It was COLD outside and they were washing away. I'm guessing that it was cold water because barely any places in Turkey had warm water. I immediately thought that I would be far too much of a sissy to be Muslim.)
The hamam is a building that is at least 1000 years old. You walk in to a reception area, pay your money and they take you to a private changing room where you leave your items locked up. The women change in to a triangle bikini top (ill-fitting, zero coverage) and essentially boxer shorts made of madras. The guys get a large rectangle of madras to wrap around their waist. (Traditional hamams kept the men and women separate, but now some of them are co-ed because so many non-Muslims like to go.)
Once you've got on your madras and horrible wooden flip-flops that are a danger to yourself and others, you head in to the steam room, which is incredible. The entire room is light grey/
white stone. There is a giant circular altar that is about 15'-20' across and 3 1/2 ' high where everyone is laying and sweating. There are low sinks with hot and cold water and bowls so that you can pour water on yourself to adjust your temperature. One of the most interesting things is that there are gutters built into the stone floors so that all of the water is draining away from the room. The entire thing is an engineering miracle for being so old. Once you have become weary from the heat, the massage boys come in and direct you to a small open room with two stone slabs (still part of the steam room) where you receive a vigorous scrub and massage. They take exfoliation to a whole new level and cover you in a blanket of lovely smelling warm suds. When you've had your fill, you head to the drying room where they wrap you in towels (including your head-like the Queen of Sheba) and lead you to the resting room where you can enjoy beverages until you are ready to get changed and leave.
People! Why do so many countries have steam-room activity centers and not us (and the steam room at the YMCA doesn't count)! This place and the place in D.C.(which is Korean, not American) are like family/community gathering areas where everyone goes to hang out and relax. We need more of these-Americans are an uptight group of people, (self most definitely included) who would definitely benefit from these activities.
The uptightness (not a real word) of Americans was obvious when we saw another American couple, about our age, in the steam room. There were plenty of other people in the room who were enjoying themselves (including grandmas whose bikini tops were under alot of strain). But when this couple came in, they weren't quite sure what to do. Dave gave them some pointers (as you know, he loves to talk to strangers) and the guy seemed to jump right in. However, the female sat ram-rod straight with her towel wrapped tight and a scowl on her face. 30-45 minutes later she had not moved. She hadn't even loosened her towel and it was HOT! She had on the same outfit as the rest of us, so I can't imagine what the problem was. It must be fun being married to her.
So if I haven't told you about Spa World, google it. It's in Virginia just outside of D.C. and it is one of the most amazing places that I have been. You pay $30 and get to stay up to 24 hrs. It is a mecca of relaxation-go there if you are ever in the area.
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