Day 4 (Continued) - Blogabond

The route from Istanbul to Bursa was a circuitous one; the bus first drove up the Bosphorus to the Sea of Marmara, then onto a ferry for the trip across to Yalova, and finally right into Bursa. Although we could have shortened the trip a bit by taking a quick hydrofoil ride across the Bosphorus to Yalova and then catching a local bus from there, but the fact is that riding the excursion buses in Turkey is definitely the way to travel. There are hundreds of different bus companies and they all run fairly nice, new, air-conditioned models at prices that were jaw-dropping; a five hour bus from Kutayha to Ankara cost us about $3.50 each, breakfast included! And then there are the little things, like the lemon-y water that gets poured on your hands several times so you can "freshen up" and the free bottled water, sodas and snacks which are served during the trip. Apparently, this makes up for the truly horrendous train service, which Mark and I didn't even dare attempt.

Arriving in Bursa late in the afternoon, we found a nice little hotel right in the center of things. After dropping off our bags, we immediately high-tailed it to the famous thermal baths in the suburb of Cekirge; the mineral water in Bursa is rumored to have healing powers and people allegedly make pilgrimages to Bursa as they do to Bathe in England. To make sure that we got the full benefit of the springs, we decided to go to the oldest Turkish baths, known as hamams, around -- well, at least Mark did. The hamam for men was built in 1555 for Suleyman the Magnificent (a name that crops up all the time in Turkey, almost as often as Ataturk's) and, according to Mark, was beautifully marbled. The hamam for women was just down the street; it was not built in 1555, nor did it contain much marble. Still, the experience was wonderful.

Hamams (at least the ones I've visited in Morocco and Turkey) have at least three rooms. Generally, the room at the farthest end is the sauna, where hot, hot water bubbles up from the center of the room. Small holes in the domed roof let some of the heat out, but on the whole these rooms are almost unbearable if you're not used to it. Some hamams also have pools in the hot room for dunking and relaxing, which this one in Bursa did. The room which adjoins the hot room has lukewarm water and pools, and here is where the serious bathing goes on. Although some people wash themselves, most people have friends or family wash them. A third alternative is to pay a professional to do it, which is what I did in Bursa. The process begins with a real scruffing off of all the dirt and dead skin cells that have accumulated since the last bath . . . and I mean scruffing, like until your skin is almost raw. Then the soap is lathered on and a serious deep tissue massaging takes place. Finally, your hair is washed, rinsed and combed. The last room is the cool room, which is used mostly for relaxing, sipping tea, and talking.

In Mark's case, he used the last room for falling asleep. Although I was done in a little over an hour and a half, I found myself sitting outside the men's hamam for another hour before a policeman hanging out across the street offered to go inside and find Mark for me. The policeman came out a few seconds later and made the international "sleep" sign (head tilted on hands pressed together), and shortly after that a rather groggy Mark emerged. By this time it was rather late and we were relaxed, so we simply headed back to the hotel for the night.

written by

shoshtrvls on June 5, 1996 from Bursa, Turkey

from the travel blog: Turkey and Greece (1996)

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