Day 1

We took our first vacation within Turkey a couple weekends ago. It was absolutely lovely! The weather was perfect, and the place was beyond my expectations. Plus, the tourist season isn’t in full swing yet, so it was really peaceful and at times, it seemed like we had the place to ourselves.

On Friday morning, we boarded a city bus (yes, with our suitcase and backpack during rush hour!) that took us to the freeway where we were supposed to board another bus to get to our destination. Unfortunately, bus 251 was probably already full of passengers, so decided to blow right by our stop as we were waiting. Our back-up bus didn’t drop us off very close to the hızlı feribot (fast ferry), so we had to walk another kilometer before reaching the dock. Yes, we could have taken a taxi from our home to the dock, but we would much rather spend our 50 lira on something else.

I was mesmerized by the hızlı feribot. People were waiting in their cars ready to drive on. This is a few people’s regular commute, but for most, it was just a weekend away from Istanbul.

After 45 minutes of gliding across the Marmara Sea, we arrived and took a minibus to a small town 15 km away. Our destination was Termal, famous for their hot springs which provide 4 gallons of hot water / second to the surrounding facilities, including an outdoor swimming pool and four separate Turkish bath complexes. The first baths were built by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine (remember, Istanbul used to be Constantinople) about 1700 years ago!!

After checking into our hotel, we visited the city center to see if we could find a good deal on lodging for our second night. And that’s exactly what we found - a room for only 40 lira ($25 for those of you who are curious). Hey, we’re used to sleeping in the back country; we don’t really need luxury.

The rest of our night was spent in the 22-meter swimming pool that was 37 degrees Celsius, which is close to body temperature. It’s amazing how few laps one can swim when it feels like a hot tub. I had to occasionally get out just to rehydrate. But, I suppose this pool water was to prepare us for what was to come. We entered one of the many hamams (Turkish baths), and were amazed how hot the air was. Our first stop was the hot tub, which we entered very slowly. After getting used to that, we stepped into the steam room. This was probably the hottest place I’ve ever been! (And I’ve been inside the Grand Canyon in August!) I could only stay for 5 seconds, due to the extreme heat and my intense claustrophobia. (I don’t usually get claustrophic, but then, I’m usually not in a place that steamy.)

And then for the healthiest part of the evening, we went from the steam room into an ice-cold pool! (Bruce, this is as close as I’ll get to your suggestion to go from a sauna to an ice-cold lake.) It is supposed to be really healthy. It definitely got my blood pumping! In a really strange way, it felt good. Scott immediately got right back into the hot tub, but I just sat on the side until my body came out of the shock it was in.

Oh, and another point of interest for the evening. Normally, men and women are separated in hamams, but this one allowed men and women together. Not that it was really apparent. There were probably 25 Turkish men and only three women. (Remember, I mentioned few tourists are here now.) I was glad I had chosen the conservative short/tank top swim suit. People here have never seen skin as white as mine!

What a great first day of vacation!