayer. As someone who is not especially religious, I was struck by their discipline and devotion to their faith. I know when I get off a plane all I am looking is to get past customs, retrieve my luggage, and get to wherever "home" happens to be.
The drive into Istanbul revealed a cosmopolitan city that seemed to embrace its heritage, and made good public use of its shoreline. Thankfully we were in a section of the city (the second oldest part)where every building had to remain unchanged. Our destination was Galata Tower, where we had rented an apartment a short walk from. When we got out of the car and saw the Tower and the mixture of locals and travellers hanging around I knew that this would be good.
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| Chloe checking out the 'hood from our apartment |
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| Our street |
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| The Tower at Night |
The next few days saw us exploring Istanbul, although not as much as we wanted due to Chloe coming down with a stomach bug. We wandered down Istikal Caddesi (a pedestrian shopping "street") in search of The Hunger Games.
We crossed the Bosphorus as part of our quest for the famous Blue Mosque.
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| The Blue Mosque |
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| Inside view of the Blue Mosque |
One thing I noticed as we wandered were the proliferation of national flags draped from many buildings. Not hung off flag poles - literally draped off the side of the building. Even big flags off of big buildings.
Then it was onto Olympos.On the way to the airport we crossed a bridge and saw a sign welcoming us to Asia! Very cool travel moment to switch between continents just like that.
At first glance it didn't exactly rock my world, but as we discovered the ancient ruins, the Mediterranean and its beach, and the very friendly people (especially at our hostel) it very quickly grew on me. Here's a little bit of what we saw:
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| Heather checking out the Bath |
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| Nature's BBQ as the flame comes right from the rocks! |
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| Chloe enjoying the chilly Med |
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| Paul contemplating taking a step closer to 50 |
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| The beachside ruins |
Now it's time to move on and experience our first Turkey night bus and Cappadocia before our short time in Turkey sadly comes to an end.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
The Road to Olympos
Many of our travel days have been quite straight forward - we have our bus, plane or train time (and sometimes a ticket), and we know where the station or terminal is, or at least a pretty good idea of how to get there. Once we reach the destination we have usually been able to arrange a ride from the terminus to our new "home" or we are aware of the cost of a taxi to get us there. Admittedly, we travel a little differently now than when we were in our 20s and will often opt for the easy route when we can.
Today was a bit different. We left our little apartment in Istanbul in the rain and didn't see a taxi in sight. We popped into a nearby hotel where the kind concierge called us a cab. Turned out we were leaving from a different airport from which we arrived and it was about an hours drive from where we were staying. Good thing we had left early and had some extra cash!
We had directions from the airport to our next location (Olympos) that started with taking a municipal bus to the main bus terminal, followed by a minibus to the town and then another bus that would take us to the place we were staying. A little more complicated than usual but hey, we've been traveling a little while now, we'll figure it out. I felt confident it would all turn out just fine.
This is where our little adventure began.
The municipal bus was super crowded (standing room only for us) and of course everyone was jostled about as people got off and on, attempting to ease their way around all of the bags and suitcases.
When we arrived at the terminal we were sent to the other terminal (just next door) to look for our minibus to Olympos. Upon entering we were asked by a friendly looking guy near a counter that looked like it might sell tickets where we were going. When he heard Olympos he grabbed my bag and began rushing us towards a bus. We have learned that it is usually not a good idea to rush after the first guy that offers you a ride without telling you the price. I had a quick glance at the sandwich board in front of the van and saw that it was going to Olympos and when I gestured that I had no ticket he waved me off and ushered us onto the bus. We hopped on and I just hoped that we wouldn't be charged an absurd price at the end.
As we drove I kept a close eye on the signs, looking for one that said we were heading towards Olympos. After about an hour I started getting a little worried as not one sign had indicated that our destination was ahead of us. Maybe I had misread the sandwich board or hadn't pronounced our destination clearly,.. The worry dragons were circling!! Have I mentioned that I was feeling a little extra pressure because I had picked this destination thinking it would be a good place to spend Paul's birthday?
After an hour and a half I saw a sign for chimaera, the natural ever- burning flames that are rumored to have lit the original Olympic flame. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing we were close and soon after saw a sign to Olympos.
We took the turn off and were dropped off at a little store just off the highway - Olympos was still 11 km away! We were ushered off, handed our suitcases and after paying the very reasonable fee (sigh of relief), were told that a bus would arrive soon to take us to Olympos. HUH!? Fortunately it did arrive quickly and we payed a rate equivalent to about $1 each and started our final transport to The Deep Green Bungalows.
We'll see how the birthday weekend turns out - it is a little colder than Paul usually likes it and it is off season so doesn't sound like the usual excursions are happening - much or at all, we're not sure yet!
Today was a bit different. We left our little apartment in Istanbul in the rain and didn't see a taxi in sight. We popped into a nearby hotel where the kind concierge called us a cab. Turned out we were leaving from a different airport from which we arrived and it was about an hours drive from where we were staying. Good thing we had left early and had some extra cash!
We had directions from the airport to our next location (Olympos) that started with taking a municipal bus to the main bus terminal, followed by a minibus to the town and then another bus that would take us to the place we were staying. A little more complicated than usual but hey, we've been traveling a little while now, we'll figure it out. I felt confident it would all turn out just fine.
This is where our little adventure began.
The municipal bus was super crowded (standing room only for us) and of course everyone was jostled about as people got off and on, attempting to ease their way around all of the bags and suitcases.
When we arrived at the terminal we were sent to the other terminal (just next door) to look for our minibus to Olympos. Upon entering we were asked by a friendly looking guy near a counter that looked like it might sell tickets where we were going. When he heard Olympos he grabbed my bag and began rushing us towards a bus. We have learned that it is usually not a good idea to rush after the first guy that offers you a ride without telling you the price. I had a quick glance at the sandwich board in front of the van and saw that it was going to Olympos and when I gestured that I had no ticket he waved me off and ushered us onto the bus. We hopped on and I just hoped that we wouldn't be charged an absurd price at the end.
As we drove I kept a close eye on the signs, looking for one that said we were heading towards Olympos. After about an hour I started getting a little worried as not one sign had indicated that our destination was ahead of us. Maybe I had misread the sandwich board or hadn't pronounced our destination clearly,.. The worry dragons were circling!! Have I mentioned that I was feeling a little extra pressure because I had picked this destination thinking it would be a good place to spend Paul's birthday?
After an hour and a half I saw a sign for chimaera, the natural ever- burning flames that are rumored to have lit the original Olympic flame. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing we were close and soon after saw a sign to Olympos.
We took the turn off and were dropped off at a little store just off the highway - Olympos was still 11 km away! We were ushered off, handed our suitcases and after paying the very reasonable fee (sigh of relief), were told that a bus would arrive soon to take us to Olympos. HUH!? Fortunately it did arrive quickly and we payed a rate equivalent to about $1 each and started our final transport to The Deep Green Bungalows.
We'll see how the birthday weekend turns out - it is a little colder than Paul usually likes it and it is off season so doesn't sound like the usual excursions are happening - much or at all, we're not sure yet!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The Last Chapter Begins
We have spent our last night in Africa and have arrived in Istanbul, Turkey via Doha, Qatar where we had an unexpectedly luxurious 14 hour layover.
I'm feeling excited yet a little melancholy about our arrival in Europe. Europe has always been described as the final destination on our trip. When people asked about our route our answer ended with, "and we'll be finishing off with 3 months in Europe'.
We remind ourselves that 3 months is a long time and we'll be doing and seeing so many amazing things - cappadoccia, Rome, Venice, a wedding in Sweden, Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Monaco, Paris, a visit from Joanne and Simon in France, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and multiple stops at relatives in the U.K., . . . .
We've only been in Istanbul for a few hours but after a quick tour around our area near the Galata Tower, Europe is looking good so far.
I'm feeling excited yet a little melancholy about our arrival in Europe. Europe has always been described as the final destination on our trip. When people asked about our route our answer ended with, "and we'll be finishing off with 3 months in Europe'.
We remind ourselves that 3 months is a long time and we'll be doing and seeing so many amazing things - cappadoccia, Rome, Venice, a wedding in Sweden, Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Monaco, Paris, a visit from Joanne and Simon in France, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and multiple stops at relatives in the U.K., . . . .
We've only been in Istanbul for a few hours but after a quick tour around our area near the Galata Tower, Europe is looking good so far.
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