Not very far...but not even so close: The Turkish Bath Story

''Not very far...but not even so close." That was how Baha and Tolga described the location of the Turkish bath and many other things, until we helped them understand that phrase didn't actually make sense.

Regardless, we bid the boys adieu and took a cab to the Cagaloglu Hamami, a 300-year-old Turkish Bath listed on 1000 Things To Do Before You Die. For only 40 euro, we could get a bath, massage and scrub (at a U.S. spa that would cost maybe $200 and probably wouldn't include an actual bath).

After changing into our towels and slippers, a Turkish woman led us into a huge circular marble dome room. There was a slightly raised circular platform in the middle and sinks/faucets lining the walls. It wasn't a huge swimming pool as I imagined since the faucets were only turned on when in use, and the water drained almost immediately. The woman sat Brittany, Suzanne and I down next to the small sinks, stripping us of our towels - modesty was not an option. She turned on our faucets, gave us small silver pans, and told us to dip them into the sinks and rinse ourselves for 10 minutes. Sitting there, completely naked, on the marble floor in a 300-year-old Haman, I didn't feel strange or awkward, but rather completely relaxed.

After we were well rinsed, our Turkish bathers came and laid us on the platform to begin the scrub down. They took exfoliating towels and scrubbed our whole bodies until we were nice and pink, then followed that up with a soapy full (and I mean full...) body massage. As I was now laying on the marble floor in this 300-year-old Haman, getting massaged by a Turkish woman, I kept thinking, how did I get here?? At 26-years-old, how did I, Michelle Hershman from Washington, D.C., come to find myself getting pampered in Istanbul?

To complete the ''bath,'' my bather sat me down next to one of the sinks, washed my hair for me like I was her child and gave me a nice rinse. A few minutes in the steam room, and one more rinse later, I decided bathing would never be the same for me again. It was an amazing experience and a great way to end our time in Istanbul.

I hope to go back - I feel there's so much more to see and experience in the city. Good thing it's not very far...but unfortunately, it's not even so close.