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Subscribe to CommentsHamam Yum
17 Oct 2008 12:06 Filed in:
Turkey 2008
Turkey 2008
I am
in the capital of Turkey, Ankara and the republic
of Turkey owes its existence to the founder and
first president, the revolutionary statesman,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. For this reason he is very
well loved and revered by the Turkish people.
This is why his image is everywhere like for
instance on the currency.
And
it also goes some way in explaining why the Kebab
store owner made great effort to display this
effigy, of the said president, which was printed
on a floor matt and attached to a coat stand when
we walked in to satiate our appetites.
It doesn’t explain why he insisted we eat upstairs in his newly created loft. I think it was designed for the height challenged as some of us were left short in head space.
We decided that Atatürk had a striking resemblance to Grandpa Munster so that made him ok with us but you be the judge.
We were here to help open a new shopping mall called Forum Ankara.
The shopping experience in Turkey is a little different. Some things get lost in translation. Anyone for some Dagi clothes?
Maybe you would like to scoff down a Gold Browni? She looks happy.
Then of course there is the traditional shop. Anyone for a pretzel off this guys head? He was very casual as he strolled past our hotel. Obviously been doing this for some time.
We worked fairly intensely during our time but managed to see some sites along the way. We visited a big mosque and it was just beautiful.
Check out that amazing chandelier hanging from the centre of the dome.
I got to a Bazar and there was all manner of things from clothes to stoves to Tulumba (a sort of Balkan donut drenched in sugar syrup...yummmmm).
There has been a lot of development in the region as they would like to become part of the EU. One thing I have not seen before is this.
You might just be able to make out a water fall in the hill behind these apartment blocks. This is a fake water feature that starts 10m above where is stops before the water is pumped back to the top. It is a bizarre attempt to replicate a foreign natural element into a landscape. The earth is parched and barren with not much vegetation to be seen and then you have these fake waterfalls popping up between housing estates. It has a certain kitch factor on a major scale.
One piece of architecture that is unique to Turkey are Turkish baths or Hamam’s. On my last night I managed to find one that was built in 1444 and it was an experience.
On entering you were ushered to a room where you disrobed and donned a traditional wrap. Then you go straight to the hottest steam room and take in the heat from the marble floors and walls. It was a moist heat and very relaxing.
Then you are summoned to a communal room and rigourously massaged. I was on my front and some time had passed, and I had finally succumbed to the pain being inflicted by my masseuse, when I heard him yell out something.
I thought it must have been some chant and felt the need to respond with what I thought was the same call in my loudest voice. AaaMMAALLLAAhhHH! Maybe this is part of the ritual of hamam, a thing people do in this country, who am I to question it.
It turned out I was mistaken. I felt a bit the fool when the guy tapped me on the leg and gestured that he was wanting me to turn over so he could torture the remainder of my outer layer of skin.
After being soaped up, pummelled, scraped, stretched, manoeuvred, manipulated and thoroughly cleansed, I was escorted into another room where a different gentleman proceeded to dry me and in the process of pulling my ears, sustained cracks out of both sides of my scull like some chiropractor. This was unsettling but not painful and he seemed quite pleased with himself.
All this was finished off with a comfortable repose on a couch with a glass of freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice.
Can’t say it was one of the most serene experiences I’ve had but I did feel relaxed by the end of it all, or was that relieved?
Well, Turkey sure had some surprises and there was a lot more I didn’t see so looking forward to going back there again someday.
Not sure what is coming up next. Looks like I will be doing some time in Melbourne in November.
Happy travels,
George
It doesn’t explain why he insisted we eat upstairs in his newly created loft. I think it was designed for the height challenged as some of us were left short in head space.
We decided that Atatürk had a striking resemblance to Grandpa Munster so that made him ok with us but you be the judge.
 |
 |
We were here to help open a new shopping mall called Forum Ankara.
The shopping experience in Turkey is a little different. Some things get lost in translation. Anyone for some Dagi clothes?
Maybe you would like to scoff down a Gold Browni? She looks happy.
Then of course there is the traditional shop. Anyone for a pretzel off this guys head? He was very casual as he strolled past our hotel. Obviously been doing this for some time.
We worked fairly intensely during our time but managed to see some sites along the way. We visited a big mosque and it was just beautiful.
Check out that amazing chandelier hanging from the centre of the dome.
I got to a Bazar and there was all manner of things from clothes to stoves to Tulumba (a sort of Balkan donut drenched in sugar syrup...yummmmm).
There has been a lot of development in the region as they would like to become part of the EU. One thing I have not seen before is this.
You might just be able to make out a water fall in the hill behind these apartment blocks. This is a fake water feature that starts 10m above where is stops before the water is pumped back to the top. It is a bizarre attempt to replicate a foreign natural element into a landscape. The earth is parched and barren with not much vegetation to be seen and then you have these fake waterfalls popping up between housing estates. It has a certain kitch factor on a major scale.
One piece of architecture that is unique to Turkey are Turkish baths or Hamam’s. On my last night I managed to find one that was built in 1444 and it was an experience.
On entering you were ushered to a room where you disrobed and donned a traditional wrap. Then you go straight to the hottest steam room and take in the heat from the marble floors and walls. It was a moist heat and very relaxing.
Then you are summoned to a communal room and rigourously massaged. I was on my front and some time had passed, and I had finally succumbed to the pain being inflicted by my masseuse, when I heard him yell out something.
I thought it must have been some chant and felt the need to respond with what I thought was the same call in my loudest voice. AaaMMAALLLAAhhHH! Maybe this is part of the ritual of hamam, a thing people do in this country, who am I to question it.
It turned out I was mistaken. I felt a bit the fool when the guy tapped me on the leg and gestured that he was wanting me to turn over so he could torture the remainder of my outer layer of skin.
After being soaped up, pummelled, scraped, stretched, manoeuvred, manipulated and thoroughly cleansed, I was escorted into another room where a different gentleman proceeded to dry me and in the process of pulling my ears, sustained cracks out of both sides of my scull like some chiropractor. This was unsettling but not painful and he seemed quite pleased with himself.
All this was finished off with a comfortable repose on a couch with a glass of freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice.
Can’t say it was one of the most serene experiences I’ve had but I did feel relaxed by the end of it all, or was that relieved?
Well, Turkey sure had some surprises and there was a lot more I didn’t see so looking forward to going back there again someday.
Not sure what is coming up next. Looks like I will be doing some time in Melbourne in November.
Happy travels,
George