The real lowdown - Turkish Bath vs Morrocan Hammam

---

One of the experiences I was looking forward to in Morocco was a Hammam. I believed it to be similar to a Turkish bath. The truth I found out is: yes and no.

Given I have been lucky enough to have experienced a Turkish bath in Istanbul and now a Moroccan Hammam in Marrakesh I do have some basis to make the comparison. In short, going for a Turkish bath is paying to get beat-up by a very large hairy Turkish man who speaks no English and who seems to take a delight in inflicting pain. Whereas a Hammam is paying to be flayed by a large hairy Moroccan woman who who speaks a little English and who seems to take a delight in inflicting pain. Subtle but important differences.

In a Turkish bath the "loosening" of the muscles and the bathing with a sponge (the size of a medium sized watermelon) is administered with a great deal of body blows by hands, elbows and said sponge. All delivered by a giant deaf mute who only snorted with amusement when my grunts of pain were offered up. That ordeal left me with bruises and a two day headache.

In the Hammam and large (almost as hairy) woman seemed almost motherly until she brought out the scouring glove and started to go at removing any and all skin from my body (skin which I thought was perfectly fine and had spent a good deal of the summer tanning to a nice even color) like a mechanic removing the chrome from the bumper of an old car. My noises of discomfort growing to near alarm made no impression on her. It felt like the glove she was using was a glove of nails points or broken glass. She gleefully showed me the exfoliant glove after she was finished, with all my former tan covering it's surface. She threw buckets of water over me at this point which strung like hell as there was little skin left to protect my flesh. Thankfully this was all concluded by a massage given by a much more reasonable masseuse with argan oil. Good thing argan oil is known as a great healing aid. It effects will come in handy as I grow back a new outer surface.

Why would I back for a Hammam after my Turkish experience? Two reasons: To find out what the locals without running water do to bathe on a weekly basis and because you only go around once.......

P.S. Gemma the Dutch woman who runs the cooking school I attended today laughed when I told her this story. She confided that she takes her own exfoliant glove for the staff to use when she goes for a Hammam because "the ones they use are far too rough" No kidding!

---