How does one use the small egyptian nargile?

Question

I just brought a small nargile while in Egypt, along with tabacoo and charcoal. Unfortunately not many of the staff at the resort I stayed at spoke enough English to explain how to use it.

Answer 1

To set up a nargile (sheesha)
1- Fill the glass base of the waterpipe with water. Make sure you don't fill too much. You should fill enough to approximately cover the tube from the top section by about an inch when it is placed over the base.

2- Place the heart (top part) over the base (the glass vase). Make sure it fits snugly and is airtight. You may have to add gauze on the inside of the top section.

3- Attach the mouthpiece to the top section, again making sure that the joint is airtight.

4- Test that your setup is airtight by placing your hand on top of the waterpipe and then sucking in through the mouth piece.
If everything is okay, you should feel a pull at your hand and see bubbles in the water.
If either of these two things don't happen, then in all likelihood, you have air escaping from somewhere. Carefully check to find the source.

5- If your setup is airtight, place some of the tobacco (MU'ASSEL) on top of the water pipe (haggar). If you smoke a flavored MU'ASSEL it is recommended to cover the tobacco by aluminum foil and pierced several times with toothpick.

6- Go outside and light your charcoal, you can get the self-lighting charcoal (especially made for waterpipe, no kerosene add).

7- When lit bring the charcoal inside, holding it with a pair of tongs and place it on top of the tobacco.

8- Gently pressing down on the charcoal, suck in using the mouthpiece. You should notice smoke building up inside the base and eventually (after about 3-4 puffs); you should feel the taste of the tobacco in your mouth.

Answer 2

Put a little of the sheehsa (tobacco) directly in the pipe and cover it with tin foil. Once it's covered, shake it up a little to loosen the sheesha, then poke little holes in the top of tin foil. It's best to try and break up the charcol into little pieces and place them around the top of the tin foil- that way the tobacco smokes more evenly. As the charcol burns out, you can just replace it with newly lit pieces.

Oh, and if the piece you place the sheesha in is clay you will want to wrap a little piece of cardboard - or even a paper towel - around the metal of the pipe to act as a buffer between it and the clay , as a lot of times the heat from the metal will crack the clay.