One of the reasons I went to Istanbul Turkey was to get myself a new nargila and some more flavored tobacco… mission accomplished. ;)
The first time I came into contact with a nargila was on my honeymoon. My wife and I went to Marmaris, Turkey… where we saw an ocean of “souvenir” quality nargilas at the bazaar. As we were tourists, we decided to buy one along with some very aromatic “peach” and “apricot” flavored tobacco. Needless to say I fell in love with it! (not so much for the actual smoking but because it’s such a great conversation piece).
The cheap souvenir nargila didn’t last long so I had to go to Turkey once more (I didn’t mind) to get this one! My advice, if you go to Turkey don’t settle for the lower quality wares… insist on quality… and HAGGLE!
I smoked this recently and I loved it. In fact I am heading to an Arabic restaurant to smoke this one right now. I love the strawberry one.
In Turkey they really seem to like an Apple/Banana combination… I have to say that it’s a really good combo and if you have the chance, try it.
I also like to mix Mint with grape or pretty much anything, mint is nice. :)
It’s called Shisha here, is it the same thing?
I think so, I’ve also heard the term “Hookah” (or something like that). I’m sure everyone’s got their own local word. :)
One more thing, is it as harmful as cigarette? There are two schools of thought, one says that it’s harmless since there’s no nicotine. Other says it’s more harmful since there’s no filter and it contains a large number of tar.
To tell you the truth, I’m not really too concerned.
Considering I live in the city, I’m sure I breath in a lot of other harmful stuff so a little nargila smoke isn’t going to do me much more harm. ;)