Steaming into tradition: A visit to the Arasan bathhouse

ALMATY, Kazakhstan – Shirt, shoes, no service is the motto at the Arasan bathhouse.

The bathhouse was built in 1982 under the Communist Party of Kazakhstan and is one of the few remaining Soviet-era establishments in Almaty.

“Just over 200 patrons visit the bath house each day,” Diana Kaldybek, a guest services representative at the bathhouse said through a translator.

When learning about some of the bathhouse’s history during our walking tour on the first day, my friend Amy and I knew we had to go inside.

After a day full of altitude sickness at the Shymbulak Mountain Resort, we decided what could be better than sweating it out together at the Arasan bathhouse.

Following a confusing exchange with employees at the front desk, Amy and I weren’t entirely sure what we were walking into, other than a room full of naked women. We had thought the baths were clothing optional, however, we quickly learned that clothes weren’t allowed.

The bathhouse was filled with women of all ages, shapes and sizes, swimming in a cold pool together. As someone who has body image issues, I was scared to drop my towel and join the women in the pool but after some encouragement I waded in.

For the first time, I didn’t feel sexualized and if anything I felt empowered that I was there for no one but myself. However, I soon perceived that my pool mates were nonetheless judging me…for not wearing a hair net. While there were signs in English throughout the bathhouse the translations were contradictory and confusing. Women in the pool began pointing at us and yelling in a language we didn’t know. They were gesturing at us to put on a hair net. Two women who didn’t speak English helped Amy and me tie up our hair so we could return back to the baths.

Despite being called a bathhouse, the facility actually had only one pool and three floors full of three types of saunas: Eastern, Finnish and Russian. Each sauna has its own rules, with the English translations contradicting the images on the signs. Amy and I quickly made another mistake of wearing shoes into the wrong sauna, and we were promptly met with looks of disgust.

The bathhouse offers other services in addition to the saunas and baths. The most popular is a peeling procedure, Kaldybek said.

The bathhouse seemed like a place of community, with many women hanging out in social groups or with their daughters. The sense of community continued even when we found women in the Russian steam room, hitting each other with a bundle of birch leaves known as veniks. Far from painful, the swatting promotes blood circulation and provides moisturizer and a great aroma. However, the bathhouse was BYOV (bring your own venik), so Amy and I could only watch.

Knowing what we do now, Amy and I want to return to the bathhouse with the right tools and experience to fully enjoy the benefits of the steam rooms. Yet, even without following the posted suggestions the experience was rejuvenating mentally and physically. I will be looking forward to going back.