> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://vaughan.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Words From Mel — Three Ladies, a Black Snake and a… - URL: https://vaughan.ai/blog/words-from-mel-three-ladies-a-black-snake-and-a/ - Published: 2001-09-25T22:16:01.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-07T23:19:22.000Z - Author: Vaughan Fergusson - Tags: Turkey, #medium-import What better thing to do than have a Turkish bath whilst in Turkey? That’s what Anne, Carole and I thought as we organised our Turkish bath experience in Goreme (Cappadoccia, Turkey). The catch was that it was about ten kilometres away and so we needed a taxi — no problems. The hotel organised one and five minutes later a minivan pulled up. All the taxis were busy and so the hot air balloons bus driver took us. This was fine until we left town and he turned right around in his seat and started an in depth conversation with us in the back seat, paying scant regard to the road. Well, the road wasn’t too busy so I tried not to be too worried but when he said his name was ‘The Black Snake’ and chuckled a dry chuckle, I had to admit I was a tad worried! Mum, Dad, Tracy and Mike had been to the same bathhouse the night before and had briefed us on what would happen so we felt prepared. But the minute we stepped into the bathhouse and saw The Black Snake promptly follow our confidence evaporated. Firstly, we had to replace our clothes with a piece of gingham cloth — we ensured that our cloths were tied so tightly that nothing but nothing (and certainly not the Black Snake) could undo them mid-bath. The Black Snack met us in the sauna and was most disappointed when we all declined his offer of a back massage. After about twenty minutes of hot sauna, one by one we dunked ourselves in the freezing cold plunge pool and ran back to the heat of the sauna for another dose. When we had cooked enough, we made our way to the next room that had a huge steaming hot slab of marble plonked in the middle. The idea was to lie on the hot marble whilst the bath attendants sprayed you occasionally with cold water — but I think our bath attendants were at smoko because we just got hotter and hotter….and hotter with no cold water in sight. You could only lie for a maximum of five minutes on each side before turning over — at one stage I got too hot and decided just to sit on the edge but it was even too much for my poor bum after a while! The Black Snake thought us a bit strange with all our squirming as he sat in the same spot (the hottest of course) the whole time. After the bath attendants thought us sufficiently cooked (when we were sweating blood) they motioned for us, one by one, to lie on a table to the side where they soaped us down and gave us a short massage — yip, you certainly did want those cloths tied tight! Then it was time for us to wash our hair — the only bit of us that wasn’t 100% clean! Thinking we had done very well to get through the experience with such grace (mostly due to the fact that we always knew what was coming next) it took us completely by surprise when The Black Snake went up to the Bath Attendant at the door and swiftly had his wet gingham cloth removed and replaced by a dry towel. Mum and Dad hadn’t briefed us on this part so Carole and I elected Anne (the bravest) to go first. The bath attendants were very discreet and as it turned out, we had nothing to worry about. Apparently what they say about Turkish men being very forward does not apply to bath attendants… Once we had changed back into our clothes feeling fantastic, we drank the obligatory apple tea and left with the Black Snake for the drive back to our hotel. By this time The Black Snake had caught onto the fact that his efforts on us were wasted and had transformed into a pleasant host. We had a comfortable ride home and went to sleep satisfied. If you’re ever in Turkey, be sure to have a Turkish bath — there’s nothing else like it!!