Jaunted

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What a Foamy Scrub and a Rub Inside a Turkish Hammam is Really Like

Last week Shira Levine spent a few days getting her Turkish Delight on in Istanbul, Turkiye ("Turkey is a bird; Turkiye is the country"). Any questions about what to do in Turkiye? Send 'em to us and we'll have Shira answer them for you.

Going for a hammam experience is something not to pass up when in Turkiye. While a Turkish bathhouse is not for the body conscious, we recommend the body conscious suck it up and go for it. And, to go for the real deal.

While most hotels offer a hammam treatment, they typically are glossy spa treatments and private. In an authentic Turkish hammam, guests essentially lounge together buck-naked on a hot plate in a steam room. Together everyone waits their turn with mostly non-English speaking scrubbers who then randomly beckon for patrons to come to them for their individualized soapy body scrub. Remember: people have been bathing like this for over 500 years. Oh, and men and women are separate of course.

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