Yesterday at about 2 pm all of us from the 10 beds apartment-youth hostel in Budapest headed out to one of the Hungarian Bath Houses. But being the adventurous souls that we are, did not decide to go to the touristy, English speaking bath house in the park. Instead, we decided to go to the local Hungarian bath house.... it was supposed to be better, more pools with more temperatures, etc. We made the long walk there, stopping to get kebabs, juice, etc along the way. It was not very apparent which building we were supposed to go into. We had a rudementary map, but buildings were not marked, and if they were, it was in Hungarian. Luckily, the guys that travel have no problems asking for directions so we found an English speaker who pointed us to a dark red brick communist hospital looking building with no windows. We entered and found the "menu" of options, which confused us even further because everything was in Hungarian and absolutely nothing said "bath". Old Hungarian folks were bringing prescription-looking papers to the desk to pay, and I did question at that time if we were in the right place. We walked up to the desk, without having a clue as to what to "order" and one the Australians (a spitting image of John Belushi, physically dramatic and hilarious) says in thick Aussie accent English, "We are here for the baths."
She had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
So in true language barrier fashion, he said it again, only this time slower and louder.
It was very obvious that we were going nowhere fast, so I suggested that he show her our tourist map where it said, "Lukacs Baths". He pulled out the map and she immediately smiled, nodded, and charged him 1400 Forrit (about 7 dollars US). Once we paid, we exited the building into a courtyard, a campus of hospital like buildings. It was then that we noticed all the men in while lab coats carrying around various viles and specimens. It was then that we noticed all the "patients" milling about aimlessly, looking confused. You should have seen the looks on everyone's faces. It was like entering an insane asylum.... One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest Style. It was downright weird.
To make a long story short..... we finally found the correct building for the baths. It takes a while to navigate inside and outside when you do not even know the hungarian words for enter and exit. We finally figured out how to work the lockers, got changed into our bathing suits, took our pre shower, and THEN...... walked back in time.... centuries ago if not more.
The old concrete structure (indoor) was a network of small pools each with it's own room with high vaulted ceilings. Old, ornate turkish fountains drained into each pool. Each pool has it's own temperature, ranging from very cold to very hot. The steam room was fragranced with eucalyptus, which spilled out into the air. It was dark and damp. It echoed due to the enclosured architecture. I had fantasies about ancient people thousands of years ago bathing in the communal waters right where I was. I had a zen moment. It was magnificient. And no one tried to give me a labodomy. And no one was naked.
We stayed for hours..... and I am pretty sure that (while we all initially thought it was a bunch of hoop la) each of us was healed in our own way that day.