Why come to Istanbul to practice yoga, you might ask? Well there are several reasons, which do not immediately spring to mind as your plane hits the tarmac in Istanbul.



The airport seems desolate in contrast to the actual old city of Istanbul, which is vibrant and colorful. Istanbul is an ancient city where the traditional lifestyle happily coexists with the modern. This is a city with history so old and glamorous that it still can be felt as you walk through the cobblestone streets of the old city. The mosques and the palaces, such as the Topkapi Palace are monumental icons of the bygone eras, their architecture so intricate and beautiful, easily rivaling anything even nature could wish to produce. It is worth visiting the crown jewels at the palace, but beware as even the heart of the most devout nun could be turned to envy. If you have never seen an 86 carat diamond, this is where you will see one. There are so many beautiful places to see that I it could take you the best part of a year to visit them.



Apart from the historical scene there is a massive cultural side to Istanbul. The museums and art galleries show the best the world has to offer. The top of the music scene also frequent this place and there is guaranteed to be a world class act on when you visit. There are two magazines that will tell you what is on; one is called Where Magazine and should be available at your hotel and the other is Time Out Istanbul . It is worth saving your pennies as the shopping is fantastic; be it antique Ottoman treasures or designer clothing, but don't expect to find much yoga gear.



These are certainly some reasons why one might want to come to Istanbul but there is one reason above all why I come to practice yoga in Istanbul...the Hammam (Turkish bath) !



After arriving at my hotel I went straight to one of the hammams the concierge recommended. Cagaloglu Hammam is included in "The 1000 Places You Must See Before You Die " and is over 300 years old. Many famous personalities have used the facilities including Florence Nightingale and even Steve Erving. When you arrive at Cagaloglu Hammam you are given a towel called a pestemal that just covers you from breast to bottom. You are asked to take off all your clothes, which you stash in a locked booth. Then you enter the hammam, which is a domed structure with light streaming through the holes in the ceiling. The floor and center platform are marble and heated. The room is steamy and quite warm.



You then lie down on the central marble platform, where, just like a dumpling, you steam away for about 15-20 minutes. It gets quite warm and when you can't bear it any longer you douse yourself with cold water from one of the many ornate water faucets suspended over marble sinks. Then your scrubbing lady will come and begin to scrub you with a kese (rough silk mitten). These 'scrubbers' have scrubbed many a women and would put a machine sander to shame. I was peeled like an onion with at least three layers of skin rubbed off. Naturally it is old skin, but one wonders what would happen if you went a few too many days in a row.



Then when she has slapped you on the bottom, you turn over for her to do the other side. Once the backside has also been exfoliated you are taken by the hand and guided to the sink, where she will rinse you with warm water. Again you lie down on the marble platform and then you are doused in generous amounts of fragrant oil. It's not unlike being basted and then being tenderized, as she kneads you like a loaf of bread. Again a slap on the bottom and you turn over. Then off to the sink again for another dousing and back to the platform. Now you are scrubbed again with lashings of light bubbly soap and a loosely woven rag. There isn't a nook or a cranny that doesn't get cleaned. It feels a bit like, what I imagine, bathing in champagne would feel like, while eating chocolate (I don't know where the chocolate comes in, but it's what went through my mind).

By this time the heat, the oil and the massaging begins to take affect on you. Your body becomes very limp, at the complete mercy of this very matter of fact woman, who somehow begins to remind me of my grandmother and the way she used to bathe me when I was a small child. Your mind has also gone limp, as you are now no more than a child in a way. You don't have to worry about cleaning behind your ears, in between your toes or even your bottom. You don't even have to make any decision, such as when to lift an arm or when to turn over. Then the final trip to the sink for a rinse and a shampoo, which again includes some massaging. Then the hammam lady manages to get you off your 'derriere' and leads you like some lobotomized loony out of the hammam to a towel rack, where she tenderly dries you.  You somehow mumble thank you and are left alone to work out how to get dressed.

Surely this thorough body treatment will have prepared me for my first day's practice tomorrow at Yogasala , after two weeks off. So after I have rebuttoned my shirt several times and managed to tie my shoes, I float down the cobblestone street towards the tram station. The easiest, cheapest and most efficient way to get around is by tram or metro. The tram basically goes from one end of town to the other, stopping at all the important sites and it only costs 1.5 TRL.