Armed with my kese and pestemal , I ventured into the world of Turkish baths. At 5:00 I bid farewell to Brian and told him I would meet him back at the hotel at 7:00 (tour book said to plan for 1.5 to 2 hours).
Once I was wrapped in my pestemal (a large piece of cotton fabric), I was given a pair of wooden sandals and directed into a big marble room. The room was warm, humid and full of naked women lying on a center slab of marble in the middle of the room. I was first guided to the side of the room where I was told to take off my pestemal, sit on the marble ledge and this attendant picked up a silver basin and proceeded to dump water over my head and body. She then passed the bowl to me and told me to wash. OK – I continued the process. 
I sat there for about 15 minutes until an attendant in a black wrestling leotard and weighing about 200 lbs arrived. With no pause for an introduction, she immediately took my arm and leaded me to the marble in the middle of the room, stripped me of my pestemal and told me to lie down. Relief, the marble is at least warm. She took my kese and began to scrub me down from head to toe – front and back. No part of my body is neglected. She even does my face!! Relaxing? Not yet! It feels like I have been scrubbed with a brillo pad. This was followed by a 7 minute scrub down (oops...I mean massage); a rinse; a soapy bubbly massage done with some sort of a wooly rag; another rinse; a head shampoo and massage and the final rinse. I was immediately directed back to the change area and I marched out the door at 6:00 p.m.
Relaxing –I can’t say it was. It felt rushed but I am cleaner than I’ve ever been and my skin feels as soft as a baby’s bottom. I am happy for the experience. Maybe next time it will be more relaxing.
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