Shisha, nargileh, hookah, water pipe

I find that I smoke cigarettes in far greater amounts when traveling alone than at home. My theory is that when you're alone, smoking becomes an activity in and of itself... you are lonely, you have nothing to do with your hands, you aren't sure how to break the ice, but put a cigarette in your hand and suddenly you meet the "cool kids."

In all seriousness, smoking a water pipe in the Middle East really is an accepted way to wile away the time. In Turkey and Lebanon, you can have a beer with your water pipe, but in Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, it's strictly a coffee-or-tea affair. Most coffeehouses in more conservative areas are men-only; foreign women will not be chased away, but they might feel uncomfortable, especially if alone.

In Egypt, the pipe is called shisha. I was usually treated to a shisha throughout the Middle East, but my few experiences of getting my own shisha at a bar/coffeehouse proved that price varies with number of tourists, from £2 to £10, but cheap either way. In Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, it is referred to as nargileh. In Beirut, the pipes are especially creative, encased inside fruits like pineapple or watermelons. I don't know the name in Turkish, because people usually just said "water pipe" in English; I imagine that it's some form of nargileh, though. I don't actually know where it's called a hookah - India maybe? One place in Turkey actually had carpet-wrapped handles on their pipes, which was very fitting considering how ubiquitous carpet stores are there.

The tobacco comes in various flavors, and contrary to popular belief, is not a narcotic. If you are not a regular smoker, or even if you are, you may experience slight light-headedness, but I believe this is more a function of sucking the air up through a narrow tube. The most common flavor is apple. In Egypt, the choices were usually apple-flavored or non-flavored, but in Turkey, the flavor choices are wide.

Yes, many, many people have smoked these same pipes before you. However, you will be provided with new, sealed plastic mouthpieces. In one coffeehouse in Syria, we were actually provided with full plastic tubes with attached mouthpieces, which were pretty bad compared to the real tubes. This was highly unusual; it just happened to be a place near a nice hotel, so this measure was meant to please tourists.

Tobacco comes in a bowl wrapped in foil, placed on top of the pipe. Hot coals are placed on the foil and replaced as often as needed. The coals burn longest when covered, but not all places will provide a cover. I don't know for sure how the payment works, because I never asked; either you pay just to have the pipe and you get as many tobacco refills as you want, or you pay per tobacco refill. I never smoked enough in a coffeehouse to get a refill. The only time I smoked a large amount of tobacco was when I visited a local home in Egypt, where the youngest child of the house was in charge of constantly replacing the tobacco and hot coals. I think that's why people have children.

As I said, smoking water pipe is an activity. You will be invited to go out for a night of smoking. When we were waiting for the ferry at Nuweiba, we decided we'd kill the time by smoking. When we were planning a night out in Damascus, the choices were, drinking or smoking? When waiting for dinner in Wadi Rum, we smoked to distract us from hunger. It's fun, relaxing, and an easy way to partake in local customs.

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