If you happen to’re happening vacation to Turkey you then can not miss the chance to go to a standard Turkish bathtub. Most motels will provide this expertise and there are sometimes hammam spas inside your lodge complicated.
If you happen to’ve obtained a spare afternoon whilst you’re on vacation, belief me once I say you can’t miss the Turkish baths!
Holidays to Turkey are getting an increasing number of fashionable for us Brits. The truth is, I’m going for the second time on the finish of February and I can’t wait! My first journey was to Phokaia Seaside Resort and it was dreamy! It’s such an attractive nation, the climate is ideal, the seashores are gorgeous and it’s a really inexpensive vacation spot. Turkish Airline reserving is nice and also you get far more to your cash at a Turkish lodge in comparison with Spain or Greece. So in the event you’re on the fence about reserving a vacation to Turkey, simply go for it! And be sure to go to a hammam whilst you’re there!
What’s a Turkish Bathtub?
Hammam spas and Turkish baths are conventional bathing experiences which were an integral a part of Turkish and Center Japanese cultures for hundreds of years. Right here’s every little thing you need to learn about them:
Historical past of Turkish baths
Turkish baths have an extended historical past courting again to historical occasions, influenced by Roman bathing traditions and later developed beneath Ottoman rule. Hammams particularly check with the Turkish variant of the general public bathhouses.
Conventional Turkish bathhouses are architecturally gorgeous with domed ceilings, marble partitions, and complicated tilework. Critically, they put our public swimming swimming pools to disgrace and are nothing like the general public swimming baths within the UK! They usually include a number of chambers together with a sizzling room (caldarium), a heat room (tepidarium), and a cool room (frigidarium).
Traditionally, Turkish baths weren’t solely locations for private hygiene but in addition served as social hubs the place individuals gathered to chill out, socialise, and conduct enterprise.
What occurs in a Turkish bathtub?
Visiting a hammam or Turkish bathtub entails a cleaning ritual that features steaming, scrubbing, and therapeutic massage. The method normally begins with leisure within the heat room to permit the physique to acclimate to the warmth.
You’ll normally be sporting swimwear and also you’ll lie down and chill out on this beautiful heat room. While you’re heat, relaxed (and sometimes a bit sleepy!) the expertise will start.
You’ll then be proven right into a steam room which is way hotter, humid and steamy. This helps to open up the pores, cleanse the pores and skin, and promote leisure. You’ll sit or lie within the steam room for a couple of minutes earlier than we get to the great half…
After your enjoyable steam, you’ll be handled to a vigorous exfoliating scrub utilizing a tough mitt or glove known as a “kese” to take away lifeless pores and skin cells and impurities. This half is nearly embarrassing as a result of the quantity of lifeless pores and skin that comes off is unbelievable. The primary time I had this I’m stunned I had any pores and skin left! Don’t fear, it doesn’t damage or something however you may be stunned by the quantity of lifeless pores and skin you’ve obtained caught to you.
After you’ve been exfoliated, you’ll typically have a beautiful therapeutic massage with conventional olive oil cleaning soap to additional cleanse and moisturise the pores and skin. This therapeutic massage is usually carried out on a heated marble slab generally known as a “gobek tasi.” That is so beautiful and I imagine extra of us ought to have heated marble slabs in our properties!! (Jokes, however probably not!)
What are the well being advantages of Turkish baths?
Other than private hygiene, hammams and Turkish baths have so many well being advantages, together with improved circulation, cleansing, stress reduction, and reduction from muscle rigidity and joint ache.
Not solely have they got bodily advantages however the psychological advantages from the relieved stress and social interplay are simply as necessary.
Turkish baths within the twenty first century
Whereas conventional hammams nonetheless exist, many have been up to date and provide fashionable choices too. These could embody steam rooms, sizzling tubs, and therapeutic massage therapies impressed by conventional practices.
What do you put on in a Turkish hammam?
If you happen to aren’t positive what to put on in a Turkish hammam, it’s best simply to ask.
Whereas strolling round you’re anticipated to be lined with a towel or dressing robe which they’ll offer you once you enter.
Most guests put on swimwear. It’s swim shorts or trunks for women and men, I’d advocate sporting a bikini as a result of they’ll typically take away your prime for the therapeutic massage and scrub. If you happen to’re sporting a swimsuit they may ask you to roll it right down to your waist, which is ok however it’s simpler to simply take away a bikini prime.
If you happen to’ve obtained lengthy hair then I’d advocate tying it up or it should get in the best way, in addition to getting oily throughout your therapeutic massage.
General, visiting a hammam or Turkish bathtub affords not solely an opulent spa expertise but in addition a glimpse into the wealthy cultural heritage of the area.