Trip extended...

After a brief, very early morning stopover in Samos, where we changed boats, we arrived in the Turkish port of Kusadasi. We were greeted by guys from Atilla's Getaway, the hostel we were staying at at in Selcuk, and driven there. The hostel was really cool and laid back, lots of friendly staff and backpackers. Due to the ferry mix up and subsequent lost day, we weren't going to be able to do all the things we wanted to do in Turkey. After speaking with Osman (Atilla's gun travel agent) we decied to stay in Turkey for an extra week. We swear we heard our credit cards groan... After booking some more accomodation and activities, we headed off the to the Hamam.

The hamam is a Turkish steam abth, an idea taken from the Romans and Byzantines. Wrapped in a lightweight towel, we entered the steam room and sat or lay down on a communal raised marbel platform, kind of like a round stage. An outside fire of olive branches heated the water which ran through a channel under the marble, filling the room with steam. After sweating for half an hour, an attendant came and scrubbed us one at a time with a coarse glove, and we could see the layers of skin peeling off as he scrubbed. Much to the girls disgust, their lovely tans they'd worked so hard on also peeled off! The scrub-down was followed by a soap massage, where a different attendant soaped and massaged us and cracked our feet, chest and neck. Afterwards we steamed ourselves for a little while longer, before showering and going outside to enjoy a cup of Turkish apple tea. We left, feeling very relaxed and rejuvinated, and we even smelt clean!

...very relaxed and rejuvinated, and we even smelt clean!

We headed back to dinner at the hostel, which was awesome. We stayed at the bar for a while, swapping tales with other travellers and meeting people, before going to bed.