Thursday, 29 May 2025

Traditional Turkish Hamam and the Grand Bazaar

 We are both still adjusting to the time change, and while we collapsed at the end of our first day in Istanbul, we both awoke at 4.30 am but at least we got a good chunk of sleep in the earlier parts of the night.  

We deliberately did not make arrangements for the day, in order to see how we felt.  After sitting in bed for a few hours, with a video call home and a few cups of tea, we decided to have breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel and then wander up to a hamam - the traditional name for a Turkish bath house.    After a bit of research we decided to not book online but to front up to see what sort of price we could organise, and as it would happen, it was much better to be in person than via WhatsApp or online.    We found Acemoglu Hamam which was a 20 minute walk from our hotel.  The original bathhouse was built in the 1500s and today is attached to a hotel. 

Fi can’t stop patting the cats…and they purr away at her!

While we waited for our time slot at the Hamam, we wandered a little further and came across the Sehzade Mosque and surrounds.  It was such a peaceful place and surrounded by gardens and a park.  There were cats everywhere you turned, and one even came inside the mosque, making a beeline for people to  smooch for a pat!  

Sehzade Mosque


Celebrating 100 years of Democracy!

Our experience started with a swim, steam room and sauna for 30 minutes before being led to the public bath house where we lay on a heated marble slab awaiting our attendants.  Our two lovely lady attendants were from Lombok in Indonesia (Lena and Siri) and they pampered us with a full body wash, then a scrub, a bubble massage and rinse.  This included a hair wash and head massage before being rinsed with spring water…with a final cold water rinse which took our breaths away.  We were then offered water and tea and cooled down slightly in a lounge area before being led to a private massage room.   Lena and Siri then spent 75 minutes massaging our bodies, from tip to toe.  In chatting to them, they both trained in Bali and we recognised the massage style - Fi particularly as she used to fly to Bali regularly!  They were both surprised that we knew where they had come from.  

The central marble slab is heated and the spring water enters into the tubs on the walls.  

The outside of the dome - from inside, when you lay on the marble slab you look up to the dome and light shines through the glass holes.  

We spent some time walking around some of  the main thoroughfares of the Old City - admiring the breadth of commerce available - the shops were a constant hive of activity.  The vistas are something out of the movies….I continually wondered how a few days ago I was on a farm with flooding paddocks and the next thing I am walking streets and seeing relics and some buildings that are 15 centuries old!  


The bathhouse really relaxed us - so much so that we could have easily succumbed to the jet lag and curled up for the afternoon, but decided to keep moving to stay awake, so we wandered to the Grand Bazaar.  I thought I had an idea of what it would look like, but when we arrived I was absolutely stunned to see the size of this place.  They call it the oldest and largest undercover market - it covers 61 streets!  We walked around and around - past jewellery shops with glittering diamonds, rubies, gold, silver and then around the corner there were small curios antiques such as snuff boxes.  On the next corner a scarf/pashmina seller was opposite a desert/tea/spice shop.  Fi purchased a couple of silk scarves - she needed to be coached in the game of haggling!  Once she realised it was a game and the shop keepers were expecting her to banter, then she did a great deal on her scarves (after a few practice runs in different shops).  Mr Prada man (who sold Fi the scarves) then introduced us to the sweet/tea/spice shop man, who then introduced us to the carpet man.  We had fun looking at them all and attempting to understand the contexts of such commerce!  

The arch roof of the streets and alleys.
Gateway to the Grand Bazaar

Rows of teas

It was an excellent day - our eyes were opened to the hustle and bustle through the lens of the relaxing aura post bath house!  


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