Turkish Baths and Saunas - Wellness in Turkey
Turkish Baths and Sauna
The Middle Eastern equivalent of a sauna, the Turkish bath or Hamam as it is also known, combines ancient Greek and Roman bathing practices to create a method of cleansing 
where occupants are treated to varying temperatures to make them sweat as opposed to steam.
Unlike traditional saunas, massage and tea drinking is also a big part of the Turkish bath experience. Due to the ancient traditions surrounding the Turkish bath, there is a lot of ceremony that goes with visiting one. Firstly, upon changing you put on a pestemal and terlik, where are a form of 'modesty' towel and a pair of slippers. These may not be found at ALL Turkish baths, but are often provided at traditional ones, as are towels and soap. Some may ask you provide your own.
Once you are changed, you are normally faced with a couple of options – to bath solo or to be scrubbed down beforehand by an attendant. They usually use a coarse mitt so as to remove any dead skin on your body. After that, you enjoy a steam bath which is heated via a hot stone table. After a few minutes in there, you go to a cooler room where you shower.
Unlike saunas where the idea is to sweat as much as possible, Turkish baths employ water to clean and treat your skin. Once you cool, you then go back into a 'hot room' and then cool down again after. This can be done numerous times and as such, a trip to a Turkish Bath can often take a couple of hours.
