Hammam Heaven

One of my favorite experiences in the Middle East, and life generally, is the Turkish bath. The Turkish bath, or hammam, varies from country to country -- as Alexia Brue documented in her excellent travel memoir, "Cathedrals of the Flesh: My Search for the Perfect Bath."

Generally, one starts with a dry steam lying on a heated marble stone. Then there is a wet steam, scrub, massage, and wash. The Moroccan hammams didn't include any steam or massage -- just faucets and buckets for self-scrubbing. The New York Russian-style bath included treatments of hitting one's legs with leaves. Jordan's hammams include a jacuzzi soak between the wet and dry steam.

One of my favorite hammam experiences was the most basic -- in Marrakech, Morocco, where I had the opportunity to see local women without their veils and chadors (both literally and metaphorically) and interact in a relaxed, natural setting. They laughed, they spashed, and they joked with me through the international language of Charades.

My other favorite hammam experience is the most decadent. So far, the best has been Çemberlitas Hammam in Istanbul, Turkey. It's very touristy, but they still put a premium on quality service (massages). I always leave that place feeling giddy with relaxation and happiness.

Today, I tried the Khan Zaman hammam in Western Amman. It was surprisingly difficult to find a non-touristy hammam. Amman is a rather modern city, and the Turkish bath is more of a novelty than a tradition. The guidebook, hotel, and every web site I could find all pointed to one place on the Eastern side of the city, one that was rather expensive and had mixed reviews. It was a high-quality bath, with a thorough massage, but the modern building was a disappointment after seeing the magnificent buildings in Turkey.

Bath Quality: 8 (out of 10)
Facilities: 7
Decoration: 6
Atmosphere: 4
Hospitality: 9
Massage Quality: 8
Price: 2 (WAY too expensive for what they were offering)

Overall: 6.3/10

Not bad, but not good enough for a return trip.