let me preface this post with a disclaimer: a have the utmost respect for this as a tradition and part of moroccan culture. this is my experience as a westerner, from the US, where we really have no equivalent. also i tend to be a bit cheeky.
ahhh, your first hammam. confused about what to expect? i was too. let me walk you through my experience so you can better prepare yourself.
if you’re thinking “well isn’t it kind of odd to have someone else bathe me?” the answer is yes. there really isn’t a way around feeling a bit awkward, especially if you’ve never experienced anything like it before. even the nakedness and contact of a massage can’t prepare you for this experience. i’ll be frank, it’s a bit odd.
at the beginning of my experience, i was flirting with mortified. about half way through, i settled into just feeling like a car at the carwash. by the end, i was starting to feel a bit luxurious & pampered. but still very naked, with a stranger washing my body.
i went to a hammam down the street from my hostel, rodamón, in marrakech. two of my friends from the hostel had gone already and really enjoyed it, & another friend had done one in dubai & loved it. “it’s so wonderful,” she said, “plus there’s so much steam you can barely even see in front of you!” it sounded pretty fabulous, & was on every “things you must do in morocco” list i had come across. so, why not, right? when in rome, etc.
my friend and i booked them for that evening, 45 min hammam followed by a 45 min massage. i figured if nothing else, i would enjoy the latter. plus for only 350 durham (roughly $35) i thought it was hard to go wrong. the place we went is called assal hammam spa, & was really beautiful. afterwards people kept asking me if the one we did was traditional or touristy, & honestly i have no idea. if i had to guess, i’d assume the latter.
we were brought upstairs to a central sitting area with two doors into private rooms flanking it. tucked into one corner was a nook the size of a (small) dressing room, with a curtain hanging. we were ushered in there together, & given robes, disposable slippers, and tiny paper thongs.
if i’m losing you already at “tiny paper thongs,” trust me, i was right there with you. but alas, i donned the wee shred, and suited up in my robe.
we were then brought into separate bathing rooms, & mine was quite beautiful. it was all stone, lined on either side with benches that were covered with what i can only best describe as a mix between a yoga mat, and those squishy plastic thing you put under rugs to stop them from moving. along the back wall was a spicket that poured into a large collecting bin (if you’re familiar with a classic moroccan water fountain in town, it’s like that) with two buckets awaiting in the water. the whole floor was slightly slanted towards the drain. there was no steam. it was softly lit, but you could see clear as day.
pictures of the hammam room, from their website. i was unable to take any pictures as i was busy being naked & confused.
my hammameuse (hammamer?) wore all black, with her pants scrunched up about mid calf. she spoke only arabic & french, so there was minimal communication other than gestures & “is good?” every once in awhile.
she gestured for me to sit, and grabbed a bucket. there is no graceful technique here, they are literally throwing buckets of water at/on you. she checked to see if the temperature was okay (“is good?”) and when i agreed, got busy with the bucket.
after i was sufficiently soaked, she gestured for me to lie down. first she slathered me in some sort of soap, had me turn over to get the other side, then buckets for a rinse. next was an exfoliant applied with a plastic scrubbing glove. i grew up riding horses & couldn’t help but feel the similarity here. i had to sneak a glance to see how similar it was to the ones we’d use to bathe horses for the shows. pretty much the same thing.
after a second rinse she sat me up, & without any warning, dumped a couple buckets of water directly on top of my head. after the first bucket i at least knew what was coming so i could hold my breathe accordingly, but that first one really felt a bit like waterboarding. she applied something to my hair, & i took a few more buckets to the face.
now feeling like a drowned, harassed rat (shoutout to anyone who catches that reference) with hair plastered on my face, spitting out water from my mouth, i was ready for my mask. or, i wasn’t ready & had no idea that was coming next, but it was.
i was instructed to lie back down and my body was slathered in oil, i’m assuming argan. she then applied a mask to my face with a soft brush, that was thick & smelled like molasses. she confirmed “is good?” & although some was getting into my right eye & burning like hell, i was worried that would mean i’d take more buckets to the face so i just replied yes. i spent the next 10 or so min trying to blink it out discreeting, listening for her movement toward the fountain in case i needed to hold my breath.
thankfully she sat me up before taking the mask off, so i was able to prepare myself. i then stood as she tossed bucket after bucket onto my body, was instructed to heave up my boobs so she could toss under them, & lift my arms to get at the pits. hut two, i was all done.
i was robed, handed my slippers, and shuffled off in a daze to the massage room across the way, where another woman also got incredible familiar with my naked bod (soggy paper thong & all). the massage was pretty much the same as any other i’ve had, except again i assume the oil was argan.
overall is was really a pretty lovely experience, but having done the hammam once i’m not sure i’d do it again. it was certainly the cleanest i’ve ever been (i don’t think i have ever spent 45 min scrubbing down every inch of my body) and my skin was exceptionally soft. that said, i think i’d prefer to do the cleaning myself, and only outsource for the rub down.
the ladies at assal could not have been nicer though, and i would certainly recommend them. if you’re staying at rodamón, they come get you then walk you back which is lovely considering how easy it is to get lost, and made me much more comfortable making an appointment in the evening.
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