The Moskva river looks like a scene from the Arctic. Ships break a line through the ice. The trail freezes for a few moments until the next ship passes. We meet Anton and Paulina in Strelka institute. An online connection that comes to life in flesh and bones. Internet as the great flattener, malleable borders and a sea of potential connections. As we discuss our loose travel style, Anton suggests joining him and a friend for a Russian steam bath or Banya. This is a quintessential cultural experience. For the occasion we visit the oldest one in Russia. The Sanduny Bath House (established in 1808).
There are different rooms depending on your gender and your affluence. We choose the common one, deposit our winter coats, don a towel and the traditional felt hat. The later is ment to protect your head from the scalding heat of the sauna room. This is an exaggeration I think, until I step inside the furnace. The scorching heat roasts every inch of exposed skin. And there is a lot of it. Your breath becomes fiery, and after a minute or two your sweat glands start crying. The room is full of rose tinded bulky Russian men, with or without towels. All in our funny felt hats that remind me of British police helmets. The oven uses metal rods that get blazing hot overnight and then omit all the needed heat to roast a roomfull of men.
If you want to experience what it feels to be inside an oven that is the place to be. Though Finish saunas are even hotter or so they say. At times a man opens the furnace door and dolops a few laddles of water. That’s when you feel the heat. In the middle of the room there are two flat surfaces. Men lay there as a worker whips them with birch tree leaves. A rhythmic percussion sound, the music of the sauna. Five minutes and we dash out.
The outside area provides an assortment of cold delights. Pools, wooden bathtubs, hanging baskets and showers. All at 3C, the perfect temperature to constrict your dilated blood vessels. Feeling alive we head our to finish our beers and salty fish and exchange stories about travels. A few sauna rounds, a few cold dips a few salty fish and you are good to go. Out in the chilly December night.
Winter клюква 