Hammams and Fish

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The annoying thing about Riads which also makes them fantastic is the amount of light coming down into them. One one hand if you so choose you can sleep all day and all night, but on the other hand if you are relying on natural light to wake you, you may end up oversleeping. My plans to wake at dawn were retrospectively ambitious alarm clock or otherwise, but regardless dawn was well done by the time I awoke.

Despite the Riad being very nice its shower is little more than a lukewarm dribble, so I decided to get a proper wash by going to a Hammam. I found 3 which were all women only in the day (and men in the evening) so I booked a slot and went to get a shave. Ive never had a shave with a cutthroat razor but it shaves really well when in the hands of an expert. I imagine it may be beyond practicality for the home however.

I ended up back in the spice souk on my way to get lunch and was convinced to have lunch with my newfriends. They made me some "king tea" which was amazingly spicy and fragrant (and like most drinks here almost unbearably sweet) and then we headed over to the fish souk, chose our lunch, had it cleaned and then took it to be cooked. IN the mean time we bought some tomato, cucumber and red onion for a salad and apple, banana and pomegrante for a fruit salad. The fish was finally done and we again ate itaround the communal table with bread and our hands.

After the lengthy lunch I went for another stroll around town trying to take some good pictures whilst dodging the various people asked if I wanted space cakes or a smoke in hushed voices. I unfortunately managed to get a fishbone stuck in my throat at lunch which I can see if I open my mouth wide, but which I cannot remove without triggering a gag reflex. So im stuck with it, unless it gets any more painful, in which case ill have to tolerate the gagging and just yank the bloody thing out.

In the evening I went for a Hamman, or traditional bath. The hammam was a fantastic experience. You arrive and strip down to shorts (if you have them... So in my case boxers...) Before going into a steamroom where after sitting for a few minutes you have buckets of hot water thrown at you before being made to lay down, covered in soap and scrubbed with a glove with what feels like the rough side of a scouring pad attached. This is not a partial scrub, its a full body scrub. And its agony. And if that wasn't enough at several times I was very aware of having some moroccan family jewels resting on my back. Not something I'm too keen on, and as such advocate female masseus wherever possible. Unfortunately this just isn't possible in morocco. Once the scrubbing is over a black mix of herbs is placed over you and you are left to fester for a few minutes. More buckets of water, argan oil and a rough massage follow, after which the pain is almost over. Next you Wash and the final step is a rinse. In ice cold water. A hamam is one bath where you feel like you have worked hard for your cleanliness!

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