The Hamam

Paul is a man big on his pampering. He likes a good scrub down and heard a rumor that the Turkish do too.  This is how we found ourselves at Suleymaniye Hamam, an ancient hamam located just around the corner from the famous Suleymaniye Mosque.  The building itself was constructed by Sinan in the mid-1500s with some important structural updates taking place over the years. 

We chose this particular hamam for a few reasons, namely that it was further away from the central tourist area and it was for mixed genders.  The more authentic hamams in the city cater to a single sex depending on the day/time.  Female attendants generally soap down females, males soap males.  Our little old hamam catered to families and couples--we were to be scrubbed by male attendants in a non-nude atmosphere.  

The experience started with us being handed little plaid shorts/bikini and checking our belongings into a little cabin: 

The camera got left there as we headed into a large, hot, steamy chamber where we laid on a gigantic marble slab.  Mimicking lizard behavior, we soaked up the heat and warmth, belly-up and then flipping, before being beckoned over to gigantic faucet taps where we were rinsed down and then bubbled up on a gigantic massage table.  

Our masseurs wore gigantic exfoliation mitts and proceeded to scrub away the dead skin across all uncovered parts of our flesh before smacking us with soapy water and bubbling us up.  At one point, a three-foot-high bubble enveloped me.  Our masseurs just laughed.  

And then smacked us with a tub of warm water to wash it all away. It was painful in a good way.  Once clean, we were whisked and wrapped and dried into a fug of warmth and happiness.  

As we finished the afternoon with warm tea and shisha, it didn't matter if the experience was overly touristic or not.  Squeaky clean, we faced the remainder of our holiday perfectly content.