Turkish bath

What I love about my stay in Turkey is that each and every day I experience something new, sometimes even daunting. As I was feeling completely exhausted I decided to try out Turkish bath (hamam). How different it is?

Take a look. Firstly, you should know that in some hamams there are special days for men and women, whereas in the others women enjoy Turkish bath during the day, while men at night.

At the entrance you have to pay 6 TL (2.70 EUR) and leave your shoes. I didn’t like it because I had to wear slippers or sandshoes which didn’t look hygienic at all.

A Turkish bath is the variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam. It is similar to ancient Greek bathing traditions.

Firstly, a person relaxes in a room known as the warm room which is heated by a continuous flow of hot, dry air allowing the bather to perspire freely. Bathers may then move to an even hotter room before splashing themselves with cold water. After performing a full body wash and trying sauna, receiving a scrub and massage, bathers finally retire to the cooling-room for a period of relaxation or just take a cold shower.

There are two most popular ways of taking Turkish bath. Firstly, traditional style for experiencing traditional Turkish bath which contains scrub made of kese (a rough mitt for massage) which will take care of every square inch of your body. Suddenly you realise how much dirt was on your body.

After this you will get 15 minutes massage and will feel relaxed and clean. After this or before an attendant washes you with hot water and you can try sauna which it is extremely hot. At the beginning I couldn‘t put even my foot there but after some time I got used to it and even managed to try this out. Furthermore, after scrub and massage you will get cold shower.

All these procedures cost 12 TL (5.4 EUR). But the prices in all cities are different, so at the beginning ask to be sure how much you have to pay. I tried this in Eskisehir, Hamamyolu street which is known for its numerous hamams. Also, you can try traditional hamams in a hotel if you are lucky to stay in a more luxurious and more clean, but of course more expensive hotel.

Second type of Turkish bath is based on self-service, meaning that you bathe yourself and bring your own soap, shampoo and towel (actually I offer to take all this stuff if you take traditional bath too). This is obviously the cheapest option and will cost you less, but I wouldn’t recommend this for your first visit, because where will be no wow factor.

What else you should know? Women wear underwear, but mostly no bra. Some young girls are disgusted by old women’s bodies, but I think it’s more common for not mature persons. Of course, if you do not feel comfortable, you don’t have to undress. Also, I suggest taking swimsuit instead of underwear. Do not wear any make-up. Just relax, don‘t be afraid and let yourself experience new sensations.

Trekking in Capadocia

Cappadocia means ‘land of the beautiful horses’ but I would say it is a dreamy slice of central Turkey dotted with ‘fairy chimneys’. It was the volcanic eruptions that created this surreal moonscape: the lava flows formed tuff rock which wind and rain sculpted into sinuous valleys with curvy cliff faces and pointy fairy chimneys. Unfortunately, now every year they become much smaller (1 cm each year) because of erosion.

After this trip I finally decided it’s my last guided trip. I can’t take anymore of those boring stories. Before a trip I always look info historical and religious backgrounds. But in my opinion it’d more interesting to take a map and get lost instead of listening to a guide who is always looking for the right word and pushing to see as much as possible.

The most popular word in this trip was frescoes. There are a lot of them in Göreme Open Air Museum. The best for a stroll is Ihlara Valley – filled with riverside greenery, birdsong and a string of churches cut into the base of towering cliffs. Despite centuries of vandalism, many of the frescoes (or more accurately seccos, painted on dry rather than wet plaster) are still colourful, but of course paintings are not full.

What really makes you take a deep breath is underground cities. I visited Kaymakli Underground City. in Cappadocia that is seven floors deep, although, it is only allowed to go down to the fourth floor due to the risk of collapse in the lower floors. Our guide told that there were 200 of such settlements in Cappadocia and it is thought that they were used by the Christians to escape persecution from incoming civilizations. Each cave housed up to 10,000 people. The largest discovered settlements are almost ten levels deep, with narrow passages connecting the floors like hamster tunnels.

People could live underground for up to three months without seeing any sunlight. Surprisingly, they had really good communication system based on tunnels. Moreover, their main job was to make wine and cook meal. Fair enough, what else would you do when it is so dark, hm? J Plus they had no privacy as their bedrooms were without doors.

I have read one interesting fact in an article saying that the pigeon houses riddling the rock faces are now mostly vacant, whereas they traditionally used to collect the birds’ droppings used as fertiliser. But I saw many pigeon holes carved into the rocks that used to harvest the pigeon droppings. Our guide told us that it sells for $12-15 per kilo. It’s time for business.

Moreover, Capadocia is popular for local wine. I went to Turasan winery which is dates back 1943. Unfortunately, I suddenly become very nagging when it comes to the wines. The quality seemed bad and actually nobody bought it. Of course, I guess they gave us to try wine of low quality and this was not the right decision. Anyway, Cappadocia has one of the world’s oldest wine industries dating back 4000 years.

Another entertainment for the tourists is a trip on an air balloon. Well, it costs 190 euros for each person, so maybe I will come back for it after 10 years?

It is really worth visiting Pasabag Valley. The best way to cut off your expenses is to buy “Museum Kart”.

Devrent Valley is known as Imaginary Valley. Interestingly, the animals and figures you will spot depends on your imagination. Some of the most important, or the easiest seen animal shapes are camel, snake, seals, and dolphin. If you let your imagination run free you will find many others. It is like looking at clouds and seeing a dragon. There is even a rock pillar which looks like Virgin Mary holding Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, there are no churches, so you can just enjoy exploring new type of nature and do a little of climbing and trekking.

Later we relaxed in Turkish night. Well, we saw a lot of Turkish dancing. The most attractive was belly dancing. Also, you can drink whatever you want all night long which makes the whole thing much more touristic and a bit boring.

Zelve Valley churches are not as impressive as those at the more famous Göreme Open Air Museum, but Zelve (ZEHL-veh) has its own attractions: the topography is even more dramatic, with crags and pinnacles and steep valleys, and there's more freedom to climb around and look at all the caves, nooks and crannies.

Ihlara Valley is 14 kilometre-long valley. The very steep sides of the valley have many churches and chapels. Also, rich fauna and flora. For a rest break generally the restaurants in Belisirma are preferred. After lunch the walk continues to the end of the valley where worth-seeing villages are located. On the return leg you can make a stop at the crater lake and, if it is a season, you can enjoy a swim there.

Furthermore, Cappadocia is famous for Çavuşin Greek Village. It was time when the Greek were forced to leave and after sometime were allowed to get back. As our guide said, ‘People can live together in peace despite their nationality; it’s always problems for politicians.’ It is his opinion; but you can never know what the truth is.

This city is also popular for special local cuisine. I tasted dinner which provided lots of different tastes. Tender meat slowly baked in tandir (traditional wood burning ovens), hot or cold soups of buglar (cracked wheat), and comlek fasulye (dried haricot beans and chopped meat braised in pots) with linger on your taste buds for a long time. In addition, Cappadocia offers yaprak sarmasi (stuffed leaves), patates salatasi (potato salad), dolma mantra (ravioli-style minced meat parcels), sulukofte (boiled meatballs in a tomato sauce), bamya (okra) and many other tastes.

To sum up walking tours are the ideal option for being together with nature, roaming around freey and enjoying the environment. The fairy chimneys that are said to change their colours according to the time of day, the footpaths that disappear in  horizon, the blossoms on the trees, the natural life, and the historic settlements all make Cappadocia an attractive destination.

If you aren’t Natasha, you don’t have to be afraid of Turkish men

Fortunately or not but for the three months I will be living in Turkey. One month has passed but I still remember my friends saying “Are you crazy?”, “Be aware of Turkish men”, “Please, do not bring Turkish man home”. Such thoughts accompanied me till the departure from the Vilnius airport.

This fear does not surprise me because of the widely known “adventures” that many Lithuanian girls enjoy around the world. But I have to point out that not only girls from my country stumble into traps of lovely and attentive Turkish men. Every woman who is tired from her life routine might easily fall in love with these brown eyes, black hair and supportive smile because they really know how to treat a woman.

Women start to feel special, better than the others and worthy. Bingo! This is the secret of their seduction. Actually all men should behave like this – carry on polite and gentle communication, do not spare compliments, walk you home and just be interested in what you have to say. “We never let woman go alone to the city,” said my friend X.

How many Lithuanian guys will wait for girls to dance until sunrise and without any intention walk them home? Well, if there are a few guys like this, it is still good.

Of course, sometimes foreigners start to feel so unique overrating their beauty that when they come back home it may be too cruel and hurtful to face the reality. Turkish men a while ago have found keys for all women needs and use them professionally, so if you don‘t get unpleasant impressions, you shouldn‘t cross the line or just feel them.

In the nightclubs Turkish women look at foreigners suspiciously, as at competitors. The same rule is for men too. Well, women from other countries just feel freer and some of them just came here for adventures. Several cocktails, passionate dance and out from nowhere will come guy and tell you „Could I taste your lips?“. Then, everything depends only on you. You have to answer for what reason you came here.

One of opportunities to save yourself, is to know one cultural difference. In Turkey looking into eyes doesn‘t mean sincere communication, it means that you like that person more than a friend. Of course not always, but usually it‘s true.

Well, I am not saying that situations described are common for all Turkish men without exception. But this is how men searching for one night stand or trying to get ticket to Europe behave. Sometimes it‘s even too easy. This is why I‘m not surprised any more why we hear a lot of stories about unfortunate marriages with Turkish guys and foreigners. To be honest, majority of women marriage people they met just on the street, bar, shops, so of course, there can be no future. Baby-faced brown eyes men are ready for everything.

Maybe it is one the reasons why before telling that I‘m Lithuanian I turn around and check if my friends are still here. “Lithuanian? Oh, I slept with 8 of them“, with pride is telling my friend Y. That evening I didn’t speak with him too much.

But I don‘t really blame my fellow-countrywomen. A lot of people behave like this because they know they are seeing each other for the first and the last time. Work visits, students exchange programmes or short holidays. I won‘t discuss morality question here.

Such attitude was created on the basis of Russian girls behaviour are called who in Turkey by one name „Natasha“. When USSR collapsed many Russian girls came here to work as prostitutes just for a dinner or supper. So if you are blonde you always feel evaluative look. They are checking if you are easy girl or not.

There is even a popular slogan „Natasha yat asagi!“, which means „Natasha jump into my bed!“. No wonder, why even and advertisement campaign „Natasha, go home!“ was made.

Surprisingly, Polish women have created different image. Several times I was asked whether the touch meant disrespect in Poland. I mean touching as tapping on shoulders, kissing on the cheeks and etc. Why I haven‘t heard about this before?

After some time I made a conclusion that such opinion may occur because of English language misunderstandings. On the other hand, of course it reflects on the entire Eastern European culture - people there are not so emotional and expressional as in Turkey. Here people smile a lot and use body language. Men are not afraid to get called gay for hugging each other or tapping on a shoulder.

Moreover, they always say hello touching each other cheeks and kissing it, but only with close friends. There aren’t any intimacy allusions.

All in all, despite all Turkish guys gimmicks, they know how to treat a woman and how to make her feel special. Friends from Lithuania are making jokes that for Lithuanian guys it will take a century to learn this. I hope that it will happen faster because there will be no women left.

If you would decide to marry a Turkish guy

Last week I had a unique opportunity to be a guest in the Turkish weddings. To cut story short, it is full of dancing, gold and symbols of virginity, so if you’d like to know more or to prepare for your own weddings (haha) – take a look.

Nowadays Turkish marriages still retained many of their traditional roots, but they also may differ greatly based on several factors. The region has immense importance as well as the intensity of belief in the religion and of course how it the Turkish husband subscribes – in a modern or traditional way. Yes, the role of the man is still more important. Well, as I heard now it’s more common to have marriages with foreigners, but saving Turkish traditions.

This joyous event depends on what kind of weddings is it – or Salon. If you are invited to attend the weddings in an urban area it may be one of the more modern type of Salon wedding which is very similar to “Western” weddings, where a hall is rented for the wedding reception. I went to this kind of weddings. What really surprised me was that the hall was set in the supermarket. So called Village weddings could be held just in a street.

If you have heard that the Turkish weddings last 40 days and nights, you‘re wrong. Mostly it is held for 2 days, sometimes three. The most popular season is summer.

One day before the weddings the Henna ritual is organized for the bride. At home all women prepare the celebration for the bride and colours her hands with henna. Traditionally it is a part of the fertility ritual that takes place on the eve of the wedding, either in the mikveh or at the bride’s home.

The next day is the day of Gelin Alma (to fetch the bride), kız alma (to fetch girl) or gelin götürme (to carry the bride). Everybody is invited to this ceremonial procession from the home of the bride to the home of the groom. Guests go to fetch the bride on foot if not far, or by cars if it is too far to go.

In some regions the bridegroom is not allowed to accompany the bridal procession. The procession is followed by drums and pipes. In some regions the bride is prepared by elderly women (yenge) who help and assist her. But in general today the preparations for the bride are done at a beauty salon.

Then she joins the procession on her way to the groom’s home. Before leaving her home, a Maidenhood Belt (Bekaret kuÅ¿aÄ¿ı), mostly a red ribbon, is tied around the Bride’s waist by her brother or a close relative and then the bride says good-by to those who stay at home. To lighten things up, the doorway is sometimes blocked by a male relative of the bride or a younger brother who sits on the wooden chest that carries the bride’s dowry, as if to stop the bride from leaving. A tip by the groom’s family resolves this final hurdle, and the bride leaves her parent’s home.

After signing documents the real celebration begins...

Firstly, it’s normal not to know bride or groom personally. You can be invited because your close friend or relative is coming.

If you are close with that person you should prepare a gift. People, standing in a line give money or gold (coins bracelets and etc.) and there are no listed gifts. You can find such presents in a Turkish jewellery store. There is a wide selection of coins with little loops on top. Most of them already have a red ribbon with a little safety pin on the back for pinning on the bride.

If you don’t know the groom or the bride, you just have to show the respect by wishing them luck and have a good time in a wedding.

Talking about clothing, it’s not so different. If you are invited to Salon type of wedding, you would dress in a similar manner as if you were going to a Western wedding. Of course if it is somewhere in the suburbs clothing should be more comfortable, but still stylish.

In Ottoman culture young girls were forbidden to wear fashionable clothes (for example, ornamented dresses). These days Turkish men and Turkish women have adopted Western styles of dress during the wedding ceremony. For the men, this includes tuxedoes and suits, while women wear white bridal dresses.

It‘s really strange that in Turkish weddings there are no Maids of Honour, Best Men or Matrons of Honour. The most important people despite the couple are their parents.

It becomes obvious during dances. Parents with husband and wife have to dance in a circle. Also, there is a dance only for fathers.

Moreover, guests are invited to the dancefloor too.

The cleverest tradition is Testik dance – single (of course virgin) girls dance. Well, it’s good for single men to observe for potential date. Also, Kına Gecesi held on Henna Night, Oyun Havası, Göbek atmak, there are more dances with clicking spoons and etc.

In Lithuania during the wedding party a lot of people get drunk and overeat – absolute excess in eating and drinking which I hate the most. Here, people don‘t drink alcohol, only lemonade, tea or water. What about food? They serve cookies; of course wedding cake is also very important. Firstly, the new born husband and wife try it and when the guests have a bite too.

As everywhere the bride receives a lot of attention. As you may have noticed from the photos (which you can buy during weddings for 3 TL (1.5 EUR), a bride is wearing the red ribbon which shows that she is virgin. The red colour is chosen because it reveals wealth and power.

Women and men have different responsibilities. Brides have to look after bedroom, prepare it for living, grooms look after gold and money.

Furthermore, there are some present for all quests on which there is exact date and married couple names. It represents different believes and traditions, something like a good will.

It's really nice to see people who know how to enjoy themselves. Sorry, but this time there aren't a lot photos, I couldn't make it because we were asked not treat it like a tourist experience.

Tebrikler. Dünyadaki tümmutluluklar üzerinizde olsun.

Congratulations. Wishing the both of you all the happiness in the world!

How to look into your future in Turkey

The most common way of future-telling in Turkey is to look at the coffee-grounds after drinking kahve. Yesterday I had a great and really mystified opportunity to try this out. Unfortunately, I won’t tell what girls predicted for me because it brings bad luck, but definitely will brag if it comes true.

Sometimes we all start asking questions like “Who am I and what will I become? Who will I marry? Will I be successful? Have I chosen the right path?.” The fear of the future and the unknown is in all the human beings. Such major questions push people to look for the answers and here, in Turkey, you can find them.





Drinking Turkish coffee is an inherent part of Turkish culture and, in many ways, it is like a ritual that goes hand in hand with heartfelt conversations with friends. Often, this sense of ritual makes kahve falı more sophisticated.

It is not always done with the serious intentions of learning about the future. Future telling became similar to enterntaiment for the evening to develop your dreaming skills. Anyway, many Turkish women know how to read kahve falı. It dates back to the Ottoman period when Arab nannies lived with wealthy Istanbul families.

So, if you want to try this out firstly, drink your coffee (with the dregs left in the cup). Then turn the  fincan is over on its plate and then turn it around three times while muttering “Neyse halim, çıksın falım” (May the fortune show what are my circumstances.). Once the cup has cooled and you have turned it over, read the fortune from the various shapes that the dregs have made.

Some future telling signs:

If the shape resembles waterfalls it means that you are likely to visit a nice place;

Resolved coffee-grounds will bring bright future;

If there are any drops on the cup it means that you’ll be successful.

P.S. It’s customary to serve Turkish coffee with something sweet (preferably Turkish delight or sweet) and a glass of water.

Turkish haircut

Getting a haircut while travelling can be the greatest souvenir ever or the biggest mistake you will have to live with until you get home. It’s more memorable than buying Turkish delights or other souvenirs because it’s really intimate.

One friend strongly advised not to get a haircut in Turkey because Turkish hair is so different from blond that Turkish hairstylists don’t know what to do with it. But it depends on how professional hairdresser is.

But what if you have no choice? Firstly, ask your native friends for the recommendations (Thanks, Ezel!).

When you are seated, the barber will wash your hair if necessary. A cape is fastened around your neck and you are asked how you would like your hair done.

Most hairdressers don’t speak any English, but with a translator (or app) and a lot of hand gestures, body language or pictures in magazines you can reach great results.

After a haircut the hair is washed for the second time. It is a little bit strange, but they make great head massage, so it doesn‘t matter.

To have a haircut for a woman takes about one hour, for a man – two hours, so you have to plan your time before going to hairdressers.

Well, I have to say that the haircuts are made by men. That was a new experience for me.

The apprentices spend many hours just watching, cleaning and preparing equipment before they are even allowed to touch the hair.

Women just serve tea, passes towels and assist if required.

A haircut costs somewhere between 10 – 20 TL (4.5 – 9 EUR). Of course, I paid more – 30 TL (14 EUR). I don‘t know the reason why maybe because my hair is different from Turkish or maybe just because I‘m a foreigner. Well, this time I haven‘t argued because I really love my new look.

Women's Hairstyles in Turkey

Women in Turkey are also known for having hairstyles that are functional as opposed to "stylish". They wear their hair in braids, with a head cover of some type (mainly head scarves). The main reason for this specific style is because of the extremely hot climate in Turkey. This way, women are still able to maintain the long length preferred by Middle Eastern culture while still attaining some level of comfort.


Unacceptable/ unpopular haircuts in Turkey

Styles like mullets or shaved heads (especially for women) are not typically as welcomed as the traditional customs for hair.

Interesting fact: Turks take hair very seriously. So seriously that it is considered a national art form and foreigners are not allowed to be employed as barbers in Turkey.

The Sounds of Eskisehir

When it turns 3 a.m. all I want is to get some sleep. But not in Eskisehir! The city is always lively and vivid full of sounds: drums, prayers, airplanes and people shouting. Even if you stay alone here you will never feel lonely.

Let’s listen. If you can’t wake up, airplanes will offer a hand. Here, in Eskisehir they are landing several times in a day. Not much, but really enough when the airport is so close. Actually, Turkish Airlines have scheduled flights from Istanbul everyday of the week but Saturdays. On some days, there are two flights. Eskişehir Anadolu Airport is located within the İki Eylül Campus of the Anadolu University. It is operated by the School of Aviation, so sometimes there are additional flights because the students are having their training.  Fortunately, not so much during the summer. Anyways sometimes it gets so loud that you even cannot hear your friend who’s sitting next to you.

So when you are dropped out of the bed it‘s the time to have a glass water. Here you go – the water truck is coming! As I understood there is one water truck that passes through Eskisehir every day and has only one route. When it‘s moving you can always hear the same song to let people know that the time to buy water is coming up.

It‘s one of the most annoying sounds because its similar to the melodies of ringtones and it is played very often and very loud.

Then you are not thirsty anymore, it‘s time to pray. 6 - 7 times in a day while hearing it from the speaker whichever mosque it's coming. Well, I counted 5 prayers a day, but a web page on the Internet says it happens 6 times a day. Yet another claims that the prays are coming 7 times.

Eventually, you get so used to this sound that after sometime you do not even notice it. I really respect traditions of religions. As Allah says: "And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: For those things, that are good remove those that are evil: Be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their Lord)."

Finally its time to get out from home. But you have to be aware of the traffic here. It doesn‘t matter whether its red or green traffic light, you need a lot of attention and carefulness just to cross a street. Sometimes Turkish people may look slow because they are always late, but in the streets their real temparament shows up. Turkish people drive very aggressively and fast. So every once in a while you can hear cars skreetch because they run into a sticky situation but surprisingly I still haven't seen any car accidents but as I heard it‘s quite often here.

But you can never run away from the European culture – even here. A popular pop song Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Telo. I will put a link here, but its better not to listen this. Song without meaning, but easy to learn and have a catchy melody. Ordinary boy sings that song with the huge crowd. I still don‘t understand the secret of its popularity, but here you can hear this song 5 - 8 times in every bar during the evening, so there‘s no choice.

Where did I begin? So, finally, when you get tired of noise, fever and communication it‘s not the end. Ramadan has started this weekend.

Muslims are called upon to use this month to re-evaluate their lives in light of Islamic guidance. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims fast during daylight hours. It’s a month sacred for soul and body lustration. From sunrise to sunset they can’t eat and drink. Also, during this month is forbidden to make love. As I noticed that there were less people in the streets, more suppliants apperead, maybe it‘s connection with this period and the real live begins in the evening because they can eat only after eight o’clock. Of course not all people behave this way. There are excuses for active, people who support the family, pregnant women, old people and etc. Furthermore, it depends on the view of family.

3 a.m. the first day of Ramadan and you can hear drums. This tradition is getting rare, so they really care about this. There are only the last few Ramadan drummers: upholders of a tradition going back to Ottoman times, they walk the streets with their drums, waking the residents in time for Sahur, the last meal before a long day of fasting that starts with the call to prayer at sunrise.

On the first night of Ramadan, drummers sing a traditional mâni – a folkloric four-lined stanza – that greets the arrival of the 9th and holiest month of the Islamic calendar. As they beat drums, apartments light up and people poke their heads out of doors and windows; some children wave or some just ask to stop it if there are new-born baby, old or ill people at home. Every now and then, the music sets off the occasional car alarm.

It’s city which never sleeps.