Hammam in Essaouira
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2005
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189
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Trip End
Jan 25, 2009
Essaouira,
Morocco
Friday, August 25, 2006
A Hammam is a local concoction similar to Turkish baths. I shared this experience with Thomas who was as equally imressed as I was.
The Hammam starts with stripping down to your underwear. You go through to a hot room where you relax for about 10 minutes and become accustomed to the change in environment. The Hammam's are strictly gender segregated. After relaxing I had a young guy come in and poor buckets of hot water all over the body. After that, your attendant scrubs you with soap, followed by a sponge like glove that removes all the dirt (a gromage) and a shampoo. Once that is over, you go into another room where I had an unbelievable massage, which hurt at times but is very satisfying
Abundance of local Moroccan spices
. It is definitely hard work for the guy... the sweat was pouring off him. As part of the massage the guy uses his elbow up and down the spine and legs. What made the experience even more satisfying were the oils used. At the end of the massage the guy pours two full buckets of cold water all over you which was very refreshing but a bit of a shock. I walked out of the Hammam feeling the cleanest I've ever been and longing for more. In coming to Morocco, you MUST have a Hammam, preferably an upmarket one that I had for about 180 plus 20 dirham tip (30 dollars). Definitely beats the massages I had in Thailand and Vietnam. If only we had these in Australia. I'd be there every week. Fantastic stuff.Given that we were so imressed with the fish stalls last night we returned for more. Not bad when you get an abundance of fish with excellent service all for small amount of 60 dirham.
After dinner we went to Taros Bar for a bit of local entertainment. We had the pleasure of watching Summer's Moroccan boyfriend and soon to be husband Yassen perform in his band. Great music and a lot of fun. I was very tired and headed home with Cheryl at midnight. The locals are very friendly. Very easy to chat to the locals here.
