Day 34 and 35: Cake, Cognac and Hamam

The last time i was washed by a man was when i was a baby and it was by my father. Today i was washed by a man and i was twice his age. Not sure there is any significance in that but this is what i was thinking as i lay on the marble slab at Sulimanye Turkish Bath. This establishment is 450 years old - one of the waiters looked as if he had been there since it started. I am so clean that i cant possibly ever get dirty again... i reckon only after a year i will start showering again after the very thorough Turkish bath. They used what felt like 60 grit sand paper all over me and took off all the old skin and some new... as if that wasn't enough i was placed on a marble slab and covered in soap suds only to be given a massage and cleaned again until sparkling. I was asked to get off the slab and sit next to the rinsing basin where cold water was thrown all over me a dozen times. I was then asked to stand only to receive numerous doses of cold water over my head and in my face. As i stood there i thought the guy was going to wax and polish but instead he shook my hand and bid me farewell. I waited there and watched as Donna received her fare share of cold water to the face and head - beautiful. I was stoked through the entire bath that i hadn't heard any shouts from Donna caused by indecent behaviour from her bath man. It was professional and decent.

The Turkish bath is very well designed. Completely kitted out in marble - an obvious non-porous material.  The room has a massive slab in the middle which you lie on and bake as the temperature rises above 40 degrees celsius, compliments of the massive furnace that sits below the palatial marble floor, and the humidity sits at about 120%. The sweat pours out of you in buckets. There are 4 washing areas situated around the slab, to one of which you and your wife get ushered, smacked, sand papered, stretched and drowned. All the water drains into well designed marble gutters which feed into a single drain outside the room somewhere. There are also four taps situated around the slab with cold and hot water. But not drinking water - luckily i asked.

After the wash you get ushered into a changing area where Donna and i made out a bit trying to make the most of the privacy. We were given thin linen towels which we used to wrap ourselves in after removing the kit they had given us for the bath. We were dried by the drying man and he wrapped another towel around our shoulders and a nannies cap on our heads. This raised some laughs and created some definite photo opportunities.

We then walked to another room which was the room of rest. We had some cool drink and water and rested. It was then up to our change room where we unfortunately had to change back into our clothes. I was looking forward to walking down the main street next to the Sulimanye Mosque in my Turkish bath recovery kit - haha.

We went for supper and had Kuru Fasulye. This is baked beans and rice and salad and more bread than you can eat in 2 days. Flippen tasty and only R24. For pudding i had Turkish Ice Cream - a sugar cone with vanilla, chocolate, lemon and strawberry flavours, dipped in chocolate sauce and crushed nuts - bladdy lekker!!

But that was today.

Yesterday we started the morning with a jog around Sultahnamet district where we stay. Donna got to sport her new russian tracksuit - black with pink stars here and there. After running with russian athlete -da - we headed for breakfast where we were privileged to be included in a real russian family birthday party. We were each given an unbelievable piece of black forest cake to be washed down with a good old tot of Cognac. Best bloody breakfast i ever had. Here i was thinking i would start the day off all healthy with a jog and a mediterranean breakfast of cheese, bread and olives - instead i left the breakfast table hammered and on a sugar high!

 Carefully walking down the stairs, we then packed some kit and headed out for the day. Browsing through markets and booking tickets to Selcuk to see Ephesus. We will then travel to Pammukale to see some salt pool story and then on to Fethiye for some fun in the sun. We booked ferry tickets from Fethiye to Rhodes island where we will spend 2 nights and then take a ferry to Santorini on 17 May - a 14 hour ferry...a long time. But that's cool, 'cause time is one thing we have a lot of. We then travel to the island of Ios on 23 May for 3 days - i might never leave there - ever.

The last two days have been real beauts. We have been privileged to see Istanbul on crystal clear days. The stately mosques reaching into the skies with their spires which overlook the city as if guarding Istanbul from all sides. Brilliant views from our terrace over the Bosphorous and surrounding islands.

We leave here tomorrow to go to Selcuk. Our bus is at 9:30pm tomorrow night - so another long day with no hotel room to rest in. We are lucky that our hotel allows us to keep our bags in the office. We will also ask if we can check out late tomorrow so that we can sleep late.

We are looking forward to the road trip to Selcuk and to see Ephesus. The next blog will most probably only be on Tuesday night.


Some other photos below: