Jordan - Things you should know before your trip

        Jordan, another world… This was my first contact with the Arabic world, and I can honestly say that Jordan was clearly another planet for me. Situated in Western Asia, the semi-arid country of Jordan is the home of only 10 million people. Most of them are Muslims, but there are also Christian minorities who are usually refugees from neighboring countries in conflict (Palestina/Israel, Syria, Iraq).

        Religion

        In your time here, you will see many men praying wherever and whenever. They always carry a carpet with them, lay it on the ground, kneel and start praying 🙏. It is said that muslims pray 5 times a day because they don’t know how much time they have left to live. They believe in only one God – Allah, which is believed by many to be the same as the Christians God, but with different understandings.

        Unlike other Arabic country, women are not required by law to wear hijab, but most of them do so due to tradition. Jordan is quite a liberal country. Even so, it would be nice to be dressed in decent clothes that are not too short or revealing. However, if you are to visit any mosque, you must be dressed accordingly and some might require you to cover yourself completely but the eyes (hijabs are provided by them).

(just having some fun in the room, just remember to dress respectfully)

        Money

        The currency used here is called dinar (Jordanian Dinar - JOD).

        Speaking of money, Jordanians tend to be pretty greedy 🤑. It is very unlikely that they don’t ask for money for literally anything. For example, our local guide asked from the first day 10JOD / day “tips” for his services, even though he’s been paid to do his job before our arrival. Another significant examples would be at Petra where we’ve been charged 10JOD/person to ride with the horses from the entrance to some point no more than 1km away. This horseride was supposed to be included in the price of the entrance, but they won’t let you get on the horse unless you prepay them 10JOD tips. I could give so many examples of such things which made the experience a bit bitter. They don’t ask for real “tips” - a sum of money a customer WANTS to reward the worker for his hospitality in the service they have performed. They don’t let you choose the amount of money you want to tip, they ask for “tips” to actually pay for that service. What is even bitter, the horse men asked us for more tips after we reached the destination…which obviously we did not give.

Horse riding at Petra for extra cost

        Otherwise, Jordanian people seem to be pretty friendly (maybe because they want to get you to buy their products or services 😅). They would offer to take pictures with your phone at every tourist attraction. They have some nice skills when using an iPhone. For any eventuality, it would be nice to have some cash to tip them (this time real tipping).

A jordanian teen took some photos of me at Southern Theater in Jerash

        Souvenirs

        Among the beautiful and unique (and usually expensive) souvenirs that Jordanians have to offer, you may find yourself wanting to buy jewels or mosaic handcrafts. You should know that you can negotiate, sometimes at half of the price. The most popular jewels found here are the ones containing the Jordanian stone, called Aventurin. I could not ressist and from the first day I got myself a beautiful ring with aventurin stone for 35JOD (instead of 45JOD) and completed the set at the end of the trip with a pair of earings for 20JOD (instead of 30JOD).

Beautiful handmade mosaic decorations

Aventurin stone jewels

        Water

        The water in Jordan is a bit of an issue. They have 3 major water sources, but unfortunately, its neighbours are drying them up by using upstream diversion and over-pumping. It is better to avoid the tap water 🚱 and get some bottled one from the stores. However, most hotels offer 0,5L water bottle every day for each customer. A detail about this issue stood out to me though… I noticed that every bathroom, including the public ones, do not have toilet brushes, but they do have bidet showers which I think they also use them to clean the toilet…despite of their water issue. A thing I could not explain why…

        Traffic

        The traffic is crazy 🤯. Vechicles are overtaking eachother on the emergency lane, on the right lane, however they want to. Once I even saw a car driving on the opposite direction on the highway… Many loud horns, people running among cars to cross the roads because they lack of pedestrian crossings and sidewalks.

        AC power socket

        Jordan usually uses UK power sockets. Even so, most of the hotels are equipped with universal sockets which accept most of the plug types. To be a little extra safe you can add in your luggage an UK adaptor to your own type of power socket. It proved to be useful at one of the hotels we stayed.

Universal power socket found in most of the hotels

        Weather

        I visited Jordan in the middle of March. The weather was not cold, nor hot. It depends a lot on the area you are visiting. In the north, during the day the temperature was around 16-18 degrees. While in the south the temperatures reached 25-30 degrees, due to the desert. However, at the night it gets a little bit chilly. Also, in the desert at night the wind gets pretty hard. So it’s good to have some warm clothes with you.

        Overall, the Jordanian experience was unique, with good and bad. The places I’ve visited and the culture and history of this county overcome the unpleasant little things. In the posts to come, you will see why this country is worth visiting, at least once in your lifetime. You will discover the secrets of Petra, the beauty of Jerash, the greatness of Amman, the desert and the Dead Sea experience, and many more.