10-23 (Sundat night) Istanbul

First let me assure everyone that we are okay. Many have written about the earthquake in Turkey but that was a long way from us in the eastern part of the country.

We returned to Istanbul yesterday. I was sick as a dog . . . sore throat and sinus infection. The hotel staff told Barbara they thought I should go to the hospital. I must have looked really bad. I got in bed when we arrived and slept 17 hours. Thankfully I'm almost well today.

The night before we left Cappodicia we had a Hamami (Turkish Bath!) WOW what an experience it was . . . first, after undressing and putting on a cloth wrap we went into the sauna. When we could no longe breathe and were ready to pass out we went to the "bathing room" We were laid out on a marble slab. It wasn't private (Barbara was right next to me) I had a cloth over my private parts and a woman washed me. Barbara on the other hand had a man and she was more buck naked They poured hot water over you then rubbed your entire body with some sort of rough fabric to exfolate your skin. Next they put bubbles all over you. These were like the bubbles you see in the movies - they stayed puffed up. This was to make sure you were good and clean. More water poured over you and then it was off to the "relaxing" room. They came in and painted "mud" all over our faces. After that dried we washed it off then we went to the massage room. They must have worked on us for 45 min to an hour. Then it was back to the "relaxing room." We were at the Hamami for 2 1/2 hours.