A Turkish Bath is a Turkish Delight

Yesterday's rain turned us into lazy lumps for most of the day. We were stuck at the Internet cafe during the afternoon rain storm. Once the rain let up somewhat, we went to Sultan Carpets ... and I bought a rug for my living room. I fell in love with this carpet when we first came to Goreme, however at the time, I did not want to spend that much money so early into our trip. I have looked at some other rugs from different places, but none of them appealed to me as much as this one. It will look fabulous in my place!

After my crazy carpet purchase, we returned to our room for a nice long nap, then we went to meet one of the locals to try the nargile (Turkish water pipe), which is a way of smoking Turkish tobacco. The nargile has a metal pipe on the top and a glass bottle on the bottom, which is half-filled with water and a long flexible hose is attached to the pipe. The top of the pipe has a small metal try which holds the tobacco and coals. Each person receives their own sipsi (a mouthpiece) and it is placed at the top of the hose. As you suck through the mouthpiece, it draws tobacco smoke down through the pipe, through the water (makes a bubbling noise) and into the mouth, then you exhale. You will notice the apple flavour. There are numerous flavours, such as cherry, kiwi, blackberry, but the most popular flavour is the apple. The nargile is a social function, which is mostly done by Turkish men and last night, Nina and I were the only women in the place trying it.


After a while, we went to the Flintstone's bar and danced the night away. These Turkish men really know how to dance. There was one man who was an exceptional dancer and Nina and I watched him dance most of the night.

This afternoon we went to Elis Kapadokya Hamam (Turkish bath) and it was an amazing experience. We were taken to a change room to lock our items and were given a pestemal (towel) and sandals to wear. We were directed upstairs to a room where a woman painted mud on our faces then were told to sit in the sauna for 15 minutes. I roasted in the sauna and had to leave it earlier than expected. We were led to another room and Nina and I laid on this round hot stone to await our turn to be washed. Once it was our turn, we take the pestemal off and lay it on the stone, then we lay face down on it. The lady pours warm water over your body and places a kese (loofah mitt) on her hand and starts massaging your body and at the same time is exfoliating you. I loved having my back exfoliated. Once she's done with your back, she pours more water over you and tells you to turn around so she does the front part of your body. After this step, the lady covers your body with bubbles and starts to massage your body and rub the soap in. I think the last time I was scrubbed this thoroughly was when I was a little kid or a baby. It's truly one long massage. After the lady pours more water over your body to rinse the bubbles off, she tells us to have a shower to rinse the mask off. After this step, we're directed to the jacuzzi to sit in it for as long as you want. After the jacuzzi, I had a shower to wash my hair and went back downstairs to have a 10 minute oil massage. I think I should have gone for a 20 minute massage. Not including the massage, the Turkish bath cost 35 YTL and it was an extra 10 YTL for the 10 minute oil massage. It was so wonderful and relaxing and am happy to have experienced it.

Nina's Travel Tip:

• Pay extra and get the oil massage (Nina's favourite part)