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The main city in eastern Libya may be best known as the birthplace of a revolution, but it recently marked an unlikely first for this conflict-torn country – a salt spa.
The Opal Center in Benghazi, where citizens rose up against dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s regime ten years ago, opened Libya’s very first man-made salt caves to its clients last October.
Founded by two women entrepreneurs, the center offers soothing treatments in a Zen atmosphere accompanied by soft music and soft lighting.
“Inhaling salt particles purifies the airways and provides benefits for the skin,” says co-founder Iman Bugaighis, sporting a white blouse and a pink veil around his head.
Armed with a shovel, the alternative medicine specialist covers the body of a client in his thirties with salt, from his legs to his neck.
With eyes closed and hands clasped around a ball of salt, the man relaxes, breathing slowly into a windowless but frameless room.
In another room, with crystal-covered walls resembling a cave, a machine propels iodine-laden salt particles into the air.
An immersive concoction inhalation session lasts 45 minutes and costs between 80 and 120 dinars ($ 18 to $ 27). Several sessions are needed to show results, says Bugaighis.
‘Sooth my pain’
The Opal Center, located in the upscale Dagadosta district in downtown Benghazi, promises treatment for respiratory problems like asthma and skin conditions, including eczema and psoriasis.
The Libyan Salt Spa is located in an artificial salt cave and the treatment includes inhaling salt particles which, according to founder Iman Bugaighis, purifies the respiratory tract and brings benefits to the skin. By Abdullah DOMA (AFP) The pockmarked walls and disfigured buildings are reminiscent of past conflict in the city, which in recent years has been the stronghold of eastern Libya’s strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Mustafa Ahmed Akhlif, a banker in his fifties, has suffered from acute sinusitis for a decade.
“I have taken a lot of pain relievers and tried traditional medicine without it easing my pain,” he said.
But in just four sessions of inhaling the salty substances, he said he felt “80%” better.
Bugaighis herself discovered the therapy while traveling to Arab countries that offer the same treatments.
She then studied alternative medicine in neighboring Tunisia.
Convinced of the effectiveness of treatments in the fight against chronic diseases, she returned to her hometown and launched her business alongside her friend Zainab al-Werfalli.
Likeness of normality
The “Opal center has met its audience,” enthused Werfalli, even though years of instability make it difficult for companies to predict success.
The opening of the center coincided with a ceasefire agreed in October by the main actors in the conflict in Libya – forces based east of Haftar and rival authorities in the capital Tripoli.
And a precarious new interim executive authority, approved by both parties to the conflict, tentatively kicked off this month with a mandate to lead the nation to elections slated for December.
Werfalli is determined to “make this complementary therapy known to the medical profession” in her hometown, starting with doctors and medical staff.
Both women are ready to treat patients of all ages, and Bugaighis said a little girl with breathing problems has improved significantly after the sessions.
Shaken by repeated rounds of fighting and interruptions in oil production in the decade since Gaddafi’s ouster and murder, Libyans are trying to rediscover some semblance of normalcy.
Away from the nearby urban hustle and bustle, Libya’s first man-made salt caves invite guests to relax and forget, amid lungs of salty air, a chaos that otherwise too often overshadows everyday life. .
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