We were pretty sick of walking, so we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit.
We ate dinner at a place just down the street from our hotel called Hafız Ahmet. It was cafeteria-style. You point at what you want. Ma had meatballs (köfte) and chilled potatoes. I had broccoli-covered-chicken and rice. It was more expensive than the other meals we had, but it was good and filling.
And then came the part we'd both been thinking about all day: the hamamı (pronounced "hah-mah-muh"). To be honest, I was a little nervous. I'd never so much as had a neck massage before, let alone a full body scrub. And being naked in public in a foreign country wasn't exactly helping matters.
We took the tram to Çemberlitaş. The bath is right there. They made the whole process so smooth. First, they hand you a new kese (pronounced "keh-seh") and a peştemal (pronounced "pesh-teh-mahl"). The kese is a raw silk mitten without a thumb, but with a tie to keep it on your hand. When it is wet, it feels rough like a loofah. The peştemal is a thin plaid towel. An attendant directs you upstairs to a locker room, assigns you a locker, and you put the key's band around your wrist. Everything is made of wood like a sauna. You get undressed and wrap yourself in the peştemal. Then you go downstairs, through the cool room, and into the hot room. Inside the hot room is a giant round stone with a flat top. Everything in the room is made out of marble. You could cut the humidity with a knife. The domed ceiling is decorated with stars. It was really neat. At this point, I'm getting nervous again, and to make matters worse, they separate Ma and me. Ma has no glasses on, so she's blind. And I have no clue what the attendant is saying to me. So, we're waiting our turn to be scrubbed down from head to foot. Then my time comes. The attendant tells me to put my peştemal on the stone and then lay on top of it on my tummy. She then hands me a pair of black underwear. They still have a tag on them, so I figure they're safe to wear. I relax a little bit and she begins to cover me with soap suds. And then she starts scrubbing, first my back, then my front, and then has me sit up to do my arms. It was quite enjoyable. Then she moves me off the stone over to one of the basins to rinse off and wash my hair. Afterward, I waited for Ma to get done with her scrub. Then we exited the hot room and got a towel in the cool room. We didn't sign up for the separate oil massage, so we just hung out until we were fit enough to dry off and get our clothes back on.
TRAVELERS' TIP: If you have a serious health condition, you might want to check with your doctor before entering the hot room.
My skin never felt better. If I lived in Istanbul, I'd go once a month...maybe once a week!
It wasn't exactly appropriate to take pictures in the hamamı, but I did manage to snap this one of the fantastic bathroom. I loved the tile!
We ate dinner at a place just down the street from our hotel called Hafız Ahmet. It was cafeteria-style. You point at what you want. Ma had meatballs (köfte) and chilled potatoes. I had broccoli-covered-chicken and rice. It was more expensive than the other meals we had, but it was good and filling.And then came the part we'd both been thinking about all day: the hamamı (pronounced "hah-mah-muh"). To be honest, I was a little nervous. I'd never so much as had a neck massage before, let alone a full body scrub. And being naked in public in a foreign country wasn't exactly helping matters.
We took the tram to Çemberlitaş. The bath is right there. They made the whole process so smooth. First, they hand you a new kese (pronounced "keh-seh") and a peştemal (pronounced "pesh-teh-mahl"). The kese is a raw silk mitten without a thumb, but with a tie to keep it on your hand. When it is wet, it feels rough like a loofah. The peştemal is a thin plaid towel. An attendant directs you upstairs to a locker room, assigns you a locker, and you put the key's band around your wrist. Everything is made of wood like a sauna. You get undressed and wrap yourself in the peştemal. Then you go downstairs, through the cool room, and into the hot room. Inside the hot room is a giant round stone with a flat top. Everything in the room is made out of marble. You could cut the humidity with a knife. The domed ceiling is decorated with stars. It was really neat. At this point, I'm getting nervous again, and to make matters worse, they separate Ma and me. Ma has no glasses on, so she's blind. And I have no clue what the attendant is saying to me. So, we're waiting our turn to be scrubbed down from head to foot. Then my time comes. The attendant tells me to put my peştemal on the stone and then lay on top of it on my tummy. She then hands me a pair of black underwear. They still have a tag on them, so I figure they're safe to wear. I relax a little bit and she begins to cover me with soap suds. And then she starts scrubbing, first my back, then my front, and then has me sit up to do my arms. It was quite enjoyable. Then she moves me off the stone over to one of the basins to rinse off and wash my hair. Afterward, I waited for Ma to get done with her scrub. Then we exited the hot room and got a towel in the cool room. We didn't sign up for the separate oil massage, so we just hung out until we were fit enough to dry off and get our clothes back on.
TRAVELERS' TIP: If you have a serious health condition, you might want to check with your doctor before entering the hot room.
My skin never felt better. If I lived in Istanbul, I'd go once a month...maybe once a week!
It wasn't exactly appropriate to take pictures in the hamamı, but I did manage to snap this one of the fantastic bathroom. I loved the tile!
