A Night at the Bania
<br>================================ Nude Night At the Bania<br>By Howard Williamson (SLUGS)<br>The Russian "bania" is a centuries old social institution in Russia. Similar "sweat baths" in other cultures are common, such as the "hammam" in Islamic countries, the "sauna" in Scandinavian countries, and the "sweat lodge" among the American Indians. Others are often referred to such as the Roman baths, the Turkish steam room, as well as the Greeks. <br>The first difference I noted as I began my evening there was that the hot room was huge and was very hot. I later noted that the thermometer mounted on the wall on the third tier of benches read 216 degrees Fahrenheit – a far cry from the 165 to 180 degrees I had been used to in local saunas. The other thing I noted is that instead of having wood covering all the surfaces, only the benches were wood. There was a large brick oven in one corner – about four feet square and from floor to ceiling. It was filled with large rocks, with a large cast iron door, with open grilles at the top and bottom to let the hot air circulate throughout the room. The floor is tile. The net result is that you not only have the hot air of the sauna, but every surface is radiating heat into your body. <br>The result is a most pleasing soft heat that soaks into you from every direction. For those that don't want the very high heat at the top, each lower level of bench is about 10 to 15 degrees cooler, so you can easily find the degree of heat that suits you. I found that as the evening progressed I was seeking some of the lower levels. <br>As any good "sweat bath" facility should, Banya 5 has a cold (55 degrees F) plunge pool, and a relaxing room where you could lie down as well as a socializing room with tables and chairs. In addition, there was a salt water pool just slightly cooler than body temperature. This made a wonderful place to both begin and to cool down more slowly than the cold pool. Within the same room, there were two "industrial strength" showers with water pipes about 1-1/2 inches leading to them. The water temperature was controlled to a good shower temperature. There was also a hot tub whirlpool – although fairly small. <br>For those that like a true steam room, it has probably the finest steam room I've ever been in. I normally don't like steam rooms, but this one seemed somehow different. Maybe it was a high quality steam generator, maybe it was the slight hint of Eucalyptus in the steam – whatever it was, it was the most comfortable and pleasurable steam room I've ever used. <br>So, let's get back to the title – Nude night at the Bania. Banya 5 reaches out to their current customer's comfort level by offering a nude night for men, a nude night for women, a family time on Sunday, and the rest of the time is Co-ed. Unfortunately, there is no Co-ed nude time. But – that was really the main reason for my visit to Banya 5, to discuss with the partner and General Manager how we might get a designated Co-ed clothing optional time slot. What I found was that he was a card-carrying TNS member, and really wanted to have such a night – if only he could get a reasonable attendance at it. I told him of the potential size of the market in this area, and that there was a pent-up demand for some sort of venue since the demise of the nude swims at the SAC in north Seattle. <br>So, here's the deal – he is willing to open one night a month for a co-ed clothing optional night – if he can get upwards of 20 people attending. My part is to get the word out to all the naturist and nudist clubs in Washington, Oregon, and Vancouver, B.C. to see if we can generate enough interest to get his minimum need. He is not requiring that we rent the facility, and he will be the one at risk by providing all the staff and bearing the operating costs. This is really a first in this area having a commercial establishment open up for nude use. We are only advertising to established clubs (landed and travel – as well as at-large TNS and AANR members) – and not advertising to the general public. We feel that this will provide us a wonderful opportunity to develop a monthly nude activity.<br>Details – The first target night is Monday, March 28, 2005 from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm. I know – Monday night isn't the most convenient, but they are normally closed Monday, and this way he doesn't impact his normal schedule or his regular customer base. This is an authentic Russian bania – a high quality experience in a first class facility. As such, it comes at a price – $25.00 – so we need to have some commitment of about 20 people who will come to this first event. Please email me at <a href=/group/AANR-NW-eNews/post?postID=Y_DAMFA1dQXJ5a-TaaDJH1tKUy-QH4NsrCaNcOPtrJGsmVJT8IskQTf1jmtwz81ijEZa2JjloO0MZTRpg0cPmOp78w>banya5night@slimetrail.org</a> with your commitment to attend the March 28th event. Or, if you don't have email, please mail me at 1911 SW Campus Drive, #203, Federal Way, WA 98023, but please don't just say "I'm interested" – we need a commitment on your part to make this work. If we don't have a sufficient number, it won't happen. I think once you try out the whole package, you'll be very pleasantly surprised and hopefully want to continue it. Ideally it would be available monthly, but maybe it would be best to be done a couple times a year. These are all things we can work out – but give it a try this first time, and let's see if we can't get this to be a regular event. [End]<br><br><br> </td>
