Part I. Tellak
We arrived at our hotel at 4 pm. It was very hot. They say July and August are not the best months to visit the Mediterranean and they are right. Nonetheless, Sonya and I were excited to come to Turkey on this beach holiday. It was the first time since our honey moon twenty years ago that just the two of us were going to spend 7 nights in a resort by ourselves. Our two kids, aged 19 and 18, had decided to go with friends to Spain for two weeks, so we were by ourselves!
Since we had opted for half-board accommodation to be able to explore the local cuisine and culture at dinners in the town, my wife and I were delighted to spot several nice looking restaurants on the way to our hotel.
A young man grabbed our suitcases straight from the coach and brought them with us to the reception. When I handed him some coins as a tip, he declined with a smile.
"No, Sir. You and your lovely wife are our guests. It is a pleasure to help."
The lad was in his twenties, nice looking chap with dark hair, black eyes, very slim but still muscular body, and he was smiling politely. I liked him. Sonya liked him too and she smiled back at him.
There was an elderly couple in front of us at the reception so we had to wait in the lobby before we could check in.
"Do you like it?" I asked Sonya and hugged her.
"I love it, Peter!" she replied and cuddled in me. "I hope our suite is as nice as the lobby. And everyone is so polite and hospitable. The Turkish men are real gentlemen. This boy, and the folks that helped us with directions to our coach at the airport, all very kind people."
"Indeed," I agreed with her.
We had read about Turkish men flirting with Western women as they thought they were "easy" compared to the local girls, but so far we had witnessed only politeness and care for the guests. Having said that, the man that had just helped us was joined by two other young guys, also in hotel uniforms, who started to joke with him about something in Turkish. I figured out from their looks and gestures that they were teasing him about something related to us. Our guy was dismissing their jokes, laughing and occasionally glancing at my wife.
I was not too surprised. My wife of twenty years even at 38 was still quite a catch. 5 foot 5 inches tall, with shoulder length light brown hair, greenish brown eyes, smooth white skin, B-size round shaped firm breasts, slim but not skinny body with almost perfect proportions, sporting a nicely shaped firm butt and long slim legs, she was still turning men's heads.
Men have been constantly checking out my wife ever since I've known her, but she has never paid any attention to their flirtations. Sonya has always been polite and smiling, however she would never reciprocate any advances, not only because we loved each other and have always had great sex, but because she is shy by nature and a very prudent woman.
As soon as we checked in at the reception, our guy came to us to help with the suitcases.
"What is your name?" my wife asked him.
"Kadir, madam. And you are?"
"I am Sonya; and this is my husband Peter," she introduced us.
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"You will like it here. The hotel is great, the beach is wonderful and I am sure you will fall in love with the Turkish food," Kadir praised the resort while walking along with us towards our apartment block.
"Are there any nice restaurants for dinner that you could recommend?" I asked.
"I can recommend some. Are you interested in Turkish cuisine?"
"Very much."
"OK. I know a place nearby where they serve authentic Turkish dishes that I can take you to. My shift finishes at 6:30 pm. If you would like to settle, get around the hotel, explore the beach and I will wait for you at the reception at 6:45."
"Oh, that's very kind of you," I said. "It's a deal then."
We reached the block with our suite apartment.
"You have made a great choice. Your apartment has a sea view with private SPA suite consisting of Jacuzzi, Hammam and sauna," Kadir pointed out. "Do you know what Hammam is?"
"A Turkish bath," I replied.
"Yes, but do you know what is special about it?"
"Not much," I admitted.
"It is like sauna but there is less steam, it's between a bath and a spa. In your apartment, there is a small sauna room that transitions to a small Turkish bath, the Hammam, and then Jacuzzi next to the shower cabin. You can always order a "tellak" if you wish to experience the authentic Turkish way."
"What is "tellak"?" asked Sonya.
"It is a person that helps you exfoliate and provides a traditional Turkish massage."
"Oh, I am not into massaging, least exfoliation," replied my wife. "Peter loves massage."
"With all due respect, madam, but you don't know what you are missing. I love sauna followed by oil massage on the slab, too bad I cannot afford it often. OK, maybe you won't like the exfoliation, but at least try the traditional oil massage."
"Are these tellaks some special masseurs?" I asked.
"Yes, they are," replied Kadir. "In our hotel, I and Mehmet have been trained, we had to pass an exam to become tellaks."
"So you know how to massage the Turkish way?" my wife asked.
"Not only that, but how to operate the bath. You just need to book me at the reception, usually it requires 24 hours' notice," clarified Kadir.
"We will book you, we really appreciate that you explained how this works. Sonya and I are keen to experience the local traditions."
"No problem at all. I will look after you all the way through, you can experience the full Turkish way with my help," said Kadir smiling with delight.
He placed the suitcases in the middle of the room and asked us, "Is there anything else I can help with?"
"No, thanks," I replied.
"See you at 6:45 pm."
"See you," both Sonya and I responded.
The apartment was spacious. The bath was exactly the way Kadir described it. A small sauna room with a door to a bathroom with ceramics and a marble slab in the middle to lie down for massage and exfoliation, and then a Jacuzzi next to a cabin with a shower.
"We should try this," I told Sonya.
"OK, let's try it. You wanted so much to try a Turkish bath."
"I will book Kadir to tellak us tomorrow evening."
"I am not sure about the tellak bit, Peter. I am not too keen to undress and get massaged by someone that we have just met."
"Oh, Sonya, he is a professional, and you can always put on your swimsuit."
"All right then, ask at the reception on our way for dinner."
We took showers, explored the campus and went to the beach. It was beautiful. We came back in our apartment and changed for dinner as it was already 6:30 pm.
As soon as I had managed to book Kadir as our tellak for 4 pm next day, he turned up at the reception desk and asked jokingly, "Are you ready to be taken on a journey of discovery of the Turkish way of having fun?"
Smiling, Sonya and I nodded.
After 10 minutes meandering through the narrow streets, we arrived at the restaurant. We were greeted by the owner, a man in his thirties.
"Enver is a good friend of mine," said Kadir, after he had exchanged some words with him in Turkish.
The dinner was great. We went for roasted lamb with herbs. Sonya liked the wine while I tasted the local drink called "raki". We chatted a lot. Kadir spoke very good English. He had an accent, but was otherwise quite proficient. He told us that he was 24 years old and was from a village in Anatolia.
"I work two jobs," he explained. "One at the hotel and the other one on call at Enver's yacht when he has guests. Enver's family are very rich. I want one day to be rich like him, but for now my goal is to save enough money to marry."
"Is your girlfriend from Anatolia too?" asked Sonya.
"No, I don't have a girlfriend. We are very traditional in the region I come from, no relationships with a woman are allowed until you can marry her, and you have to pay the father of the girl."
"So, no sex before marriage?" I asked jokingly.
"Peter!" reprimanded me Sonya.
"No. In western Turkey might be different, but where I come from, no."
"So, you are a virgin at 24?" I asked.
Sonya was shaking her head in disapproval of my questions while Kadir did not answer directly.
"That's why so many young men in Turkey flirt with and hit on Western women when they come here. Our girls are virtually inaccessible, if you know what I mean," Kadir explained and winked at me with a smile.
Sonya was slightly blushing at this conversation. She felt uncomfortable and took a sip from her glass of wine looking at Kadir with a mixture of curiosity and empathy for him, a young handsome lad that was deprived of the joys of woman's attention.
Kadir talked a lot about the local culture, the Turkish way of doing things as he referred to it. Sonya, who is usually reserved with people that she doesn't know well, seemed to really enjoy Kadir's company as she laughed at his jokes and giggled at his compliments. She does not drink more than two glasses of white wine, but tonight she drank four! My wife was so relaxed and at ease alongside me and Kadir that when the conversation came back to baths and tellaks, she even said that she was looking forward to try the tellak's massage tomorrow.
"Sonya, I will take good care of you," assured her Kadir. We had already switched to first names.
The conversation had moved to sea adventures in the clean waters around the coast, when Kadir suggested, "My friends at the hotel and I are going on Wednesday afternoon with Enver's yacht snorkeling and then we will party on the yacht to celebrate Enver's birthday. Why don't you join us?"