Im going morocco and want to try out a hamam. could someone explain to me what goes on in the hamam,?

Question

do i need to take anything? what kind of things take place? etc.

Answer 1

Do you mean the "Turkish baths" if so you usually take a swim suit to cover your modesty. And once there you will be asked to change into your bathing suit. Then you go into the steam room and you stay there until you are "warm" enough. Then you will be placed onto a marble table and soaped and scrubbed. Then you proceed to the cold shower to close your pores. Then you are covered head to toe with towels and left for 10-20 mins to cool down. Then you have an oil massage and they relax your system. Make sure you go to a "proper" Hammam and not just a tourist one as they are rubbish in my experience...Have at the beginning of your holiday to get the most benefit.......Have a nice holiday and all the best

Answer 2

OH MY!!! You've been to fancy hamams.... The one I've seen is nothing like that. Maybe those are more for tourists.

If you go to a regular one :

- you need to bring a mat to sit on, soap, facecloths, shampoo... anything you use to clean yourself. We even brought our buckets.

- Forget about the bathing suit, every one will be naked

- you can get someone to scrub you and massage you, but only at certain times and with extra cost

So basically, you go and you wash, scrub and just enjoy the steam. Just make sure you bring warm clothes for when you come out, even if it's hot outside.

Answer 3

"Public Bath Houses "or "Hammam" in Morocco

Public hammans in Morocco are a great place to mingle with the locals and to participate in one of their important customs. Most hammams are segregated – some have special hours for men and for women. When you go the authentic route and visit a real hammam in the medina as opposed to a fancy hotel’s upscale version, don’t expect any frills. These hammams are part of the social life of the city. They are a place for meeting and gossip as well as bathing.

Hammams usually consist of three rooms. The first room is the least steamy and is for bathing. The second and third rooms are hotter and are for massaging and relaxing.

For a small fee you get use of an open cubby-hole for your belongings (please leave all valuables back at the hotel or riad), two to three black rubber buckets, and all the hot water you desire. But don’t be greedy with the water; it’s not plentiful in desert countries. You can either bathe yourself or request a tayeba (washing person) for an extra fee.

Answer 4

salaaaaam

youll love hammam. yay!

well when you enter youll need to pay for entry and perhaps maybe for buckets.. to collect water.

you need ot chnage depending on what you feel comfortable most women strip completely leaving on pants. or soem westerners go in with bikinis.

you will need a bar of soap, you can buy this from city centre is a yellowy colour a block.

youll need a black had mit, body scrub. to exfoliate all dead skin.

youll need a mat perhaps, some palstic flip flops to wear inside you dont want to catch athletes foot or something. lol

when you go in take in all your stuff that i mentioned and what ever else you want. shampoo etc etc but youll need ot leave all your cloths and towels outside so try not tp bring valuables.

depending where you go, where i go we collect water into buckets in varying tempreatures from hot to ice cold :)

soem places also have rooms with varying steam tempreatures.

i usually start by wetting teh skin and applying teh bar of soap... tehn going into teh hot steam room... let the soap soften my skin and sweat for a bit... then i return to a cooler room and wash off teh soap. get my hand mit and start to exfolaite you can do this as many times as you wish. i ususally do it twice, and i stay there for an hour max.

its really really good for your skin and it does wanders for it. dont be shocked by teh amount of dead skin you take off lol.

after im all done return all teh things teh buckets you may have used. and bring fresh cloths and put your old ones into a bag. while im there i usually wah my hair. :)

depending where you go the service will very. soem palces in teh rich touristy cities teh have women who will wash yoand massage you.

but where im from oujda you we dont have that. we do it all our selves, and modesty aint an issue (the first person mentioned it) we are all women we ahve seen it all before lol. so dont be shocked if you see woem walkign around naked or just with pants on.

no men are allowed in teh hammam some mothers bring teh sons who are 4 or 5. but tehy dont allow any ones older then that.

depends where you go liek i said soem palces will provide you with washing things or you can buy them there, and soem palces you will need to bring your own. if you go to a traditional city or town you will needto bring your own. nut if you go to one of these cities where its basically liek visiting france then it will be like a spa all done for you. which is stupid and ruins the whole point of hammam.

Answer 5

I'm Moroccan and morocco is so awesome but what i can tell you about a Moroccan hamam is that its like taking a bath but you get the water from a pipe in the hamam. You can chose to be completely naked or have a bra and/or panties on or even a swimsuit. Basically you just wash your hair and it feels kinda like a sauna so its great because the heat opens up the body pores so you can clean yourself deeper. Also most people go because of the heat that way its a good place to hook. that's where you take a kes which is kinda rough to get all the dirt and dead skin cells off of you. Anyway you might feel kinda weird because your surrounded with naked woman or men(there is one for men only and one for woman only) but theres noting to worry about no one pays attention to the others there they just want o get cleaned and leave but some have private room. But just so you know Moroccans are very nosy people they might know something about someone that maybe their own mother might not know. Another tips is to get ice cream afterword. The telebutic where the payphones are usually sells ice cream and theirs one on pretty much every street and the one Durham one is the best after going to the hamam and don't worry if it first gets suck to your tongue its just because your tongues dry. Also fdont forget to bring your own towel shampoo and soap, a hammam chair which is a low plastic one or a mat and brushes ext.they do sell them but not all brand ussually they ony have sunsilk also its better to bring your own pockets for the water but they do perivde them Anyway have an awesome time in morocco.

Answer 6

It's wonderful, you don't need anything except your handbag which you can lock in a locker ~ it will be safe.

Towels are provided, make sure you have your bikini on under your clothes.

You will sit with a lemon/apple tea and relax, then be called through into the big room with a round slab of marble to lie on.  The massage will take place with several others having the same treatment.

The soap bubbles are rubbed up and down, then an oil massage, then you are led over to the taps for a cool rinse. Finally another massage on a comfy bed then taken over to the communal area again for more tea, where you sit and rest for about half an hour, you may fall asleep at this point.

Make sure you do it before you get your sun tan.

Answer 7

I dont wish to answer this question- I want to travel to get one!!!  LOL LOL LOL, all the input just made me want one now... :) :) :)   HaVe FuN WhEn YoU Go!!!

Answer 8

OK let's start with the basics....

You will need to pay to enter the hamam... this charge is very inexpensive.

It is a public bathing place. In Morocco from my experiences and my wife (who is Moroccan) you are not naked... men will wear their underwear and women will wear their bikini (not a bra).

When you step inside you will find three chambers. Each chamber will be increasinging warmer (HOT in the last one). Like a sauna....

You choose which temperature suits you the best and then you wash yourself. It is very typical to get someone to hire a person to scrub you (a tayaba).

The tayaba will bring buckets and water. You bring your own mat and you sit on that while the tayaba washes you. The speciality of a hamam is when they scrub you with a glove that is rough and removes dead skin from the body (kies).

When doing this for the first time it literally hurts... like someone scrubbing you with sand but it is amazing how much dead skin will be removed from the body!

The tayaba will then rinse you with water and you will be clean and refreshed. After the scrubbing, the tayaba will wash you with soap that you bring to the hamam. You will pay her and then you will wash your hair on your own.

It is an invigorating experience and one that you are not likely to forget!

Answer 9

There are two kinds - traditional Moroccan and the Turkish Hammams.  Both offer different services like steam room, gommage (exfoliation), and massage.  Those are basics but you can pick and choose from a menu of services.

Take your swimsuit just in case but you can also just keep your underwear on.  Take a towel and flipflops in case they don't offer them. Sometimes I take my own shampoo and lotions so I can shower/bathe after my massage and gommage.

It's a great experience and very relaxing.

Answer 10

It depends if you are going for a Turkish hammam or a traditional Moroccan one. Moroccan one you need a mat, shampoos and soaps, towels, you can even bring your own bucket lol. You are can wear a swim suit or just your underwear, there are open rooms or private rooms. They give you buckets of water you sit on your mat and wash everything. You can ask for a scrub, they scrub you down with a "kees" or you can do it yourself. Women spend hours in there I can just about manage 20 minutes it's too hot! When your done you wrap a towel around you and go to the changing rooms and get dressed, feeling fresh and rejuvenated!

Answer 11

i would like from u to go with a woman to hamam and do the same what she will do ....im sure u will like it ..i had a friend from germany and i bring him to hamam and he like it so much and he asked me to go there again ..lol....im sure u will love it .....

Answer 12

it´s a special hachis than the moroccoans camells sell

Answer 13

http://www.worldhum.com/how_to/item/visi...

Answer 14

As was said before.You will want to sleep for a week afterwards,it's wonderful!