Splashing water and having a good time, that’s Hamam, the Arabian bath. Prices vary with the region. While in Turkey that pleasure costs about even up to 50 Euro to get the full program (Cagaloglu Hamam, Istanbul), in Syria you only have to pay a fractional amount of 4-7 Euro. Damascus’ best Hamam is definitely Nur ed-Din, located south of Umayyad Mosque, close to Khan Assad Basha and Azem Palace. There’s drop of bitterness though as this Hamam is for men only. Women can visit the al-Qaimariyya Haman, which is just opposite of Elissar restaurant. It’s open for ladies until 17:00, after it’s a men thing again. A fabric curtain at the door indicates if men may enter the Hamam or not. After barging into a fully occupied ladies’ circle I fully understood that curtain sign :-)
Let’s get back to Hamam Nur ed-Din. Its entrance is a bit hidden between a small prayer room to the left and several spice stalls to the right. The wide open rest room, its carpets and cushioned settles immediately join the small entrance area. At least here you should have dropped your shoes to temporarily store them in the boxes below the settles. But before taking off your clothes, you deposit your valuables at the entrance in small secure lockers.

In the elevated area of the rest room your clothes are taken off except for underpants; you’re getting wrapped in a cotton cloth then. In defiance of slipping down THAT cloth is tight and can resist even wind force 8 ;-) Now you’re ready to meet the first stop of a Hamam procedure: the sauna. Whether it’s Finnish or a steam sauna, the first stop means sweating. In upscale Hamams you have to take a shower after sauna. With the shower hardly finished he stood in front of me, my massager: blond, penetrating blue eyes, a man twice the size presumably of Russian origin. A man whose punch could easily fold me together like a beer can. The following 20 minutes immediately rehabilitated that guy though as he gave me a very good and relaxing massage.
After his kneading procedure you’re going to a second much vaporous room. In its niches are water bowls and a guy give you a full body scrub/peeling with a goat hair glove while applying best soap foam, of course made of Aleppo soap. More about that later. I recommend to take real Aleppo (or Marseilles) soap with you as on site for the self washing you’re supplied only with normal European, made of animal fat. Just buy yourself a piece of Syrian soap at the souq nearby. The best are olive and laurel oil based soaps older than 8 years. Much more I recommend the much smaller special soaps made of different oil types, having mint, pine or even cumin extracts. Its velvet-like foam and the steam bath are giving your skin a clear appearance and satiny feeling. It’s so soft that you want to snuggle yourself. A further hint: it is also advisable to take two underpants with you, unless you fancy an airy feeling á la Paris Hilton when walking back home ;-)

You can spend as much time as you want in the steam bath while washing yourself. You cover yourself with soap foam from top to bottom to finally give yourself a wash with one of the small water-filled bowls. When you came to an end, the wet cotton cloth is taken off and you get a new one. Then it goes back to the rest area, where you’ll also be wrapped in an army of towels. Wrapped up that way you sit there while relaxing, drinking good tea and meeting new friends like e.g. Dr. Bilgo from Cairo. He was as happy as a sandboy to meet me, a European, who was looking for a common bath experience.
Being eager to visit a Hamam soon I asked him about a good Hamam in Cairo. He told me that Egyptian Hamams are far away from the quality of Damascene baths and whenever he’s in Damascus he visits Nur ed-Din. To boot foreigners are rarely allowed to enter Egyptian Hamams. My later stay in Cairo underlined what Mr. Bilgo was talking about.

Used photo equipment: Canon EOS 20D, Canon EF-S 10-22, Tamron 17-50 f2.8, Tamron 28-75 f2.8

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Date: Apr 8th, 2007 · Comment RSS · Tags: Syria