Modern Arts and Turkish Bath

Since I don't have a picture of the baths, here is one in
front of the Modern Arts Museum

Before leaving Istanbul, it seems like it is absolutely forbidden to miss the Modern Arts Museum.

Located on the shore of the Golden Horn, the museum offers a huge and interesting collection. Even though I'm not too attracted to modern arts, I got swayed. The masterpieces are really fascinating and impressive.

So as a traveler who doesn't really enjoy museums, I can say I recommend it.

The most interesting experience, though, was the Turkish bath, also called hamam. We chose the Çemberlitas Hamami, located in a building dating from 1584, from all of those suggested in the guidebooks.

At the desk, we needed to choose the type of treatment we wanted. Since our flights were leaving in the afternoon, we went for the fifteen minutes session. It would have been possible to add a massage for additional fees.

We were given a little box and a token, which we used to get in the baths. But first, we needed to go on the second floor to change. Changing being a big word. The task here was about taking all our clothes off and to cover ourselves with a towel. We then put sandals on and locked the door behind us.

In the hamam itself, we were shown we needed to lay down on a big circle rock. A very hot rock used to make us sweat. The heat was perfectly intense. But be careful : they don't like that you keep your sandals on when you lay down. Good to know.

A masseur, looking like the stereotype of the Turkish masseur, eventually appears. Mine literally grabbed me by the feet to get me where I needed to be. I must admit it's pretty funny when you see that happening to others.

He then put the massage glove on, the one that was in the box we got when we paid, and he starts scrubbing us. He throws hot water at us, still does a small massage and brings us in another room for a shampoo session.

The masseurs, all wearing a number, then wait next to the exit, hoping for some tip. "Remember my number", they tell us when we leave. The man handling the towels also hopes for some tip...

The experience is totally worth it, whatever preconceived ideas we might have about hamams. I can tell I was weak in the knees when I got on the metro to go to the airport. And I was sad to leave Turkey after that short week in that country.