Lord's days in the Syrian hamam
The queer community in Syria is having a hard time, with many gay men fleeing or having to behave discreetly. Our author, who prefers to remain anonymous, comes from Damascus and takes us on a hot sex adventure in a Syrian hamam in his text.
It is often said that gay life in the Middle East is full of dangers. Yet the adventures of gay life in Arab countries are rarely reported. I would like to change that.
I am a young gay Syrian man from Damascus and now live in Vienna. I would like to take you on a journey and an adventure to the Hamam Al-suq in Damascus. Free yourselves from your prejudices and get involved!
The secret paradise
Imagine that you go to the hammam on a man's day and you first enter the outer area where the terraces are located. In the middle is the water fountain under the dome with coloured crystal windows. The owner of the hamam greets you with a mischievous smile to let you know that you are welcome to the secret paradise. You will only receive this smile if you belong to the community in one way or another.
Then he offers you towels and stows your things in his safe. You undress, put the towel around your hips - all in the main corridor of the hamam and in front of all the other people who are exchanging sexual glances at this moment. Now you are naked and can go inside the hammam, where the adventure begins in a different way to what you are used to in the gay sauna in Europe.
Master of codes
In Damascus, you have to be careful, fearless, behave like a heterosexual man and at the same time send signals that make it clear that you are gay. In short: you should be the master of differences and contradictions.
The interior consists of two parts, the first is a rectangular hall covered with a dome with coloured crystal openings that reflect the sunlight inside and give you a feeling of intimacy. There are hot and cold water taps on the sides of this hall and a large, heavy marble bowl underneath. Here you can shower with a wet towel around your waist, showing off all the sexy features of your body and your fine genitals. As you stand under hot water just below boiling point, you become the victim of the eyes of the men around you. These glances increase your sexual arousal to the maximum. You feel that the men are sexually devouring you in their minds.
Water vapour and poppers
On the sides of the rectangular hall are small rooms that can accommodate two or three people. These rooms are semi-dark, with little light from the rectangular hall. One of these rooms is the steam room, which is dark, damp, crowded and often the first place where sexual contact takes place in a cautious, rude and sexually arousing manner.
Let's come back to the point where you take a shower in the rectangular hall. The damp, musty smell in the rectangular room and the steam from the hot water are fuelled by poppers. You feel erotic when you smell these scents. I didn't know how poppers worked before, but I experienced this feeling for the first time in the hammam. It's crazy, isn't it?
You start focussing on the person you find sexy. It's important to be close and polite and wait for someone to ask you to help them shower - especially to wash their back or give them a massage. You go into one of the small rooms and shower together while the towels are still wrapped around your hips. But the physical contact between you and the fear of being exposed heightens the excitement and enthusiasm as your erection reaches its peak.
Everything is possible
I should mention at this point that the rooms in the hammam have no doors. So if you and your partner want a little privacy, you can put the towel in front of the entrance as a blanket. Or if you're brave like me, you can leave the door open and invite someone to join you.
Sex in the Syrian hammam is often hot and fiery, you can always hear the sounds of friction and skin slapping together Sometimes sex in the hammam is a nice, delicate and romantic foreplay that expresses a need for love. However, sex often develops into group sex, especially in the sauna.
After you come and go back into the rectangular hall, the exit of the victor in the Battle of Normandy, you will recognise some faces. They smile broadly and their eyes light up, having caught a few glimpses of you during your moments of ecstasy.
You're probably wondering how all this is possible in a city like Damascus? In the hamam, there is a way to warn gay visitors of the arrival of a heterosexual person or a person who looks suspicious. Red lights then flash twice in the rectangular hall to indicate that caution is required and that all homosexual activity should cease. Then all men stop their activities, come back, put on their macho mask and behave like a heterosexual man.
Anyone who has had an experience like this will understand how fear, daring, caution and the element of surprise all add to the enjoyment. Adrenaline raises the excitement and tension to the highest possible level because it's not the game of fire that can burn and kill you, but it's still endless fun. Men living in Syria today will never know this fun.
