Yatağan to Muğla

A less arduous day, as we continued south east sticking a bit inland so as to avoid the package holiday destinations of Bodrum and Mamaris. Our route through rolling countryside took us to Mugla a sizeable authentically Turkish town. Unlike the last couple of places we've stayed at Mugla has an interesting old quarter with narrow streets and crumbling stone buildings. We treated ourselves to a visit to the local hamam and had our first Turkish bath and massage. With some trepidation we had chosen a mixed bathing place so we could experience it together. Luckily we had the place to ourselves. We were ushered into the sauna area after changing into cloth towels and borrowed clogs. We sat and sweated for as long as we could manage and then hovered in the bathing room admiring the domed ceiling and marble washing basins of the mediaeval building. The attendant returned and the washing began. Laid out on a marble slab we were scrubbed vigorously with a rough flannel until we had been exfoliated and our top layer of skin made dirty black strings. Then came the soaping, a pillowcase was filled with suds and air and then rubbed over our bodies. This felt velvety soft after the flannel, and left a blanket of foam to envelop us. More soap was applied by hand accompanied by a bit of massaging, fortunately not as vigorous as we'd feared. After being sluiced off we were wrapped up in layers of towel from head to toe including a fetching turban. We were then guided upstairs to lounge on pillows and drink tea. A very pleasant way to remove the grime of a days cycling. After dinner we almost made it back to the hotel, but were dragged into the bar opposite by the owner who used to live in England. We were fed raki and Turkish coffee while he made us learn some Turkish phrases, to amusement of the regulars.
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Total Distance Cycled : 5419m
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Daily Distance Cycled : 29km
Ascent : 373m
Time Cycling : 2h 15
Journey Time : 3h 30
Average Speed : 12.6 km/h
Hotel : N 37°13'03.1" E 28°21'56.1"
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