Sunday, July 25, 2010

Hammoms (Bath houses)

First, I haven't written in two months because China and Kyrgyzstan both block access to blogspot.com (as did Myanmar, but one cafe there had a way around it). I'm currently in Uzbekistan and they block access to bbc.com, as well as a host of other international new sights. Second, to all those people bitching about having their rights taken away at the G20 in Toronto, maybe you should be thankful for having rights everyday of your life, rather than lamenting the one day they may have been infringed upon. You sound like spoilt, ungrateful Canadians to me.

Now, on to the topic at hand: bath houses. In Korea, bath houses are everywhere and a family/social event (divded by gender). While in Korea, I would try to go at least once a week to soak in the hot tubs, then jump into the cool tub and back and forth, sending my body's nerves into shock several times a visit. There are also steam rooms, traditional sauna rooms and heat lamps (not tanning lamps, strictly heat). Sometimes after a night of sparkling water and philisophical debate in Daegu, I would stumble into the bath house around 6 or 7am and soak for a bit (hot and cold pools) before gently falling asleep under the heat lamps. When I would wake up a few hours later, I would be flanked on both sides by naked Korean men (no clothes allowed in bath houses) relaxing under the lamps. This is when I knew it was time to go home.

Anyways, I went to a bath house (called Banya in Russian) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and it was unlike anything I'd seen before. Some of the men wore funny-looking cone-shaped wool hats (and nothing else, of course), others were beating themselves with birch tree branches, complete with leaves (a way to clear the pores apparently), and others still were donning both. Quite the sight to see, but relaxing and enoyable.

Most recently in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, I went to the most incredible Hammom (Uzbek for Bath house) I've ever experienced. Before entering, as I was negotiating the price, the guy told me the place was 6 centuries old. I figured "yeah, right", something he probably says to tourists to jack up the price. However, when we finally agreed on the price ($0.50 more than I wanted to pay, but $4.50 less than the posted price), and I entered, I instantly believed him. The place was something out of a foreign language movie - lighting so poor and steam so thick that one couldn't see across the room. The place was made of old, sand coloured brick, with domed roofs, dark nooks and corners everywhere - the type of place the KGB would've killed someone during the Soviet occupation. The massage was great, albeit a little rough at times (when the guy was standing on my back and pulling up my legs and arms at the same time I must've looked like an acrobat or contortionist). At the end I was given a honey/ginger scrub that felt like fire when I went into the steam room to let the concoction go to work, but it felt great when the cold water was poured over me again.

The only thing that makes me sad is that I will not be able to experience these when I return to Canada. They are such a great place to relax and unwind, yet in Canada I have the feeling they may be considered "gay" - all those naked men being rubbed down by one anotehr doesn't sit too well with the Canadian pysche. I think this is unfortunate, as I can't think of a better way to spend a few hours in the morning or evening on a day off.

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