If you’ve traveled around the world, you know there are various names for hookah. From hubbly bubbly in South Africa, to the terms lula or lulava used in Albania, Bosnia, or Croatia, they all mean smoking with a water pipe. Whether you smoke a tobacco flavored with fruit, or one flavored with molasses, they all have a wonderful taste and are very aromatic.

Although it’s relatively new in the UK and North America, the water pipe has been used around the world for several centuries. The hookah lounge is now becoming as popular a social activity and meeting place as any cafe or restaurant on any street in any country.

Different hookah terms refer to different things in various countries. If you’re a Westerner traveling to in the Middle East and ask for shisa, you would expect to receive tobacco. However, you’ll receive the water pipe instead. And, if you ask for hookah, expecting to receive a water pipe, you’ll receive tobacco instead.

The water pipe itself is designed differently around the world. The kind of pipe you see in Iran will be different from that seen in India. What started in India (or did it originate in Turkey or Syria?) as smoke inhaled from a hole poked in the top of a coconut, has evolved into water pipes of different shapes and sizes, made from a variety of materials.

The basic hookah pipe has at least four essential components. The base, or smoke chamber, is filled halfway with water. Then there’s the bowl, which holds the flavored tobacco and hookah coals. The pipe connects the bowl to the base, and dips into the water. Finally, the hose connects to a tube in the pipe that doesn’t dip into the water, from which you inhale the smoke.

In the Middle East, hookah smoking is both rooted in culture and tradition, as it is in Israel. But in India, smoking is more a sign of prestige. And in South Africa and North America, it’s more of a social pastime.

When you’re traveling around the world, be aware that each country has their own rules of smoking etiquette. Since your left hand is considered unclean in the Middle East, be sure to pass the hookah hose with your right hand. And, rather than handing the hose to the person beside you, lay it on the table instead. If you decide to have a cigarette, it is poor manners to light it with the hookah charcoal, as well as to use smoking bowls for your ashes.

You can travel to just about any country in the world and enjoy the pleasures of hookah smoking. Between all the hookah pipes and hookah shisha that are available, you’ll be able to enjoy a new experience each time you partake.

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