How to Hammam

Tough Love Travel can demystify many elements of travel, from hammams to handling money abroad. 

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Hammam -- the traditional communal baths found from Turkey to Morocco -- are a cultural as well as physical treat!

Want to try it, but intimidated?

Got a dozen questions:  Are you naked?  Is it coed?

Want to get a "lay of the land" before you jump in?

"How To Hammam" comes to the rescue with these 8 FAQs!

ARE HAMMAMS SEPARATED BY GENDER?

Yes, some hammams are exclusively for men or women. Others are open for women during certain hours of the day - usually the early part of the  day - and reserved for men later in the evening. Be sure to ask in advance so that you aren't embarrassed by trying to enter at the wrong time of day.

WHAT DO YOU WEAR IN THE HAMMAM?

You enter the hammam in your street clothes, but to enter the bathing rooms, women change into a basic underpant.  You'll wear this during the entire bathing process -- you are never completely nude.  The hammam often supplies this garment as part of your entry fee, but, just in case, bring along an extra pair of your own. 

WHAT SERVICES CAN YOU GET AT A HAMMAM? 

Hammam entry includes a good scrub.  In fact, a girlfriend of mine once described the hammam like this: 

They'll scrub parts of your body that you didn't know existed!  

In addition, you can purchase massage, seaweed wraps, facials, manicures/pedicures, and even reflexology.

WHAT'S THE PROCESS?

Because the hammam has roots in Greek-Roman history, its design is still based on 3 interconnected rooms: 

The first section, known as the iliklik, is where you start.   You'll get undressed, leave your clothing in a locker, and don a pestemal (cotton body wrap or basic panty).    Leave your towel there, too -- there's no place to put it in the hammam.  Proceed, in your undergarment only, to this lukewarm section to adapt your body temperature. 

NOTE:  Many of us Westerners feel a little awkward walking around, practically naked, but you'll quickly realize that people neither care nor notice.  Grandmas are there as well as Moms with their 9-year-old daughters. 

Section two is the hot area where the central, heated stone platform is located.  It's surrounded by small basins, called kurna, and either benches or, in some cases, private bathing cubicles. 

You'll take your bucket (supplied by hammam) and scoop pailfuls over your body, using the hottest water tolerable.   You may use soap also to wash off, but never mix soap in your bucket of water.  Use the bucket only for pouring clean water from the tap over your body.    The hot water brings you to a sweat, making your skin pliable and loofah-ready.

After you personally wash off, you lie on the stone platform called the Gobek Tasi (the center round stone, shown above) for an attendant to scrub you.  Be ready - the scrub is hearty!  And don't be surprised by, first, how much dead skin rolls off your body and, second, how remarkably clean you feel afterwards.

After full exfoliation, you can enjoy a massage and men are sometimes offered a stretch.  Be ready -- both can be strenuous.

As the baths proceed, steam fills the hammam atrium.   Little arrows of sunlight stream through the steam from the dome's tiny star windows, creating a magical scene above you, as you lie flat, warmed by the marble slab.

Section three is a space where you can take a private shower and shampoo and, occasionally, a soak in the jacuzzi.
Just as in our American spas, there's typically a relaxing room, or  sogukluk, where you can pause before exiting the hammam.

WHAT DO HAMMAMS COST?

Basic hammam entry is about 20 TL (or about $12) and extra services are priced as follows:

WHAT'S THE MOST FAMOUS HAMMAM IN ISTANBUL?

Cagaloglu Hamami!   It was built in 1741 by Mahmut II to bring in revenue to support St Sophia.  Over the centuries,  Florence Nightingale, German Emperor Wilhelm II, Harrison Ford, and Cameron Diaz have all been visitors of this famous historic hammam.   The NYT chose Cagaloglu Hamami as one of the 1000 Places To See Before You Die, and its popularity comes not only by its historic value but also by its magical atmosphere inside.

NOTE:  CAGALOGLU hammam is located on Yerebatan Street, in Istanbul.

Other remarkable hammam is Suleymaniye Hamami.  It was built in the 1600s by the great architect Sinan, and has remarkable artwork inside ( as well as a hookah bar).

WHAT HAMMAM IS RECOMMENDED IN MOROCCO?
My favorite hammam in Casablanca is Hammam Ziani (59, Rue Abou Rakrak, Ben Jdia)
In Morocco, the soap for hammams is bought in the souk, and looks like this: 

WHAT ABOUT BASIC NEIGHBORHOOD HAMMAMS? 
Unlike the full service hammams above, other hammams are small informal local affairs. 
Although these experiences are just as refreshing and, perhaps, even more companionable,  they do require a bit more planning. 
You'll need to take your own supplies:  bucket (or 2), soap, waterproof flip flops,  black rough scrubbing mitt, personal items, large bag to hold clothes, towel, and small change for gratuity for locker room attendant. 

Also in these local hammams, it's common for bathers to scrub each other's backs, so be prepared.

Where's YOUR next adventure? 

Grab a complimentary 20-minute meeting to talk!

Tracking lions in South Africa

Tough Love Travel is FUNDI certified in South Africa.   I can help you experience lions in South Africa, meet a Soweto native, get into the home of a Jazz musician in Cape Town, or kayak with Southern Right Whales along the Garden Route. Schedule a FREE appt here to talk more...

I was dressed in layers, zipped into my new Safari fleece, and covered by a stack of wool blankets, but it was the hot water bladder that they placed at my feet (and another in my lap) that made me say, "Ahhhh....."

On this dim June morning --  winter in South Africa --  in a covered but sideless green safari jeep, we headed out into the jungle savannah north of Joburg, to track lions in South Africa.

Our ranger, Johann, had heard the pride moving west through our camp during the night, so he struck out immediately in that direction.

WHAT'S THE TERRAIN OF LIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA?
Wide dirt roads form the main arteries that cross the reserve, and we made good time at first, hustling west.
At one point, Johann (our local expert on lions in South Africa) stopped and observed tracks in the powdery red earth.  He immediately turned the jeep around -- apparently, the pride had been distracted in a new direction.

Wide lanes turned to narrow paths, turned to overgrown tracks, until our jeep was literally bushwacking through the spare winter scrubland.  Then we saw the "ladies".    Sprawled beneath some trees, alongside a little stream,  the pride lounged, and groomed, and yawned.    Where was their male lion?


The radio scratched on with a fellow ranger's hushed voice:  "He's over here".

MEET THE LIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA
Johann maneuvered our jeep back to the main track, around the corner, down a steep drop, to ford a small river -- and there he was...

plodding calmly but regally along, his shaggy chocolate brown mane standing out starkly against his soft tan body.  His paws, looking oversized even from 8 meters, dragged lazily along.  There were those tracks we had spotted on the road, 2 hours earlier!

WHAT ELSE IS ON SAFARI, BESIDES THE LIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA?
On that drive, we also saw baby zebra,

brilliant azure-winged birds,   a yawning cheetah, and a very muddy rhino.

CALL MELANIE NOW 

TO TALK MORE ABOUT THE LIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA:

(609) 923-0304

The Orangutans of Sumatra: interview with Rob

 Wildlife encounters like this one, with the Orangutans of Sumatra, are a specialty of Tough Love Travel. 

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Rob says…

I reached out towards him, and he reached back.  We held hands for a second and a half before he flew away again, back into the leafy refuge of the trees. 

It was a sublime moment, the warmth of his rough finger making a complicated memory on my palm.   It was a moment that, in a million years, I could never have seen coming, yet -  in the blink of an eye -  was gone. 

I lived through this moment, and somehow, in ways that are both concrete and inexplicable, been  changed by it.  The jungle photos from that morning will mellow and wilt with age, but the intangible, irrefutable experience, I will  hold within me, and it  will last a lifetime.

Somehow, the rest of the trip – the incredible “nasi goreng” (Indonesian fried rice) that was cooked that night, the bathing by the river the next morning – all seems to pale in comparison to that second and a half.

HOW DO YOU FIND THE ORANGUTANS OF SUMATRA

Towards the end of my 3-month experiment in Indonesia, I decided to fly to the northwestern end of Sumatra – the largest and westernmost island in the Indonesian archipelago – and see what I could find. 

Surfing… cultural exposure to one of the few remaining hunter-and-gatherer tribes… volcanoes…

I immediately found an opportunity to go on a guided overnight trek in the forest, and was told that this was one of  only two remaining areas in the entire world where I could find orangutans.  Without any hesitation, I decided to go meet the orangutans of Sumatra.

WHERE DO YOU FIND THE ORANGUTANS OF SUMATRA

My best chance to meet an orangutan in Sumatra was  in the Gunung Leuser National Park. 

A guide is necessary, and you can choose to go for a 3-hour, to a 2-day trek.

WHAT DOES IT COST TO VISIT THE ORANGUTANS OF SUMATRA

For a cool 85 US dollars, I  (and another brave soul) was accompanied by two guides through the rainforest, where for two days and one night, we got to pick wild jackfruit and passionfruit, see a number of the world’s endangered species, and bear witness to one of the last remaining habitats of the orangutans of Sumatra.

Guided treks to the orangutans typically include overnight camping and a rafting trip back to town, with all basic meals, guide fees, camping equipment and park fee covered in the package. 

TELL MORE ABOUT YOUR TIME WITH THE ORANGUTANS OF SUMATRA

The humidity was oppressive, as we were trekking in the middle of Indonesia’s arduous wet season, yet somehow -- in the face of nature’s vivid colors and raw textures, clicks hoots, and juicy tastes, --  such discomforts become entirely trivial. 

Then we spotted the orangutans of Sumatra!   I tried to take pictures, to capture the mysticism of these beautiful creatures.

They swung through trees.   Cupped their feet together to serve as some sort of plate for their passionfruit.   Looked straight into my own eye.

Reminiscing back with those pictures now, they fall far short of the actual experience.

AFTER THE ORANGUTANS OF SUMATRA, WHAT ELSE DID YOU DO IN INDONESIA?

I learned to surf outside of Jakharta, rode ferries and buses,  trekked to the top of the volcano for sunrise,  hung upside down in coconut trees,  meditated at water temples,  danced at local festivals, played my guitar in the lanes of Ubud, and ate LOTS of vegan street food!

Selemat Pagi, Indonesia!  (or, as they say, "Good morning, Indonesia!")

 Grab a FREE 20-minute "get acquainted" session, right here, 

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Meet Kathy for a Sled Dog Adventure to REMEMBER!

Think this could be the COOLEST thing for you to plan for Alaska?  I think you're right! 

Grab a FREE 20-minute appointment now, to see what YOUR Alaska adventure could look like!

WHAT'S A SLED DOG ADVENTURE LIKE?


The dogs are jumping, lunging, barking and  jerking the dogsled that is tied to a  post by a long line.  You are holding on to the handlebow, knees bend,  grip
tightened with one foot on the brake, other foot on the runners -- ready for your sled dog adventure!

The lead team leaves first, and you are next. Remembering your previous lesson, you pull your  quick release knot, the rope comes loose and you and the dogs are free, and very
close to flying. 

All is suddenly quiet. 

The brake slows them down somewhat, but the speed is exhilarating as they chase the team in front. But after a while, the wild lope becomes a trot as your sled ---  full of sleeping bags, food, all the accoutrements of camping on this sled dog adventure -- weighs them down.   The dogs know they have a job to do. You’re heading out on an overnight winter camping trip in Alaska, and you have about 20 miles to  go. Alaskan huskies can do this sled dog adventure in 2-3 hours depending on the trail conditions .

IS THERE A SCHOOL FOR SLED DOG ADVENTURES? 

Yes, mushing school provides all the equipment (including some personal gear, see below), the sleds, the guide or instructor, and, of course, the dogs.

WHAT HAPPENS IN SLED DOG ADVENTURE SCHOOL?
You’ll learn to harness the dogs and position them in the team. Then you head off on a 5mile training  run -- you'll start your sled dog adventure in a sitting position, then you trade places with your guide and they sit and help YOU DRIVE the team around the course. 


Age is not a factor, but good balance and fairly good physical conditioning are needed.  
While the dogs do most of the work, you need to be able to hang on to the handlebars if you tip over, or run after your  team if you lose them, as your guide in front will catch them. 

Sled dogs do not back up, darn them.

But if you're wondering if YOU are "up" for a sled dog adventure, check out Aaron and Maggie, on the left.  They're a pair of typical, middle-aged, suburbanite honeymooners from Jacksonville, FL.  They had a BLAST!


WHO'S THE GUIDE ON SLED DOG ADVENTURES?
Your guide, and the owner of the company, is Kathy Lenniger, a lifelong dog musher, salmon fisherman, and outdoorswoman, who has run Sled Dog Adventures out of Fairbanks, AK for more than a decade.   
Want to talk to Kathy?  She'll pick up the phone at (907) 479-5090!

WHAT DOGS ARE USED FOR SLED DOG ADVENTURES?
                                                      Alaskan huskies of every size and color are trained for sled dog adventures. 
                                                      
Kathy's  largest  are 65-70 lbs , the smallest are 40 lbs. and all are solid muscle.  


And here's a video of the head K9 for your sled dog adventure, Ace:

CAN YOU OVERNIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS ON A  SLED DOG ADVENTURE?
Yes!
Whether you go to a cabin or a tent camp, your guide first unhooks the dogs and ties them to stake-out chains from the sled.  Then, if camping, Kathy sets up the arctic oven tents, each with their own woodstove, 
and gathers local firewood for the stoves and cook fire. 
You’ll be served hot drinks and hors d’oeuvres while dinner is cooking,
and you'll melt snow for water for the dogs’ dinner. They eat well and so do you, often
salmon and a stir-fry of fresh vegetables, hot bread, and cheesecake for dessert.
(Your body will crave fat in the cool air.)

ARE THERE TOILETS ON SLED DOG ADVENTURES?
While the cabins have outhouses, the tent camping has the great outdoors and a hole that  you dig in the snow. No lingering with a magazine out there!

WHAT GEAR DO YOU NEED FOR A SLED DOG ADVENTURE?
Your outfitter will provide arctic outerwear such as parkas, overpants, neck gaitors, hats, boots (if you need them), and large overmitts  for just-in-case.  
You wear good long underwear, wool socks and other layers.  It doesn’t have to be
expensive to be warm.

WHAT'S NIGHTTIME LIKE ON A SLED DOG ADVENTURE?
The stars or northern lights might grace the skies, then it's off to bed in thick arctic sleeping bags. If you've chosen one of the arctic oven tents, there's a window to check the skies at
night. It’s so roomy you can stand up to get in and out of your gear. 

The dogs usually serenade you with a group howl or two, and Kathy has even heard wolves respond with  a melodic chorus a few times.

WHAT DO CLIENTS SAY ABOUT DOG SLED ADVENTURES?

“this is the best thing I have ever done in my life.”

Sled dog adventures is an intimate immersion in nature in an intense climate, and the power and strength of these amazing huskies imprints in the hearts of so many people who live in a
mechanized world. 
As a 37 year dog driver, Kathy can tell you these dogs do it because they love it, and ask for nothing but a good meal. Their enthusiasm is  contagious.

Come see for yourself! 

Grab that appointment with Melanie now! 
It's free and there's no obligation -- just a time to dream!

What are you waiting for?   Click this link!

Brushing the Primeval: a Swim with 25' Mantas

Hawaii is a great playground, and your swim with the 25' mantas will be a night you'll never forget!  

Grab a FREE appointment HERE, to talk about what YOU'D like to do in Hawaii!

My teenagers later reminded me  — their 8-year-old brother could have fit INSIDE the mouth of one of those manta rays!

I envisioned Jonah – I mean, my 8-year-old Tom – disappearing HERE:

In reality, though, it was very safe.  Let me tell you about it…

WHAT IS A MANTA RAY

Mantas are very large rays, often 25 feet across and 3000 pounds.

They look much like their smaller cousins, but they lack stingers.  In fact, manta rays are not our predators.  They love plankton, and barrel roll through the water, mouths agape, scooping up these microscopic bits, sort of like a whale.   

Here they are, in action:

WHERE ARE MANTA RAYS

Manta rays swim in oceans throughout the world, from the Maldives to the Galapagos to Thailand.

But I swam with them in Hawaii, off the west coast of the Big Island.

HOW DO MANTA RAYS BEHAVE

Manta rays eat plankton, and plankton are attracted to light, so you can often see manta rays right off the coast, where hotel spotlights illuminate the water. 

One great location in Hawaii is the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort, which has an actual Crystal Blue lounge with big windows overlooking the illuminated shallows.

But why stay dry?  For a truly unforgettable experience, go swimming WITH the manta rays.

SEEING MANTA RAYS OFF A DIVE BOAT

We boarded the boat around 4pm, motoring up the coast, staying 200 yards off shore.

When the boat dropped anchor, we donned snorkel and masks, and jumped in for an evening snorkel.  Tropical fish,  gobs of wide open water, the occasional sea snake on the sandy bottom…  Then we saw him!

Sailing out of the ocean depths, the manta ray flapped more gracefully than any bird I had ever seen, screaming at a breathtaking pace in our direction.

My heart pounded, but I also felt a firm calm that this creature was not any threat to me.  (and that’s saying somethin’ for someone who’s skittish in deep water, always stealing glances over the shoulder to see what’s coming from behind)

The manta rays look positively prehistoric.  It’s hard to find their mouths – until they open them in a barrel roll, then they are ALL mouth!

Their giant gills run in slants along their white undersides,

And their eyes seem to be at the base of these pointers, jutting out on either side of their mouths.

MANTA RAYS AT NIGHT

After our evening snorkel, the guides jumped in to plant a spotlight (read as:  plankton attractor) on the sea bottom, in about 100 feet of water.

We had a little snack, watched the sun set (no Green Flash that night!), and gabbed nervously about our impending dive.

(You can either dive or snorkel with the manta rays.  Since you’re snorkeling on top of the water,  this option gives you the unique flutter sensation on your belly! Read below…)

Darkness quickly fell and we jumped into the black water, huddled so closely together that our limbs hit each other as we splashed furiously out to the spotlit circle, to meet the rays.

Nervewracking does not begin to express my experience. 

Heart pounding!  

Whites of my sons' eyes, behind their masks, wild with adrenaline!

Finally relieved to join the “circle” with the other 40 or so folks from the boat!

It was not long before our first manta ray appeared, flapping out of the ink, and into the light.

He seems not even to notice us swimmers and went right to work, catching dinner.

He was harmless, yet terrifying!

Then another swam in.    And a third.

That’s when my 8-year-old jumped up on my back, white-knuckling my shoulders and letting out bubbly screeches when a manta ray soared our way.

WITH MANTA RAYS, IT’S ALMOST WHAT YOU FEEL, MORE THAN WHAT YOU SEE

Manta rays create strong current as they wing past you.  Their palpable momentum creates a rush along your body and their wings flutter just below you.  Did that manta ray’s wing  actually brush my skin, or was it just the rush of water?

Either way, I was WAY close to such a wild, out-of-my-normal-world creature.  

I felt like I had brushed the primeval.

A LITTLE SCIENCE OF MANTA RAYS

Manta rays have few natural predators because of their size. Only Orca and large sharks, such as Tigers, successfully hunt these large rays.

Some cultures fish manta rays for food or medicine. Manta rays usually become rare very quickly when this happens, because of the manta ray’s low reproductive rate. Manta rays give birth to 1 or 2 pups each year, and females sometimes take a year off to recover her resources before breeding again.

Manta rays are not commercial fished, but they are sometimes accidentally caught, because they swim slowly in the upper layers of the ocean.

DOES THIS ADVENTURE "CALL YOUR NAME"? 

I can send you on a trip to Hawaii, where you'll do this swim, 

PLUS meet my waterfall guru,  go on a shameless food crawl, sleep in a treehouse, 

hike dense bamboo forests, and just have a ball!

Email me now to talk about what YOUR trip could look like! 

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Condors: worth the trek to Colca Canyon

Thinking about a trip to Peru - condors, jungle, reed lakes, Quechuan life, and Machu Picchu?    Peru is one of my Tried-n-True destinations at Tough Love Travel.  Call or text me now to ask your questions:  (609) 923 0304

It took 2 planes and 2 days, a car and private driver, and the courage to pass through territory reminiscent of the Shining Path, but I saw them!  The majestic condors of southern Peru's Colco Canyon.










WHAT'S A CONDOR LIKE?
There are 2 types of condors:  Californian condors  and Andean condors.   I went in search of the South American variety. 

Condors are bald-headed (sort of like a big ole' turkey vulture),  up to 30 pounds,  sporting 10- FEET wingspans.   Below is what they look like compared to a human: 

Condors are so heavy that they could never fly unless they hung out in windy areas like the shore or very deep canyons like, yes, the Colca Canyon. 





WHERE DO THE CONDORS LIVE?
Andean condors love the Colca Canyon, in southern Peru, about 100 miles NW of Arequipa. 

It is almost 13500' deep -- actually deeper than our own Grand Canyon! -- but the 2 are visually and topographically very distinct.   
While our own Grand Canyon has massive geological formations,  the Colco is more narrow, and useable.   You'll see terraces where the Incans (and the Quechuans still) farm, 






small towns where locals raise alpacas, 

and of course, the Andean condors which are a major attraction. 


Some people hike there, past the condors and down to the Colca River which is a tributary to the Amazon.   If this fascinates you, check out  Walking the Amazon, the true account of Ed Stafford who took 860 days to walk from the headwaters of the Amazon, all the way to the Pacific - a portion of which took him through the condor's canyon.

WILL I SEE A CONDOR?
Almost definitely, you will see a condor. 
To be honest, this is my best condor photograph.  The condor is that tiny black speck a bit above the ridge, on the right side:

 But I got much closer! 
The condors do these "fly by"s!  You'll be looking out into the canyon and they'll zoom right over your head from behind.... or they'll soar up from the canyon depths, right before you. 

Condors fly so quickly, and so randomly, that it's hard to keep your camera poised for the perfect shot. 
I have it in my heart, though! 

A professional, with gear, could get a condor photo more like this:

a male condor (evident by white ring around neck), soaring in Colca Canyon

 HOW DO I GET TO CONDOR COUNTRY?
We flew into Arequipa from Lima, and met a car/driver for the 4+ hours to Colca.  The road climbed over mountain passes where huge bonfires flared,  and meandered through endless desert:

The last hour, the road to the condors was dirt and gravel.  Check it out!

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO, AFTER I EXPERIENCE THE CONDORS? 
The local life down by the condors is untouched, remote.  Yet the locals are friendly, and accessible. 


There are hot springs to soak in, 

small villages with bazaars to wander through (and grab a touchstone to bring back home), 

and if you're lucky, like we were, you might even grab a futbol (soccer) game with the Cienzianos!  You'll be the only non-Peruvian there, for sure!

What about in other areas of the country?  Meet Hilda, on a homestay with a Quechuan family, high in the Andes:

Or canoe up the Tambopata to a wonderful eco-lodge to experience the Amazon jungle:

or experience Machu Picchu!

Want to go see Peru's condors?  
I've been there and can share all my insider knowledge!   

Grab a FREE 20-min appointment here, to talk about it!