Day of Pamper (Turkish bath!)
Trip Start
Jun 19, 2008
1
24
69
Trip End
Sep 04, 2008
Istanbul,
Turkey
Monday, July 21, 2008
Our day started with a hamam, a traditional Turkish bath house. We chose one in Cemberlitas because of its fame, relatively touristy-ness (we figure it would be more comfortable and hygenic), and one of the girls' went there with her mom before the program and had a good experience. I knew generally what to expect- a steam room full of women in nude- because bath house is a big part of the Korean culture. The hamam was built by Sinan, the Michaelangelo of Turkey who built and restored hundreds of mosques and hamams around Istanbul in the 16th century
Hamam!
. Upon payment at the entrance, we received tokens that said "scrub" and "mask", a new mitten, and a thin towel. We stripped down in the locker room and put on rubber sandals that they provided. Many people were wearing bathing suits (tourists!), and equally as many people were full out nude. When I walked into the lounge, I got a full view of a woman in a spread eagle position getting a wax in the private area! I immediately turned around to warn my friends, who were equally appalled and shocked.So I opened the thick wooden door to the steam room. The hot air engulfed my face. There was a large marble stone in the center of the room, and about a dozen women were spread out on the platform. Another 2 or 3 women were washing at the marble sinks around the wall. We spread out our towels and joined the silent steam room. There were no lighting, windows or doors (other than the main wooden door), but the tall, dome ceiling had holes to allow ample light into the steam room. Lying on the marble was relaxing and somewhat like sunbathing in nude. Then the wooden door opened and a woman appeared and motioned to one of the people on the slab of stone. The customer positioned herself across the edge, and the woman started rubbing her with the scrubbing mitten- right in front of everyone! I can imagine how weird it must be for Americans, seeing another woman get scrubbed and rubbed down like a car in the car wash
Taksim train/tram thing
. It is really too bad I could not take pictures of the hamam. One by one, we got called over and was scrubbed, soaped, and massaged. Dead skin rolled off like eraser shavings. My friends felt embarrassed and awkward to see this, but I was used to it. They definitely were not as thorough as the Korean scrubbers, maybe because this hamam is touristy or maybe because Turkish people just don't scrub down as thoroughly as Koreans. My woman had the biggest jugs I have ever seen, and I thought she was going to slap my face with them (she didn't). She spoke no English, so she slapped my butt when I needed to roll over. Then she took me to a cubicle. I sat like a little child while she used a tub of water to wash my hair. After 30-45 minutes of the steam room, we went out to the lounge and sat in the very bench the other woman got waxed. We handed our "mask" token to a woman who used a painting brush to slab on a thick clay formula on our faces. She washed our faces off at a sink once they dried and led us to the massage room, where we got some oil rubbed on our faces. And we were done! So fresh, so clean!
Feeling light and refreshed, we took the tramvay then metro to Taksim. The metro stopped at the center of Taksim Square, and our next destination was just across the street: Hotel Marmara
Baby Face!
. The girls were craving some good American breakfast, like pancakes and eggs, and found the 5-star breakfast place online. The place apparently served Pope at one point. http://www.themarmarahotels.com/The-Marmara-Istanbul/index.aspIndeed the place was fancy and expensive. We indulged in fruit pancakes with Canadian syrup, eggs with sausage, noodles, and spaghetti. I could just feel my stomache smiling thank you :) The English-speaking staff used a portable credit card machine and charged us individual bills, which was very nice and efficient. They forgot to include the service tax (14ytl), which was also very nice.
We looked at the stores along Istikal until we got to Babyface. One of my dorm friends who has studied abroad in Istanbul since Februrary recommended the place for wax and mani/pedicure. The place was quite cheap, especially considering that it is in the middle of Istikal. All the hairdressers were male (seemingly straight), but the people who did mani/pedicures were women (thank gosh, I don't want strange Turkish men touching my feet!). Instead of the massage chair and whirlpool I was used to back home, I sat in a regular chair and dipped my feet into a plastic tub. There were thing floating in the water, and I couldn't tell whether they were special herbs or just dirt. They also did not use the most hygenic tools, but hey, they did a good job and my feet became a lot prettier and cleaner than it has been in the last 2 weeks! We were grinning very widely at this point. Oh, Day of Pamper!
Strolling and doing some more shopping on the way down, we found a side street full of cute discount clothes. I recognized some of the clothes from H&M and Abercrombie! They were missing the tags and belts, but they were also like 5 liras! Every other store was having a big time sale (indirim). I did hear the Turkish economy is not doing so hot right now. Aldo was having 50% off + additional 25% off sale, so I got myself a pair of gold heels. Yay! What a great day, seriously.
Munching on chocolate-dipped ice cream cones, we got back to the dorm and napped. I actually saw my dorm crush in the kitchen and chatted with him the whole time. To continue our fab day, we went to Fasuli, a restaurant that has a nice terrace and the juiciest chicken and beef we have had in Istanbul. Two of our new Turkish friends were there as well, so we joined them for a fantastic dinner and view of the sea.
I would say that the Day of Pamper was a definite success and one of my top 5 days in Istanbul!
