But it is south I go to Constanta , not only one of the largest ports in Europe but with the nine miles sand bar of Mamaia , a chic holiday destination for adventurous Europeans. Here the Black Sea gave way to sulfur-rich lakes, full of life-enhancing salts and minerals. My mission was to wallow in mud and with some persistent searching, there was no signage , I found the Bai Reci.
Under a road and rail bridge, a steady stream of locals clad in only swimwear went and so I followed. And lo and behold through the arch was a doorway where they all disappeared. A security guard made sure of no cameras and I filed right to the Femme side of life. Here there is segregation of the sexes and I soon found out why. Turning right and then left I emerged, blinking in the bright sunlight onto a beach with showers and lots of nakedness.
I found a spot and surveyed the weird scene. A beach, a lake and female naked bodies in nearly fifty shades of grey, standing around arms outstretched. I spotted two buckets on a wooden board in the center of the beach and assumed this was the mud source. Being the adventurous brave soul, the only option was to strip naked and walk to the buckets over the warm sand.
The mud was shiny black and tar-like and stank to high heaven. My fingers submerged into the mud as I dug in and started smearing myself from head to toe. But of course, there was my back. Unbeknown to me I had been watched and a sweet local gal came to my aid. With one swirl of hands, I turned and she smeared my back and I proffered to do the same for her. This was very sociable and soon more came to join the bucket brigade. A strict code of treatment was set out in Romanian only on a notice board!
Now fully coated, glistening in the sun we turned and dried for 20 minutes. Now resembling elephants in a wrinkly grey skin it was time to take the long walk.
