Bath House sights in Africa
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A
Hammam Draghut
Hammam Draghut
reviewed
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B
Sahib Hammam
You haven't fully experienced Tunisia until you've been scrubbed down with an oven scourer by an enthusiastic elderly masseur. The oldest and most atmospheric hammams (public bathhouse) are in the medina, keeping residents steamed and cleaned. Often recognisable by their candy-striped red-and-green doorways and undecorated domes, they feel as if they haven't changed (or been cleaned) for hundreds of years. It's an amazingly exotic, sensual and relaxing experience.
You'll need a towel, and you might want a scrubbing mitt, shampoo and soap. To avoid undue attention, be aware that people don't bathe naked, but wear their underwear (men wear shorts). There are bucketloads to…
reviewed
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C
El-Methihra Hammam
You haven't fully experienced Tunisia until you've been scrubbed down with an oven scourer by an enthusiastic elderly masseur. The oldest and most atmospheric hammams (public bathhouse) are in the medina, keeping residents steamed and cleaned. Often recognisable by their candy-striped red-and-green doorways and undecorated domes, they feel as if they haven't changed (or been cleaned) for hundreds of years. It's an amazingly exotic, sensual and relaxing experience.
You'll need a towel, and you might want a scrubbing mitt, shampoo and soap. To avoid undue attention, be aware that people don't bathe naked, but wear their underwear (men wear shorts). There are bucketloads to…
reviewed
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D
Zitouni Hammam
You haven't fully experienced Tunisia until you've been scrubbed down with an oven scourer by an enthusiastic elderly masseur. The oldest and most atmospheric hammams (public bathhouse) are in the medina, keeping residents steamed and cleaned. Often recognisable by their candy-striped red-and-green doorways and undecorated domes, they feel as if they haven't changed (or been cleaned) for hundreds of years. It's an amazingly exotic, sensual and relaxing experience.
You'll need a towel, and you might want a scrubbing mitt, shampoo and soap. To avoid undue attention, be aware that people don't bathe naked, but wear their underwear (men wear shorts). There are bucketloads to…
reviewed
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E
El-Kachachine Hammam
You haven't fully experienced Tunisia until you've been scrubbed down with an oven scourer by an enthusiastic elderly masseur. The oldest and most atmospheric hammams (public bathhouse) are in the medina, keeping residents steamed and cleaned. Often recognisable by their candy-striped red-and-green doorways and undecorated domes, they feel as if they haven't changed (or been cleaned) for hundreds of years. It's an amazingly exotic, sensual and relaxing experience.
You'll need a towel, and you might want a scrubbing mitt, shampoo and soap. To avoid undue attention, be aware that people don't bathe naked, but wear their underwear (men wear shorts). There are bucketloads to…
reviewed
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Hammam Azouz
One of the most extraordinary buildings in Rosetta has to be the Hammam Azouz, a 19th-century bathhouse. Just south of the city centre, this restored ode to Ottoman ablution has a fine marble interior with elaborately carved wooden beams and trimmings. Several bathing rooms encircle the main, fountain-centred bath room, and tall domed ceilings crown each chamber.
Tiny round holes in the domes let in piercing shafts of light (and would have let out steam), with some still covered in colourful stained glass that further bathes the place in a faint rainbow of surreal colours. Tickets for the bathhouse are available at the House of Amasyali.
reviewed
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Kidichi Persian Baths
The Kidichi Persian Baths are another construction of Sultan Seyyid, built in 1850 for his Persian wife at the island's highest point. Like the other nearby ruins, they're rather unremarkable now, but with a bit of imagination, you can see the Sultan's lavishly garbed coterie disrobing to test the waters. The décor, with its stylised birds and flowers, is typically Persian, though it's now in poor condition.
To get here, take dalla-dalla 502 to the main Bububu junction, from where it's about a 3km walk east down an unsealed road. Look for the bathhouse to your right.
reviewed
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Les Palais Rhoul Hammam
A classic Moroccan hammam, with separate chambers for varying levels of heat, zellij (mosaic) and tadelakt (polished plaster) walls, and sunbeams filtering through vaulted ceilings. It's oddly placed alongside a French baroque villa, amid fake Berber tents pitched in a formal garden - but don't let that deter you. The standard hammam treatment includes gommage, rhassoul with orange-flower water and massage with organic essential oils, and it really Rhouls. Treat yourself to cocktails afterwards at Abyssin and you may have to be scraped up and mailed home.
reviewed
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Ksar Char-Bagh Hammam
A trip to this spectacular subterranean red-marble hammam is almost eerily like rebirth. Re-entry to the world is eased with scented essential oils, liberal application of Anne Semonin products and a mood-lit lounge area. There's also a swimming pool. Treat yourself to a hammam, velvety skin scrub, rhassoul (mud scalp rub) and 90-minute perfumed-oil massage and emerge vowing to be a better person - or at least wear more sunscreen.
reviewed
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F
Hamamni Persian Baths
Built by Sultan Barghash in the late 19th century, these were the first public baths on Zanzibar. Although they're no longer functioning and there's no water inside, they're still worth a visit, and it doesn't take much imagination to envision them in bygone days. To get in, you'll need to ask the caretaker across the alley to unlock the gate.
reviewed
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Baños Árabes
Accidentally discovered during street work, these ancient Arab baths , sit on a main road, an incongruous sight. There are two of them, with barrel-vaulted roofs originally covered with marble – the high-tech spa of its time.
reviewed
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Thermal Bath Ruins
The Thermal Bath ruins are found in the ravine a short walk west of town. There's not much left now, but it's a quiet and leafy spot.
reviewed
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Bain Maure
The best place for a good scrub is this hammam close to the police station.
reviewed
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G
Hammam Zitouna
A traditional hammam in the heart of the medina.
reviewed
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H
Hammam al-Heygha
Hammam al-Heygha
reviewed
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I
Hammam al-Kebira
Hammam al-Kebira
reviewed