Goin' to the Banya

Our first full day in Russia Kendal and I were taken to a banya, or Russian bath. Our friend Pietr brought us there. At the entrance we received two bundles of beach tree branches. We proceeded to a tiny little closet where we stripped down and wrapped ourselves with these skimpy little towels that resembled Kleenex. We headed to the main room where Pietr soaked the branches in hot water while Kendal and I entered the sauna. It was freaking hot! Naturally somebody threw water on the heating element as soon as we sat down. Pietr explained that the branches were for whipping. I volunteered to be the first victim. Supposedly whipping gets the blood moving. Before he began Pietr mysteriously waved the branches in the air to circulate the heat. Never mind the whipping- he could have smacked me as hard as he wanted. Nothing was more painful than lying on that hot wooden bench. It wasn't long before I needed to get out of the sauna and into the frigid pool out in the main room. So back and forth between one extreme and the other we spent several hours with intermittent tea breaks. It was a sublime way to spend our inaugural day. Banya has become the trip mantra, and we have pledged to hit one in every town.