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Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
  • Fred Dinn
  • melissa dinn

Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

A 30-day adventure by Fred & melissa Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 20, 2024
  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    We have arrived!!

    May 23, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Checked into our arty hotel located in city centre after being picked up in a pimped out private car driven by ‘Hatip best driver’. We spent the day exploring Taksim Square and walking one of the busiest streets in Istanbul called İstiklal which was full of locals, tourists, restaurants, Turkish cafes, fruit shops, flowers, music and the famous Turkish tram. Strong police presence with police cars, buses and of course a police Ferrari parked outside the central mosque. What a contrast! Bizarre. The smell of Turkish coffee and market spices is strong. Turkish people very friendly and the architecture old, intricate and beautiful. We found a nice cafe, Peter enjoyed Turkish kebabs with spicy yoghurt, lamleh cheese and roasted stuff capsicums and Melissa loved her vegetarian delights. It was only after we had ordered that we realised it was a shisha bar, so many people sitting around smoking sisha pipes and being served with ‘flavoured coal’ which is added to their hookah pipe over hours. We walked through Gezi park- one of the smallest parks in Istanbul and the last ‘green space’ in Beyoğlu, a district near Taksim. Loving the people we are meeting and practicing our Turkish which always gets a smile.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    stray dogs, cats and Galata Tower

    May 24, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Today we went on our own walking adventure, up and down hills, through Istanbul Beyoglu district, past the cafes and shops , down some curly narrow roads and up some too, and found the Galata tower. Built in 1348 -and called tower of christ - as a fire tower/watch tower, once a prison and now a museum with 360 degree views of Istanbul from top observation landing - truly beautiful to see from the outside as unfortunately closed today for renovation :(
    We also visited the largest catholic church in Instanbul - St Anthony of Padua - we bought a candle and lit it with our prayers said for Trudy/Mum/grandma and melissa’s dear Dad Garry/poppy.
    We sat with the stray dogs, kangal breed (mix large breed) which are everywhere laying about and very well behaved, together with the Instanbul cats which are in shops, walk ways and you can hear the kittens in bushes. It seems the locals, on the whole, look after the animals and consider it kind to care for them - steeped in Instanbul’s history. Look it up as it’s very interesting reading their history and current debates.
    We walked down to the Golden Horn (natural inlet to the Bosphorus Türkiye) and sat watching the ferries and boats, train on the bridge above and locals finishing up at the nearby mosque call to prayers. We found a nice place back up the hills for coffee and well earned yummy blueberry cake! We met a lovely shop keeper and bought our fruit - she gave us free apricots. delicious. We have ended our day people watching in Taksim square while having an early yummy dinner. Tomorrow we start with an official small tour group to continue our adventures through Türkiye.
    ps for kevin and rebecca - ‘our neighbour’, opposite the road from us and also four stories up , nursing his pug out the window for a good hour - pug happy watching the people/cars below- quite the scene.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    day 4- Blue mosque, Sophia Hagia, Grand

    May 26, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

    What a beautiful full day we have had!!! walking, walking, walking - glorious weather and day one with our tour. So far we are really impressed. our tour guide is knowledgeable and communicates so much about türkiye easily. A really nice collection of people in the group too.
    we began our day being dropped off in the old town - traffic is horrific - not surprising given population in instanbul is over 20 million in a space slightly bigger than new york. We went to the beautiful hippodrome- a sporting and entertainment ground built in 203 AD - with a rich roman, greek and turkish history and many monuments including the monolithic obelisk which has bronze made from roman soldiers shields during battles!!! We visited the BEAUTIFUL Blue Mosque and learned so much about architecture, islam and Türkiye followed by a tour of the Sophia Hagia of 532 which has been the grand mosque, a church and museum and still a mosque now. The mosaics were amazing, the painting and rendering incredible especially the history of what lay beneath some paint - images of christ and angels faces and the history of architecture so interesting - ie dome design etc
    then we went to the basilica. unbelievable! a water filtration and storage system built underground by about 7000 slaves in 532 and held 80,000 cubic metres of water! it’s massive. it’s beautiful and obviously now empty except for the water under the walk way - the columns and arches are beautiful and now home to sculptures and art work. Amazingly over time the underground basilica was forgotten until an old lady kept complaining of hearing water dripping under her floor. they dug it up and found this basilica cistern. it has 336 columns - each one different - is referred to as the sunken palace. photos don’t do justice.
    then we walked forever and ever through the busy streets and bizarre to the golden horns bridges and caught a ferry. The ferry was amazing - rocky, windy, and choppy water owing to the fact that it connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea and Dardanelles Strait. on one side of ferry was europe and the other side asia. Lots of boats out including two tankers on the way to the Ukraine:(
    after our 1 1/2 hour ferry ride we walked to the grand spice bizarre - wow wow wow! words escape me- incredibly beautiful!
    Then we walked to a roof top restaurant for dinner and to watch the sunset over a grand mosque and the old city. We have had the fullest day and enjoyed it so much.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    ANZAC Cove and Troy

    May 27, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Day 5
    We began our day very early with a hearty turkish breakfast - spinach/cheese/humus/fruit for melissa and traditional turkish spicy tomatoe omelette called meneme for peter before a three hour bus ride to Gallipolli (Gallipoli) located in the south west of Türkiye. Our guide, Ikud, is very knowledgeable and we are so lucky - he has studied history, economics and architecture - so we are sponges. Gallipoli is so sad, not least because wars continue with senseless loss of the like. the monuments to ANZAC and Turkish soldiers are beautiful with meaning behind all decisions in planting (pine, rosemary ,poppy etc), prayer, aspects and testimonials/poems. The trenches that our ANZACs dug, lived in and fought and died in remain - very very sad.
    We then visited the archeological site of Troy. wow wow wow! Located in Hisarlik, and first settled in 3600 bc but due to a number of events over the years was destroyed and rebuilt. Now, thanks to archeology digs there are nine layers which have been uncovered, each reflecting a specific time, wealth, skills and life of the Trojans (probably of greek descent but not turkish) who lived there. The site is unesco world heritage listed. Troy is linked with greek mythology and the story of the trojan horse, archilles and other mythology gods/goddesses.
    we arrived at our beautiful hotel located on the dardenalles strait in cannakale and went for a lovely walk on the wharf around sunset (830 pm ish) watching many local families picnic near the water and tourist exploring. All seems very laid back. We will sleep well tonight!    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Ancient hospital ruins in Bergema

    May 28, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Beautiful road trip today down the west coast of türkiye where we can see the greek islands off the coast. the landscape is like a patchwork of green agriculture (figs, fruit, vegetables) but mostly olive trees (bear olives for olive oil 7 years after planting and live for 2 thousand years) - they are everywhere and the olive oil is delicious!
    We drove to the ruins of the Asklepion medical centre or healing place in Bergema, it is one of the most important centres of healing of the Roman world. To keep its reputation of successful healing high it did not accept people who were near death and only admitted people who were rich. It was amazing to see the treatment rooms, mental health ward which used music, dance, dream interpretation, herbs and mythology to treat ‘ill health of the head’. We learned about the first recorded use of placebo in treatment. The healing place had a library, isolation rooms, ampitheatre, cubicles, prayer rooms, healing water, portico and ruins still show the layout. We could have stayed there all day, built in 302 bc and which honoured Asclepius the first doctor-demigod in Greek mythology.
    We ate the most delicious lunch at a local cafe which was DELICIOUS and then travelled onto Izmir, a busy fishing city on the coast side which gave us a magnificent sunset. Ended our day with another walk water side, thankful for our experiences in beautiful Türkiye    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Virgin Mary’s house and Ephesus

    May 29, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Our drive to ancient land and the house of the virgin mary, a very special place in Ephesus where the first female warriors, the amazons once lived (one breasted to make using a bow and arrow easier ) and then later the greeks. We then drove past fields of ancient time fruits (figs, olives, peaches ), and beautiful white storks making nests in tall pillars and teaching their chicks how to fly to arrive at the amazing ruins of ancient Ephesus, a UNESCO World Heritage. The area is huge and the preserved ancient city, including large slabs of marble (very slippery) and reconstructed impressive library was incredible . We ate a beautiful lunch ( peter had traditional lamb kebabs and melissa had a spiced lentil soup) in a local once famous wrestlers cafe in the village. We met Ikuts friend who owned a shop called ‘Genuine fake brands’ before driving further inland to the beautiful remote Cotton Castle of Turkey, Pamukkale. we drove past houses with empty glass bottles on some roofs- each bottle indicating to other muslims a daughter who is ready for marriage and an invitation to bring their son for introductions. 70 per cent of marriages are arranged in türkiye and once the daughter is matched the glass bottle is shot off the roof. we are staying in an old, very traditional village tonight before exploring the thermal waters and travertines tomorrow.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Aqua, Hierapolis, tiles and Sufism

    May 30, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We set off early today and spent the morning exploring the huge ancient city of hierapolis and seeing the beautiful mineral rich aqua waters which are in the snow white travatines and overlook a patchwork of green land with terracotta roofed houses in the pamukkale region far below. it is breathtakingly beautiful. we then swam in cleopatras thermal bath which was about 38 degrees celsius and rich in minerals and sulphur. it was beautiful and our skin was very soft afterwards, apparently the healing properties are great. sitting in an ancient city and imagining life before is incredible. we felt refreshed enough to walk up a huge mountain afterwards, with frequent stops to catch our breath, and view the most incredible amphitheatre of the city which could sit 15,000 roman’s in its day. it was awesome!
    We drove through so many villages, further east, more traditional people from agricultural backgrounds and strict muslim culture. we stopped and ate local delicacies such as yoghurt/honey/ground poppy seeds (opium) and it was so delicious. We are heading towards Konya, home of the famous whirling dervishes - members of the Sufism order. It was particularly special and AMAZINGLY Beautiful to visit two special places. 1)center of education and architectural beauty, Karatay Madrasa and 2) Museum and Mausoleum of Mevlana. Here we paid our respects to Rumi - scholar, poet and theologist of the 13th century, and the teachings of sufism. The feeling, rooms, exhibitions, TILES and stories were beautiful. We ended our night late at a turkish restaurant in the village of Konya - soup was yoghurt with mint!    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Sultanhani Seljuk caravanserai

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Oh what a day! Every day is better than the last as we learn and appreciate türkiye’s complex rich history.
    We drove part of the actual silk road today which was made up of a series of routes 2nd century to 15th century and connected east with west for traders of silk, spices, rugs, ceramics, homewares, gold, animals and food predominately. In Türkiye, a series of buildings were set up every 28 km in a portion of the route from Konya to Aksaray province to increase the safety of traders travelling with their loot and thereby increase local economics, expand tools and increase farming ability. Called caravanserai, the largest is called Sultanhani Seljuk caravanserai and is the best preserved. They were like safety houses for traders and their families travelling by with animals/loot and the first example of an insurance policy on offer as a record was kept at entry and exit. If a trader was missing his loot/animals he was reimbursed and the culprit found and punished. As a result traders liked to come to türkiye and brought many goods, especially the chinese. It has incredible architecture, tiling, room zoning, rugs and engraved stones. whilst there we met some lovely women who were weaving a new rug. there were many beautiful turkish rugs on display in what was once the old internal winter space for the traders in the caravansei. truly truly beautiful.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Fairy Chimneys

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    On route to the Fairy Chimneys of Cappadocia we stopped and shared turkish baklava, pistachio goat milk ice cream and delicious coffee. Cappadocia is unbelievable. Millions of years ago volcanoes distributed many many layers of ash across the rough hilly landscape which resulted in a top layer of bassslt which over time was eroded in parts by the wind and rain. A group of people called the Hittites in 1800 bc who used the silk road dug out homes in this harsh landscape which resembles clay mushrooms caves rising from the hills. They are now referred to as Fairy Chimneys - see the photos. The last of these caves was closed down in 1960, to conserve them and also protect people as the top section of basalt often blows off, and the remains are protected under UNESCO. We were lucky enough to actually walk inside one as it is owned by a friend of our guide. His wife, babi, gave us tea and also used my head/hair to demonstrate the scarves and socks she makes. They live a very simple life.
    Peter and I later found a place to have a beer and sit and take in the incredible rose and red coloured mountain sides of this unique place.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Master potter of turkish jugs, wine deca

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    An absolute highlight - again! We visited a master potter and sat with him as he spun his wheel with his feet and threw his red clay to make traditional turkish pottery. his cousin spoke with us explaining the process. was really interesting. later we met with the master artists who paint using different techniques and mediums to create turkish pottery. peter and i considered buying a large turkish plate by one of these masters but it was US$15,000 so we didn’t. Truly wonderful seeing this and hopefully you will see how special it was from the photos. We will have to stick to the turkish pottery made by non masters which we love and can afford!Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Whirling Dervishes

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Tonight we attended a very special suffie ceremony with the whirling dervishes. During the 40 minute prayer, we are completely silent and no media is allowed in the castle room. This prayer is conducted at birth, weddings and funerals by Suffies who are devote Muslim’s. Their costume signifies many things - hat /their tomb stone, black coat/death, white uniform/birth, twirling/life is constant motion, eyes closed/faith, hand positioning hand up/receiving Gods will and hand down /giving to others. The dervishes twirl and chant as two ancient instruments are played - the reed flute/signifying that we are nothing and a multi string instrument signifying chines influence in philosophy. A person chants as the koran is read. It was very peaceful, meditative and interesting. After the ceremony was finished they left and then returned with lights on to dance for two minutes and allow the small audience to film. we were not to talk with them and respect was paramount.

    we have finished the night with a hearty meal of lentil soup and chicken curry for peter. early start tomorrow - 4 am as we are due to go hot air ballooning!!!    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Bizarre small world

    May 31, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    We drove to a cafe in a village near cappadocia as it makes traditional cappadocia clay pot stew. It is served and the pot smashed, a bit like taking the top of a boiled egg, to reveal a slow cooked lamb vegetable tomatoe based stew which peter really enjoyed. Whilst in this remote place a women approached me and asked me if I was melissa dinn from CIT? Turns out I taught with this lovely woman for about two years in the same faculty however she left, married a turkish man and they opened this cafe! We sat and talked for ages! She was only there by chance as normally does not work on this day !Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Hot air ballooning Cappadocia

    June 1, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We began our day at 330 am and went hot air ballooning with 99 other balloons over cappadocia - truly beautiful to watch the sunrise over this incredible place. So incredible as we went low over the fairy chimneys and volcanic landscape and high near the hills to see the sunrise.
    The balloons go up each morning, year round, with May and September being the busiest. During these times they also send another 60 balloons up 30 minutes after the first round. Each basket holds 25 people and two staff, a captain and communicator. We were up in the air for one hour. The balloons themselves are made in silk factory in türkiye and last, if well cared for, for 15 years. The balloons are checked each day for safety. When we landed on the ground, a truck with trailer reversed up, the balloon was up in air again and then we landed in the trailer!!!! It was quite the experience.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Carpets, gems, wine and icons

    June 2, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We journeyed today to the open air museum called Goreme and part of the cave system dug into the volcanic rock of cappadocia. There are eleven seperate caves, some with rock-cut churches tables and benches, embedded in them. Each cave is associated with a church and reveal ancient paintings or iconic of the saints, Mary, Jesus and pilgrimage. Most of the churches in Goreme Open Air Museum belong to the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries. There was also an ancient multi storey Nunnery which we were not able to enter but which looked very serene side by side the monastery. Lots of religious tourist visiting this place and praying in front of icons.
    After this up hill heavy walking we went to a pigeon house look out and got some great snaps of the fairy chimney valley. A highlight of our day was visiting an authentic handmade rugs factory (very pregnant factory). We met two carpet makers and learned all about the knits, weaves, dyes and types of rugs. We were served turkish tea and raki (greek oozo) and all the rugs were laid out - so beautiful. Rugs were silk, wool and cotton and with ancient, traditional or tribal in design The woman carpet makers are paid by the knot and the average carpet has over a million knots. It is a disappearing skill due to girls/women’s availability and roles (education) changing. We almost bought a new turkish rug but then decided not to!!!! Off we went to a wine cellar and did some wine tasting. Of course it takes a lot to impress with our great australian wines and value. We had a traditional turkish pide that was yummy and managed to squeeze in a siesta due to our early start. Another beautiful day in cappadocia which ended with wine and whiskey over the valley from our tour leader and driver. A few group photos too.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Tomb of Mufasa

    June 2, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Located in Ankara, this planned beautiful Anitibar museum is a mausoleum built to honor Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and leader of the Turkish Republic. It reminded us of the war memorial, in that it was guarded by military, every part of the building design held significance, for example towers represent freedom, sculptures reflecting turkish values and soil around the tomb collected from all of türkiye to represent her people. The Hall of Honour is the most significant place and is where Atatürk's tomb is located. It is a sacred place with many local muslim people visiting in silence to pay their respects whilst we were there. The hall is adorned with "words to the Army" and “The Fatherland has indebted you." The marble-clad walls and floor of the hall contrast with the intricately painted, kilim-style ceiling. The tomb of Atatürk sits by a beautiful window honouring other heroes. It is made from a single piece of marble without any decoration, and his final resting place is on the ground floor underneath it. Some arches and part of the dome ceiling above the tomb are mosaic tiled in gold/blues/reds and greens and are intricate and reflect the light. It was very beautiful. Keeping guard at key areas are four military men (service is compulsory for 6 months from age 20) and we watched them in 37C heat in their full military uniform stand so still we honestly thought they were wax models. The change of guards happens every two hours. Peter has a great video of it.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    museum of anatolian civilisation

    June 2, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    This museum won best museum
    of europe and is surrounded by gardens, outdoor sculptures, walking paths, and whilst we were there many families, children enjoying the exhibitions. It is huge and probably needs a full day not the few hours we had to explore the ancient scrolls, tiles, statues, jewellery and re created homes of ancient civilisations ( entry via a roof to a windowless cottage where loved ones were also buried with them !). We found the artefacts used in death, preparation for burial and funerals particularly interesting and elaborate! Whilst there I had to go find a guard as a “museum cat” got stuck under a roman emperor statue - i communicated in a series of distressed meows and gesticulating movements to get the cat rescued due to our language barrier! phew! i thought of mike.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    kaymakli underground city

    June 3, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We road trip today to the incredible underground settlement of Kaymakli just outside of cappadocia in nevşehir, ancient anatolia. Built in 6-7 BC, it is an intricate series of tunnels, arches, nooks, ventilation system (central shaft and holes) with a possible 9 levels, 4 accessible to tourist, where the prime focus was to ensure safety for the ancient people, their animals (on first floor) and food/wine storage. At some points Peter had to crouch down to get through connecting tunnels which are also narrow to prevent bombardment of invaders. The rock is pale, clay like and the air was moist dust. Absolutely incredible skill. It is thought that there are about 200 underground cities in the area with exploration continuing today. Türkiye is so rich in history.Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    The busy loud city Istanbul

    June 4, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We arrived back in Istanbul today and despite our short stay 12 days ago it felt familiar as we recognised landmarks and self navigated the very busy, loud and hot streets. We have loved the people we have met and enjoyed a beautiful farewell dinner recapping special memories and sharing photos.
    We are feeling grateful for our experiences and are reminded in every moment of the big hearts of all the turkish people we have met so far.    Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Time to reconnect with dear friends

    June 4, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Happy 26th Birthday Samuel ! xxxx
    Today we taxied (quite the experience) over the bosphorus bridge to the european side of the bosphorus to kate and gavs home in Restipava. It was so lovely to see them as they are one year into their three year posting with WHO. Their home is beautiful with unbelievable views of the bosphorus bridge day and night. These views mean, logically, that they live at the top of a VERY steep hill which has been fabulous for our cardio health! Our other dear friends have flown in tonight and we are enjoying a spread of mesas for dinner with much to share about our growing children and life experiences. This is the reason for our visit to Türkiye so it’s great to be together!Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye
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    Resitpasa and Mr Simones

    June 5, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Today we walked through the town of Restipava without a defib, which thank God we didn’t need but often thought we might, up/down very steep long streets in humid 37c to Mr Simones cafe for traditional breakfast and kate/gavs favourite place. It was beautiful! delicious! and a lovely experience. We explored Resitpasa, where many major organisations are located such as the Istanbul Stock Exchange (across the road from their home), Police headquarters (round the corner) and kuwait Embassey (two doors up) so needless to say there is a strong security/military/police presence mixed among traditional turkish homes, shops, markets, all on cobble stone roads which are home to hundreds of street dogs and cats - quite the experience once we left their high secure fence at the front of their beautiful home. We also ate a Turkish traditional meal called manti with yoghurt and mint (melissa) and beef (peter) which was very interesting (INET).Read more

  • Peter & Melissa in Türkiye

    Ferry on the Bosphorus and hammam

    June 6, 2024 in Turkey ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    What a beautiful day on the Bosphorus 40 minute ferry ride from resitpasa to instanbul city we had today, under her beautiful suspension bridges of which there are three
    1)Bosphorus Bridge
    2)Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
    3)Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge
    The ferry ride cost $1.50 AU and the best money spent, surrounded by locals, seeing the many mosques, old castles, restaurants located on the banks presenting a modern and ancient scape all at once. There is constant noise- cars tooting, call for prayer from mosque speakers, people talking, people trying to sell you their goods (changing accents and words depending on where they think you are from),dogs barking and the odd large tankers going through the bosphorus to the black sea - a busy vibrant mix of old and new - so the ferry is relatively peaceful.

    Today we all went to a traditional Hammam located next to the Hague Sophia, a Turkish Bath. It is a traditional method of cleansing and relaxation that originated in the Ottoman Empire and involves steam, heat, and hard/rough massage. The hammam was a beautiful building, arches, mosaics, marble, stone and an experience just being in the space. We both loved the experience, men and women are separated and it took about an hour. our skin was very soft!    Read more

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