First you take all your clothes off and put them into a locker. Then you take your towel and your water bottle to the small bathroom and have a shower.

Then you enter the dim, quiet tub room. The tub is big and square, with blue tiles and wide sides to perch upon. The water is one hundred and four degrees but feels much hotter. You poke your feet in and they seem to scald. With each submerged inch of skin, there is more itching and burning. But down you go, slowly, into the hot, hot water. You sit there awhile.

After that, outside, under the sky and stars. To the wet sauna, which is a round wooden box with benches and a heating unit in the middle. The box is lit by a tiny 20-watt bulb nestled in the ceiling. You pour water onto the rocks and then stretch out on the little bench on your back. When the heat is nearly unbearable, you exit the sauna and walk directly into a cold pool on the patio, sinking up to your shoulders. Ahhh. Then back into the sauna.

Then back into the hot tub.

Repeat sauna. The sweat seems to form from nowhere and roll down the skin. You can’t tell if it’s sweat or condensed steam.

Repeat cold bath.

More sauna.

And shower.

Then you go back into the main room and lie down on a cushiony bench for awhile, hoping the heat and relaxation will help the hip somehow.

Drink water, dress, and walk home in the warm winter night.