A Real-Life Experience with a Turkish Hammam (A Turkish Bath)

The Sole Picture for this Post! Keep Reading for a Good Laugh and to See Why!

We left the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Istanbul and stepped back in time as we entered the historic Cemberlitas Hammam.

We were divided immediately—men from women—and handed a small box and an even smaller plastic bag with something—TBD—inside it. Through hand motions we were ushered upstairs to the women’s section of the Hammam where we were told—again through hand motions and some words that we understood—to take off all our clothes, put them in the lockers and take the key. BTW, the small, shared room where the three of us were undressing had a glass wall—partially frosted and partially clear—into the main room.

We stripped, put on the black bikini bottom —the contents of our plastic bag—and wrapped the large piece of pretty red cloth around us. Okay, this wasn’t as bad as I thought! The slippers they provided us were sized for someone with much larger feet than mine, but there was a handrail for safety as I descended the stairs.

My natir took me into the heated domed room where there were already two other women, and I had a new realization—this piece of material wasn’t to cover me—it was to lay out on the huge, heated marble slab underneath me! I dutifully lay down—naked except for my tiny black bikini bottom—on my red cloth as instructed and proceeded to examine the historic holed roof of the domed ceiling while glistening. (Honestly, I was sweating, but glistening sounds so much more elegant.) I am not good at being still, but I couldn’t look around too much since there were many other naked women lying on the same round marble slab and I didn’t want to stare.

Finally, after I had glistened sufficiently, I observed a woman going over to a nearby basin. Wait! This woman had on a top as well as a bottom! How did I miss the top?!?! I watched her surreptitiously to learn, hopefully, what I was to do next. She dipped a bowl into one of the basins on the wall and then poured the water on the floor. Okay, I thought, I can do this.

And then she picked up a mop and cleaned the floor. Since I didn’t think guests were expected to clean, I decided she must work here, and I quickly discovered I was correct.

She, my natir, came over and asked for my box, the contents of which were still unknown. Turns out, it was my loofa and bubbles. She proceeded to scrub me with the loofa,  front and back, until I was probably cleaner than I have been in my entire life. A rinse, via bowls filled from the basin and then poured over me, soon followed.  About the time I thought the experience is over, she squeezed tickling bubbles from a bag—I’m still not certain how this worked—all over me and continued to soap me up, again back and front and everything in between. She also gave me a great foot and neck massage which I needed due to the stress surrounding what is supposed to be such a relaxing experience. Once every detail of my body was soaped, she led me to the basin where she had me sit down and proceeded to pour water over me until I was thoroughly clean, even my hair which she washed with a sweet-smelling soap. Because there were three of us and we weren’t all through, my natir led me back to the marble slab and had me lie down. Even after we were all finished, our group remained lying down—waiting for someone to come get us or tell us we could leave.

Finally, one of the braver souls in our group led the escape and we returned to the waiting room. (We realized later that they were just waiting for us to come out, while we were waiting on them to come get us!) We took quick showers, dried off with the provided towels, returned to our dressing rooms, quickly donned our clothes, tipped our natir, and reentered the present-day sunshine of Istanbul, Turkey.

(A note: There are also Hammams in hotels that can be booked for individuals. You don’t have to share the experience.)

To read more about our trip to Istanbul, click here.

To follow us on more adventures, please click here and enter your email address.

One More PIcture...but It's Taksim Square...not the Hammam!