7:14pm

I've having a hell of a time trying to type properly. After the hammam visit (which was WONDERFUL) I feel a little shakey...

A great way to spend the last day. The boat trip was relaxing, and there were indeed some impressive views of palaces and castles on either side. From the far end, the little town of Anadolu Kavagi, there was a great view of the Black Sea and all the tankers and freighters passing back and forth. Anadolu Kavagi had a ruined castle, but it looked much more impressive from the boat than it was up close, strewn with litter and in places badly marked up with graffiti. Back in the town I had a nice prix fixe lunch at one of the many fish restaurants catering to the tourists on the ferry, then had a brief nap in the sun before getting back on the ferry to return to Istanbul.

Back in town I went back to the hostel, settled my bill and booked a minibus to the airport for tomorrow. When I told my hosts I was planning to go to a hammam next, one of them offered to take me since he was going as well. We walked along the tram line to Gedikpasa, where we ducked down a side street and found the Gedikpasa Bath, established in 1475!!

The experience started with changing into a towel. Each guest gets an individual little change room in the Camegah (entry area), with a padlock on the door: you change, lock the door and take the key with you. The next room was the Sogukluk (cool room), which I went straight through to the main room, the Gobek Tasi, which has a large heated marble platform in the middle, and little satellite rooms off of each corner and side. Each room has a domed roof, pierced with little light wells to let in the sun, though that rather dim light was supplanted with lots of electrics as well.

After a wash in one of the side rooms, I soaked up the heat in the sauna for 10 minutes or so, then went back to one of the other rooms and dumped more hot water over me. After about 10 more minutes, a masseur called me back out into the main room. He gave me about 15 minutes of personal attention, starting with a scrapy scrub with a rough soapy cloth, then a fabulous massage, with lots of hot soapy water, and then a sort of bubble bath, followed by a rinse. It was wonderful.

After making sure I'd got the point that he expected a tip, the masseur left me and I wandered back into the cold room, where I went into the cold pool, which felt great after all the heat. A quick shower, and I was almost done: back in my change room another guy showed up with a pile of towels and wrapped me up thoroughly.

So that's why I'm feeling a bit wobbly... Still, not much left to do today. The son & lumiere starts at the Blue Mosque in an hour, and then I think I might just go to bed!
posted by Tom at 12:30 PM | link |