Aremd (4/17, 2007)

One of the more interesting destinations was a tiny mountain village where we stayed in gite (a local home that has been converted into a small mountain inn). We trekked up the route used by trekkers ascending the mountain and stayed for the night in a small village where we visited a very local hammam (public bath).

Daniel

For photos, click here.

Morocco: Mountain Gite

At an elevation of 1900m or 6230ft, Armed is nestled underneath the highest mountain in all of Northern Africa – Jebel Toubkal at 4167m. After an 7 hour long road trip from Ait Benhaddou we arrived at the town of Imlil--the further the car could take us. To complete the last leg of our journey, we had to hire a couple mules to haul our luggage up the mountain trails and switchbacks. The rest of us hiked up on foot for another hour and half. The scenery was amazingly pristine once we got out of the busy village of Imlil. Occasionally we would pass simple homes, trickling streams, and local passer-bys.

The town of Armed looked into the valley leading up to Jebel Toubkal. We would be spending the night in a mountain gite; our sleeping quarters would be communal rooms with thick cushions lining the walls and stacks of thick wool blankets (way more than in the Sahara). We got to the gite around midday and had the opportunity to soak in the fantastic views. The men in the group had the option of visiting the town Hammam (a public bath) that night (more below about the brave souls who went). Meanwhile the women stayed at the gite with our family hosts and received henna (traditional ink tatoos).

A real local Hammam experience...
Aremd had one hammam for all its residents. Depending on the the time of day the hammam was open for either men or women. After sunset the hammam was open for men only. So the men in the group walked across the small village into the village hammam. The build consisted of and entryway and three main rooms (cold, warm, and hot). We were greeted by the hammam manager who was excited to see Seb. Apparently he enjoyed giving Seb a really rough massage during Seb's last visit - so Seb showed us the only way he could defend himself by rapid-fire rat tails with his towel. After the boisterous introduction we were off to the hammam.

First we stripped down to bathing suits and left our clothes in the cold room. Our experience was like an assembly line. Two men who worked in the hammam proceeded to throw buckets of alternating cold & hot water. We waited a few more minutes before we went into the hot room. Here our hammam helpers lathered us up with an olive based soap/gel & gave each of us a body scrub. After another round of water throwing. The helper spent a good five minutes stretching and bending us one by one. You have to imagine a mix of wrestling and yoga. Some of the moves looked something like a full body full-nelson. After each of us were stretched & pulled we received one more round of hot and cold water. We wandered back through the hammam threw on our clothes, and stumbled out into the chill night air. It was one of the most refreshing evening walks.

The women went for their hammam time the following morning. I haven't been allowed to know the details of their visit, but I understand it involved less clothing and no massaging...