Getting a massage in a bath house in Tbilisi, Georgia

"I'm stark naked and lying face down while a man in shorts attacks me in a manner that, under normal circumstances, I would regard as outright physical assault. But, just before I scream in pain, the masseur stops to dump a huge bucket of hot water over me on my marble slap. It's my first evening in Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and I'm finding out how the local guys like to relax - in the beautiful tiled surroundings of one of the city's ancient bath houses, wreathed in the smell of sulphur from one of the hot springs beneath the city."

(Extract from Maxton Walker's report in The Guardian where he writes about the devastating impact of Russia-Georgia war on tourism in Georgia)

*photo - by Maxton Walker, via The Guardian