The Pleasure Center: The Turkish Bath, part two

Back in 2010, I actually got to experience a Turkish Bath. Here is a retelling of that visit in a letter I wrote to a friend.

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Power Girl! I have come to the conclusion that the hamam is the cure for all the world's ills.

First, some nice lady pours hot water all over you as you sit on a heated marble floor. Then you lay on the hot marble in wet, fabulous bliss.

You can turn over as you need as the warmth soaks into your aching, travel-weary body.  She comes back in with soap and a exfoliating mitt and scrubs you all over, front and back, so that your skin is incredibly smooth and clean.

This is not fast, either. It's thorough and complete relaxation.

You get rinsed by more hot, clean water splashed over you.

This feels like heaven.

Then you realize that heaven is even cooler than you thought, because you get a massage with the soap suds. The soap and water is so thick and bubbly that your massage is slick and relaxes every damn part of yourself.

Finally, she washes your hair.

At the end, you ooze your boneless way back to your little room and try to remember how to put on clothes.

The Pleasure Center: The Turkish Bath

 Cagaloglu Hamam in Istanbul

As an erotic writer, I have to stay in touch with my body. As a functioning human being, so do you.

Which leads me to a new, occasional series here at my blog - The Pleasure Center. We will explore ways to listen to our bodies and expand our pleasure repertoires.Why? Because when we are relaxed and comfortable, we have the stamina to make the world a better place.

One of the most pleasurable of my experiences has been the hamam aka the Turkish bath. All these pictures are from the Cagaloglu Hamam in Istanbul.

Now, very few of us can afford to have a huge, heated marble slab in our bathrooms, complete with misty steam and beautiful sky-lights.

Behold, the soap massage!

Now that I've teased you with all the beauty within, the next installment of The Pleasure Center will be what actually happens at a Turkish Bath.