Into the furnace

Баня. Banya. (A Russian sauna house). The authentic Russian experience. Tonight I discovered a new layer of what it means to be a Russian. Now I have had banya's in Russia many times before. You can read about the Banya from back in July when we were in Krasnoyarsk. On previous occasions I have always gone to the Banya by myself.

Let me give you some back ground information. A banya is a little house, usually not attached to the main dwelling. It has three rooms, the first room is for changing and resting in. The second room is for washing with a bucket and soap. The third is for sweating, the sauna room. There is a fire in between the second and third rooms. Above the fire are some rocks. Water is thrown on to the rocks to steam the room up. When we sat down in the sauna room the temperature was already 85 degrees celsius. This was already quite hot. But when some water is thrown on the rocks, the temperature would spike quite quickly, my guess is another 10 degrees instantly, so up to 95 degrees celsius. This is very hot.

Tonight we were guests at the home of some Russian baptists. They have built their own banya. Now, like I said I have been in banyas many times before in Russia. I have always enjoyed them. But I have always gone in by myself. The temperature has usually been about 80 degrees. Tonight there were four of us. Dan and I, Igor and Aleksandr, the owner and constructor of the banya. Aleksandr and Igor were quite serious about their banya session. My experiences in the past have usually finished after 20 minutes.

The first thing that was different tonight, was that we put some little hats on, when we sat in the sauna room. I thought that was crazy. But the hat actually keeps your head at a constant temperature, which means well below the 90+ temperatures. The head is insulated against the heat. After sitting there for 10 or 15 mins, I did the traditional Russian thing, which is to go outside into the snow. Oh by the way, this was the real thing, so we were all naked. The weather outside was quite mild, maybe only -2 or -3, so it felt quite nice. I threw some snow all over myself. In the past I have tried to do this and felt very cold, but not tonight. I think the crazy little hat I was wearing made all the difference.

Back inside to the furnace, to sweat it out some more. The idea is to go back and forth between the heat and the cold. I think this really gets the blood pumping. In the sauna room, the idea is to sweat out all the gunk from the pores. The first room is a good place to sit and rest in between cycles, have a drink, and refresh yourself before heading back to the heat. Now this banya was hotter than I was used to. But I was coping ok.

The next new experience was the killer. Every time that I have been in the banya, I have used the birch branches and given myself a whack. This helps to open the pores up further. But tonight it was going to be true Russian style. Aleksandr ushered me back into the sauna room and made me lie down on the wooden ledge. The birch branches had been sitting in a bucket of very hot water. He proceeded to whack me with the branches all over my back and legs. He continued adding water to the rocks and the temperature kept spiking. I was getting very hot and I told him I had enough. But he would not let me leave. He was going to make sure that I stood the course. Then he made me roll over! Ouch. It was hot! Very hot. He took the branches and shook them in the air just above my body, which created a cloud of steam just above my body. Now, I won't say that it was not a "worth while" experience. I know that this is actually good for one's health. But Aleksandr was the real Mc Coy.



Finally, my ordeal was over. I went out into the snow and recovered. I came back into the ante room. Dan was sitting there resting. He had already heard me calling out when it was so hot. I said to Dan, "you can go through the experience and it will be good for you, but it is a little like your worst night mare." Dan braved the craziness too and our initiation was complete. We sat there resting and Aleksandr proceeded to tell us that we had only been there an hour and that a real banya experience should last two or three hours. I laughed and told him that he was a true Сибиряк -Sibiryak. I thought, no time like the present for a little flattery, as I felt that he had something to prove to us about his prowess. I stalled the conversation as much as I could. he wanted us to go back for a second beating. Anyways, when Aleksandr went back in to the sauna room I started drying myself. Dan followed shortly after having his wash with soap and water (which I had done previously, I know that much about a banya). So basically, we made a run for it.



Now, I still enjoy a good banya, and I think this was a- well an experience. But I am not sure that I want to return to Aleksandr's place for another banya. Something crazy about the Russian psyche, he just wouldn't take no for an answer. (Aleksandr likes to get the temperature up to 120 degrees celsius, but I had run away before he did that.)

Dan and I skulked off and had some tea and food inside with Melody and Aleksandr's wife Galina. Igor appeared half an hour later and Aleksandr another 30 minutes again. Oh, I should mention that Dan had an easier time, it was Igor that gave him his birch whacking. But then again this was his first banya, he deserved a bit of a break. At least I can say that I took him to the real thing.
I will sleep well tonight.


Dan and I survived a real Siberian pummeling.


A nice spread to calm us afterwards.


Igor looks a little exhausted no?