Saunas in Kiev (from the Kyiv Post) - Russian Ukrainian Belarus Travel Music Woman Dating News

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Saunas in Kiev (from the Kyiv Post)
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Posted by: Jill

To the Westerner, the sauna experience is surrounded by mystique. So many stereotypes have been associated with them, but how many are true?

As a group of four Kyiv Post staffers discovered, using and enjoying the benefits of a sauna is really no sweat.

Taking a sauna is a straightforward experience, to be enjoyed however the participants wish. Most importantly, when the end of a rough work week rolls around and relaxation takes priority, the sauna can be a great place to let off some steam.

Three of the four in our group that took on this challenge are from the West, unfamiliar with the fine art of unconsciously opening pores and releasing muscular and psychic stress. But the foray into unknown territory was worthwhile.

Where to go? Dozens of saunas dot the city. A peek at the Kyiv Business Directory shows there to a great many saunas, banyas and public bathhouses in the capital. Most are of the variety affordable to middle-class Kyivans, but a few – like the spa at the Premier Palace Hotel – offer upscale options. Our group of frugal journalists, however, went with the more cost-conscious option: In fact, we selected Aroma Sauna, the first one listed in the directory.

Saunas have been the realm of Slavs and Scandinavians for nearly two millennia. These hardy people share a harsh climate (and some say, heritage), and hot spas have become a way of life for them all – promising beneficial qualities for physical and spiritual cleansing.

In this part of the world, the traditional sauna consists of a small wood-paneled room heated by rocks placed on a hot stove, with a nearby cold pool of water – or snow for the most hardy or foolhardy.

Unlike banyas, which are typified by reciprocal floggings using birch branches in an effort to increase circulation, saunas replace this act of community and self-contrition with the communal consumption of vodka or beer instead.

Aroma Sauna turned out to be a comfortable, private place. It caters to small groups and is more than appropriate for friends and families. The whole facility rents to as many as eight people for Hr 70 per hour.

The sauna attendant was happy to show the Post bunch downstairs to a carpeted combination dressing/living room outfitted with leather couches, coffee table, television, mini-bar and kitchen supplies. And with a bathroom near the entrance, it had everything a bachelor pad has and more – even offering clean towels and slippers for Hr 5. The only thing it lacked, surprisingly, was a place to store our clothes.

Hardly put off, the group of newsmen improvised, throwing garments over the arms of the couches, on top of shoes and all over the floor. The place was, safe to say, completely at our disposal.

Only two of the bunch had brought swimsuits, The others, less inhibited and perhaps longing for the Bacchanalian spas of ancient Rome, went au natural. The same two insisted on ordering beer, which the attendant swiftly fetched for just Hr 2 each.

Through a door on the far side of the room went the team, and there emerged a lovely little space covered in tile, complete with a massage table, a cold pool, two smoked-glass shower stalls and the door to the sauna. No sub-standard bathhouse this.

Into the sauna we boldly trod, expecting to experience terrible side-effects including difficult breathing, headaches and dizziness. While it was indeed hot and dry in the room, it was bearable. The sauna itself was essentially a small square room with two tiers of benches and a stove topped with hot stones.

What we soon found was that, although sitting in a hot box for the sake of sweating is not for the claustrophobic, it is an extremely relaxing experience. The temperature can be easily regulated over a period of just a few minutes (and no more than 15 minutes at a stretch, we were told by friends), and one can let off steam for as little or much time as desired. The Post team enjoyed the dry heat the almost audible sensation of muscles melting with relief, and the olfactory experience of pine and cedar in hot, dry air.

Eventually, it became harder to bear.

They say ‘if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen,’ then where is there to go from a sauna? The pool, of course, and as soon as the newsmen got out, they got in.

Walking out of a sauna, as relaxing as it is, can impair function. A person’s body has become extremely malleable and the brain feels like molasses. Scandinavians – clever in many ways – solve this problem by jumping into snow. Preferring something more civilized, the crew had the cold water tank.

The leap into ice water after the heat of a sauna is no easy feat. Staying in was difficult for more than just a few seconds and high-pitched squeals could be heard from the members. But once out, the skin feels similar to the tongue after enjoying a bowl of ice cream, and the brain is suddenly shocked into activity.

Later on, with our collective feet up on the leather couches and some cold brews in hand, it would be safe to say our relaxation was complete.

Saunas are addictive, though, and this one called out time and again. Not once or twice, but five more times we steamed like vegetables in a wok over the course of our two hour excursion.
The entire day was made all the more enjoyable by the fact that there were scented oils such as eucalyptus available to mix with water poured over the hot rocks.

Too soon, however, our time had expired and it was time to pack and go. The normally wired crew walked out of this happy place, past the next set of customers and with only two things in mind: to recommend the experience to anyone and everyone. Saunas are incredibly rewarding, but also terribly over-booked. We advise booking well ahead of time.

The second was to take a nap. The sauna easily brings to mind the body’s needs, and trying anything constructive afterwards is an exercise in futility.

Selected Kyiv saunas:

Aroma Sauna
21 Artema, 212-0993.
Sauna and cold pool. Room for up to eight adults. Hr 70 per hour.

Edem
10A Pymonenko, 246-8467.
Sauna with a pool. Room for up to eight adults. Cost of room per two-hour session: Hr 60 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Hr 70 to Hr 100 between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.; and Hr 90 to Hr 130 between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Domino
66 Bohdana Khmelnytskoho,
235-9129.
Sauna with a cold pool. Room for up to four adults. Cost of sauna for up to three people: Hr 30 per person. Cost for four people: Hr 90.

Premier Palace Hotel
5-7/29 Tarasa Shevchenka, 244-1200.
Sauna with pool. Room for up to six people. Cost per 2 hour session:
Hr 460.

Posted by: rtking

Jill, thank you for that vivid and well written report on saunas! I like your writing style very much! I'm afraid artistic talent in writing is becoming more of lost art in America.

When I'm in the Ukraine, I'll have to give the saunas a try! But you'll never find me jumping into a cold pool of water!

Bob

Posted by: Jill

Oh my goodness--I'm sorry I wasn't more clear

I didn't write this--this is an article I took from the Kyiv Post (an English language newspaper in Kyiv).

But I can recommend tha saunas here! Actually I prefer banyas to saunas (the air is more "wet"--saunas tend to have dry heat which I don't like as much). And the masochist in me likes being being with birch branches. Just kidding