Hammam

I knew I couldn't leave Morocco without visiting a hammam, or public bath house. A tradition from the days when not everyone had running hot water at home, the neighbourhood hammam is where people would go to bathe, with a little socialiaing thrown in for good measure.

The main hammam in Chefchaouen is open in the afternoons to women. You come armed with a special exfoliant glove, a type of vegetable oil-based gooey black soap, as well as your normal shampoo and body wash. I'd never been, so instead of washing myself, I opted for a massage and gommage for my first time the the resident bath attendant lady.

Who ever would have thought that sitting there half naked, being scrubbed and exfoliated and massaged and having buckets of water poured over your head in a big communal steam bath by a toothless lady would have been so great? Skin like a baby's is a cliche description, but it's an apt one.

I bought a glove and some black soap to take home with me, but unfortunately the hammam lady couldn' t come with me.