Turning 30 made me acutely more aware of my skincare practices. As a single lady who is dating, it takes one late night of indulgences to wake-up looking like the crypt keeper. I recently found myself investing in facial creams and finally getting around to washing my face at night (no more dirty pillows).
A couple days into our trip Sarah and I decided to head to Hammam. The look on our hostess and her sister’s face should have indicated what a vulnerable experience it would be. To save money we decided to do a couples hammam and massage. When we arrived at the salon, everything was pristine. We sipped on our mint tea as we flipped through the menu of spa treatments. Eventually, we were called to put on our robes. We started to take our clothes off... should we go in our underwear? Our bra? We decided to make like an American spa trip and just wear our bottoms.
We are lead up two sets of stairs where we were greeted by two women and entered a steam room with no steam. It wasn’t too wide, the walls were made of concrete, there was a faucet a top a large fountain slash human sized bird bowl. It wasn’t big enough to be a tub but large enough to scoop water from. So our new buddies take our robes and place arms crossed across our naked chest. Mind you, I had no idea what was about to happen. Splash! A large bucket of water was dumped on my head. I stood there like a drown rat, Sarah was next.
I was told to lay down where my body was covered in mud. And let me tell you, there was very little left untouched. Clinical in their approach, I don’t think the girls wanted to be there any longer than they needed too. I will also say, I’m not sure I’ve ever been that intimate with evan a lover. Seriously, a couple's experience? I wouldn’t want anyone, no matter how much I love them, to see all my jiggly bits like that. Poor Sarah!
This scrub down routine happens about 6 more times. Stand-up, lay down, turn around….At one point they take a glove and scrap off all the dead skin off your body. If the dumping of the water on my head wasn’t enough to feel baptismal then the shedding of my skin, tan and all, definitely drilled the point home. They were pulling our underwear from side to side rinsing the mud off. Before I knew it, I’m standing under a shower getting my hair braided with oil like a child while Sarah is convinced the eucalyptus that got in her eye is going to blind her. To end, they wrapped us in our robes and we dazzily walked to our massages.
The massage was also a little baring, I discovered pressure points I didn’t even know existed! In true Moroccan fashion we ended the experience in beautifully cushioned chairs wrapped in our robes, with warm blankets draped our bodies, sipping mint tea and watching a fire. We had to relax at some point.