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İstanbul, Turkey
41° 1' N 28° 57' E
May 15, 2006 19:53
Distance 354km

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Other entries in Istanbul

Back In The Big Donair

Text written in: English

Well, another grueling bus journey and I am back in the big city.  Tomorrow I am gonna go to the Bazaars again and try to get a Turkish bath (i.e. beaten and rubbed by big Turkish men).  I will probably then stay up and head to the airport around 2am as my flight leaves at 5am, Wednesday the 17th.

Ok, so I got up and went to the grand bazaar.  I wasn't that keen on the whole bartering thing, but once I got into it, it was actually fun.  I think I did pretty well for the most part.  Walking away REALLY helps.  I love the Turks actually, they all seem to have a good sense of humour.  They also all seem to be really horny.  The men, anyway.  Seems every guy I talk to is talking about the ladies, right off the bat.

Then I went and had a Turkish bath/massage.  It was like nothing I've ever experienced, to say the least.  The bath I went to has been around for 800 years, by the way.  Pretty cool.  They gave me a tea-towel like thing to wrap around my otherwise naked self, and directed me to this big domed room, where there is a giant circular slab of marble in the middle.  I saw a few other tourists getting pounded and screaming out in pain, or laughing.  So I was to lay there on this big stone thing for 15 mins, just looking up at the ceiling way above.  It had little circular windows in it, pretty.  It was very steamy, probably because the big slab is heated from underneath.  Then this man (also dressed only in a tea towel) comes over and directs me to the edge of the slab.  He starts with a rough mitt, scrubbing me down with soap to exfoliate (it certainly did).  Front, back, arms, you name it.  Ok not quite.  Then he pours several buckets of hot water over my head.  All of this happens with basically no words exchanged.  Then I have to lie down on the stone again and he really gets into it.  This is where the pain happens.  They call it massage but its really torture.  There is no mercy for the knots or how much pain they cause you.  And I think he pushed my stomach back a few inches.  I think he gave me a charley horse.  Wow.  Actually I felt fine afterwards, great even.  Anyhow, it ended with a hair wash and a few more buckets of water dumped/thrown on me, and then he made sure I knew he expected a tip.  Left him 5 million Turkish Lyra at the door.  Definitely a fun experience.

I'm gonna grab something to eat and then have a nap and fart around for a while, and then I'll be off to the airport.  Looking forward to seeing all you Vancouverites soon.  This is probably the end of my blog.