Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ +Technical: Nikon D3100, post processed from RAW with darktable.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+
There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ +Learn more about the wetlands on a trip with Wild Jordan or Experience Jordan, and turn off the water in your shower or sink when you don’t need it!
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+
There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+
I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
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The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ +Technical: Nikon D3100, ten-second exposure time, post processed from RAW with darktable.
+ + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
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I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ +If that sounds too good to be true, it is! Sadly, I found Aqaba to be dirty — used diapers on the beach, locals arrogantly throwing trash on the street, trash floating around the reef, etc — and full of obnoxious, poorly behaved tourists.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ +Originally built in 1975, the mosque was refurbished in 2010 as part of a larger effort to revitalize the Red Sea port city and was modeled after the Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque in Abu Dhabi.
+ + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ +I commend the Queen Rania Foundation for another seriously impressive initiative. Keep up the good work!
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ +The olive harvest usually starts around October or November. One of the major factors deciding when exactly to start the harvest is rain, as wet olives apparently produce more oil. In addition to olive oil itself, people in the community make a few food and beauty products from the olives and sell them through community owned and operated enterprises like the Soap House and the Biscuit House. You can find out more on the Wild Jordan website.
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Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
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The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
+ +Evolutionary biologist J. B. S. Haldane once said that “the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose,” alluding to the fact that physical sciences often raise more questions than they answer, leaving us scratching our heads. After visiting Petra I was overwhelmed with a similar feeling, that Petra is not only grander than we suppose, but grander than we can suppose. What I would give to have seen it in its time!
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I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ +Another good place to buy kanafeh is at a sweets shop called Nafeesah. Both it and Habibah have several shops around the city, but I’m still not sure which one is better.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
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The shrine, built nearly 1,000 years ago, stands atop a hotly contested complex called the Temple Mount (“Noble Sanctuary” in Arabic) that dates back to the Canaanites four thousand years ago — like I said, an impressive resume!
+ +As a secular person it’s all a bit too heavy for my taste, but there’s no doubt that the complex is stunningly beautiful. Visitation of the Temple Mount is open to the non-Muslim public from 7:30 to 11:00 AM from the access bridge at the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter of the old city.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ +Wild Jordan staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other reserves are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+
You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ +Take a local Bedouin guide, sleep in a tent, and experience the beautiful tranquility of Jordan’s desert expanses.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ +The ruins in Jerash are one of those legacies. Complete with arches, colonnades, hippodrome, baths, theaters, temples, and more, Jerash is the most well-preserved of Jordan’s Greco–Roman sites.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ +In any case, it’s hard to miss this large stone arch near the beginning of the Greco–Roman archaeological site as you enter Jerash. I recommend visiting in the morning or late afternoon hours, as the midday sun can be intense.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ +I saw this graffiti while walking around downtown Amman and thought the irony was too much to not share it. Loosely translated (this apparently comes from the words, actions, or habits of the prophet Muhammad), it says “cleanliness comes from faith” (al nadafa min al iman).
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These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ +Human activity in the area dates back to the Bronze Age. Eventually the region came under Greek influence and the city was renamed “Pella” in honor of the birthplace of the famous conqueror Alexander the Great — its namesake being Pella, Macedonia, in what is now northern Greece. The site is currently located near the Arab town of Tabaqat Fahl.
+ +The best way to visit Pella is a hike around the site and its scenic landscape in early Spring. You can find maps, GPS coördinates, and turn-by-turn navigation cues on the Hiking in Jordan website. Visit your auto mechanic, fix up your brakes, and then take the dramatic descent into the Jordan Valley to see this valuable piece of human history. Anyone staying in Jordan for more than a few days should absolutely add Pella to their list of “must see” attractions in the country.
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Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ +On this particular summer day it was just before sunset when the light becomes less intense and takes on an orange hue. After admiring the church for some time from up close I walked on past it only to turn back a few moments later and catch a glimpse of this iconic building against the backdrop of a seemingly endless city. In retrospect, I must have been extra lucky to have been spared Amman’s infamous dusty haze that day.
+ +In my experience Jabal Ashrafieh is safe and bustling with friendly people. On my walk back home that day many children stopped to slap high fives, ask my name, and one family even offered me some zucchini stuffed with minced meat and pine nuts. This was a good day.
+ +Church service is open to the public at 9:30AM on Sundays.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
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Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ +Shops in downtown Amman sell the fabric for two Jordanian Dinar¹ per meter. This cheap and durable fabric makes a great souvenir or gift for friends and family back home — some things haven’t changed since the times of the silk road! Unfortunately, one shopkeeper told me that this fabric used to be made exclusively in Aleppo, but production has moved to China since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
+ +¹ Approximately 2.8 USD.
+ + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Page not found. Go back home.
+Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Alan lived and worked in Kenya for eight years, first as a volunteer teaching computer science at a rural college, and later as a Linux systems administrator at a livestock research institute in Nairobi. During his time in Kenya he traveled extensively around East Africa and blogged about his experiences. He is passionate about open-source software, information security, and the freedom of information — naturally, he blogs about that too.
+ +After spending some time living in (and blogging about) Bulgaria, he finds himself living in Jordan. These are his stories.
+ +You can contact him.
+ + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Page not found. Go back home.
+Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+أنا أَلِن من كالفورنيا، ساكن في عَمّان، عندي أربع مُدَوَّنَات:
+ + + + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ +Technical: Nikon D3100, ten-second exposure time, post processed from RAW with darktable.
+ + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ +Първоначално изградена през 1975 година, джамията е обновена през 2010-а като част от по-голям план за съживяването на пристанищния град на Червено море и е построена по модела на Голямата джамия „Шейх Зайед“ в Абу Даби.
+ + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ +Еволюционният биолог Джон Бърдън Сандерсън Холдейн веднъж казал, че „Вселената е не само по-странна отколкото предполагаме, а по-странна отколкото можем да предположим“, намеквайки за факта, че физическите науки често повдигат повече въпроси, отколкото могат да отговорят, оставяйки ни да се почесваме по главите. След като посетих Петра, ме порази усещането, че Петра е не само по-величествена отколкото предполагаме, но по-величествена отколкото можем да предположим. Какво ли не бих дал да можех да я видя в нейния апогей!
+ + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Page not found. Go back home.
+Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Алън живее и работи в Кения в продължение на осем години, първо като доброволец учител по компютърни науки в селско училище, а по-късно като Linux системен администратор в институт за селскостопански животни в Найроби. По време на престоя си в Кения той пътува из Източна Африка и пише блог за преживяванията си. Негобата страст е софтуерът с отворен код, информационната сигурност, както и свободата на информация — естествено, той пише блог и за това.
+ +След като прекара известно време в (и имаше блог за) България, той се озова в Йордания. Това са неговите истории.
+ +Можете да се свържете с него.
+ + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ Вижте още → + Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → + Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ Вижте още → + Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → + Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+Бих се радвал на вашите коментари, въпроси и предложения — пратете ми съобщение от формата за контакти.
+ + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ Вижте още → + Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → + Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ Вижте още → + Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → + Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ Вижте още → + Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → + Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Най-добрият начин да се опише джамията „Шейх Зайед“ е „перлата на Акаба“. Тази живописна джамия на йорданския морски бряг впечатлява с красотата си, но „перлата в короната“ — да продължим аналогията — е безупречната арабска калиграфия, инкрустирана на фасадата ѝ. За съжаление, малко може да се напише за самия град Акаба.
+ Вижте още → + Джамията на крал Хюсеин е построена през 2005 г. и е най-голямата в Йордания. Все още не съм я посетил, но съм ѝ се любувал няколко вечери от балкона на апартамент в квартал „Халда“ в Западен Аман.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Набатеите са племе, забогатели изключително от търговията на тамян, смирна и подправки на Арабския полуостров преди около 2000 години. Те построили Петра като столица на своята процъфтяваща цивилизация. Призрачно красивите каменни фасади, високи до сто метра, са удивително добре запазени и непокътнати и до днес.
+ Вижте още → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → + While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
+ Read more → + The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → + Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → + The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ Read more → + You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
+ Read more → + There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → + Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ Read more → + Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ Read more → + A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ Read more → + While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
+ Read more → + I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ Read more → + You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → + The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → + The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → + Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ Read more → + There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → + Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → + I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
+ Read more → + The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+I’d love to hear your comments, questions, and suggestions — send me a message using the form below.
+ + + +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → + Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ Read more → + While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
+ Read more → + I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ Read more → + You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → + The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → + The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → + Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ Read more → + There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → + Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → + I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
+ Read more → + The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → + Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ Read more → + While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
+ Read more → + I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ Read more → + You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → + The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → + The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → + Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ Read more → + There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → + Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → + I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
+ Read more → + The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → + Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
+ Read more → + The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → + Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → + I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
+ Read more → + The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → + I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Anyone who has drank tea in Petra or ate mansaf in Wadi Rum will quickly recognize the unique fabric adorning traditional Bedouin tents in Jordan. These colorful designs are commonly used across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, from Syria and Iraq in the north to the United Arab Emirates and Oman in the southeast. American musician Cardi B even featured some in the 2017 music video for her song Bodak Yellow!
+ Read more → + Shortly after moving to Amman I noticed this unique building on a distant hill and I set out on a sort of scavenger hunt to find it. The walk from downtown to Jabal Ashrafieh is packed with winding streets and steep staircases (some of which go nowhere). To this day the church is one of my favorite landmarks in Amman and I often make the trek there when I’m feeling like getting some exercise and exploring the city. I like to think of it as a pilgrimage — it is a religious site after all!
+ Read more → + These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → + The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There is a popular notion that cleanliness is an important part of the Islamic faith, though you wouldn’t know it from walking around Jordan. I have never seen people throw coffee cups, half-eaten sandwiches, tissues, etc on the street so carelessly — and often times with such finesse — as here in Jordan.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s Dead Sea coast is the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amman. If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome and minimalistic — not to mention cheaper — than an elegant five-star resort, look no further than Wild Jordan’s chalets at Wadi Mujib.
+ Read more → + While not technically in Jordan, Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock is basically just a stone’s throw away from Amman (pun intended). Not only is this shrine capped with a golden dome, covered in vibrant Ottoman-era tilework, and adorned with elegant Arabic calligraphy, it also boasts an impressive resume of sacred claims to fame.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
+ Read more → + I’m ashamed to say that it took me almost one month to discover this sweet, cheesy dessert after moving to Jordan. Originally from Nablus, a Palestinian city apparently known for “high cuisine,” kanafeh is one of those things that they just can’t make fast enough. At one famous shop called Habibah in downtown Amman there is always a line, and it’s even a bit stressful ordering there unless you know what you’re doing!
+ Read more → + You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Wild Jordan has an ingenious day trip where you pay them to take you to pick olives on a farm in Ajloun — the family who owns the farm even comes out to watch you and give you tips! Like I said: genius. Jokes aside, it was actually a lot of fun, and the point is to educate you about the olive harvest and its importance to people in the region.
+ Read more → + The Jordan River Foundation has a showroom on Rainbow Street where they brilliantly showcase traditional, everyday objects from the region in a fresh, modern way. It’s like someone went and replaced all the things in your grandma’s rural kitchen with newer, brightly accented ones. All of the wood, cloth, and clay work here is produced by people in local communities, and, as far as I know, the proceeds from sales go back to supporting them.
+ Read more → + The best way to describe the Sheikh Zayed mosque would be “the pearl of Aqaba.” There is a lot to love about this picturesque mosque by the Jordanian seaside, but its crown jewel — to continue the analogy — is the impeccable Arabic calligraphy inlaid in its facade. Sadly, Aqaba itself isn’t much to write home about.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ Read more → + The King Hussein mosque was built in 2005 and is the largest mosque in Jordan. I haven’t visited it yet, but I’ve spent quite a few evenings admiring it from a balcony in the Khalda neighborhood of West Amman.
+ Read more → + Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
+ Read more → + There’s a shop in one of Amman’s downtown markets that sells traditional sweets. I’m not sure who was more excited about this half kilo of baklawa — me, or the jovial young Jordanian selling it.
+ Read more → + Even if the number of mosques in Amman didn’t outnumber churches by a factor of ten, the Saint Thaddeus Armenian Apostolic church would still stand out. The unique architecture caught my eye once and then I started seeing it every time I glanced at Jabal Al-Ashrafieh. After weeks of squinting and asking myself “Is that an Armenian church?” I finally went on an scavenger hunt and found it.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ A few weeks ago I slept in a tent on the cusp of Jordan’s Rift Valley. Wild Jordan has regular hiking and camping trips to the reserve and they are very affordable. The staff are friendly and genuinely care about nature conservation. Trips to this and other national parks are part of an impressive government effort to preserve Jordan’s natural spaces.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → + I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
+ Read more → + The irony is rich with this one, because this mosque has a sound system from another planet. If I wasn’t worried about my personal safety I’d put up a sign right next to it saying: Please mute your mosque, there is a sleeping Alan 50m away.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ Another day, another exquisite, hand-painted ceiling in Amman. Just like the other hand-painted wood ceiling I posted about two weeks ago, the work was done by an old Syrian man. This one is actually in my flat, and I may or may not have taken this picture while laying on my back on the living room floor.
+ Read more → + There’s an old Syrian man who does this fantastic hand painting on wood panels in Amman. Three flats in our building have them installed on the ceiling, but this one takes the cake. I’m not sure if it’s typical for the region or not — the man was referencing pictures from a Russian art book — but they are exquisite.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
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+ The Nabataeans were a tribe who became filthy rich on the trade of frankincense, myrrh, and spices in the Arabian peninsula around 2,000 years ago. They built Petra as the capital of their flourishing civilization. Hauntingly beautiful stone facades standing one hundred meters tall are amazingly intact and well preserved to this day.
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+ I’m struggling to find words to describe my trip to Jordan’s coastal city Aqaba. Initially, the contrast between dry desert, rocky mountains, and the turquoise water of the Red Sea is visually striking — imagine Matt Damon in The Martian, but where he goes snorkeling on a coral reef instead of growing potatoes.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ These days there isn’t much to see of the Greco–Roman city of Pella in northwestern Jordan. Sadly, the ancient ruins here suffer from being slightly smaller, slightly less well-preserved, and slightly less convenient to visit than the similar ruins at Jerash. With a bit of imagination and some historical background, however, they are equally enchanting and even have a unique character of their own.
+ Read more → + There are apparently two arches built around 130 CE to honor Roman Emperor Hadrian—one in Athens and one in Jerash. The former is undoubtedly more studied, but the latter is objectively more beautiful! Maybe it’s the color of the stones in the afternoon light, the unconventional architectural features, or just the sheer size of it.
+ Read more → + Jordan’s location in the geographical “near east” has exposed the country to dozens of civilizations over the course of history. Over the last three thousand years alone this region has experienced the coming and going of the Persian, Greek, Roman, Nabataean, Byzantine, and Ottoman — to name a few — empires, the legacies of which are often still visible today.
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+ As Muslims around the world are busy wishing each other a blessed Eid al-Adha, some poor bastard has to clean up this lazily discarded sheep carcass from my local dumpster (note the entrails spilled below). Keep it classy, Jordan.
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+ You could easily lose yourself — both literally and figuratively — in the endless red sand and towering rock skyscrapers of Wadi Rum. This majestic place, known to even the Greeks and the Romans, has been inhabited for thousands of years and is unlike any other place on Earth. The unique landscape has been featured in a handful of Hollywood movies, for example Lawrence of Arabia and The Martian.
+ Read more → +Sharing Jordan with the world — one picture at a time.
+ There’s a unique wetland nature preserve an hour and a half from Amman — in thirty minutes of walking around, I saw birds, snakes, crabs, fish, and even water buffaloes! For thousands of years Azraq was a massive, thriving oasis whose ecological diversity supported human settlements, but in recent decades it has come dangerously close to drying up due to increased water usage from surrounding cities.
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+ I can’t even read Arabic but I’m pretty sure that billboard is telling people to put their fucking phones down while driving. It’s like an epidemic here. I’ve never seen people look less at the road while driving than here in Amman.
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+ You haven’t lived until you and your friends have eaten seventeen different colors of rice, meat, and sauces while sitting on the floor at the Bab al-Yemen restaurant in Amman. If my experience is anything to go by, every item on the menu is downright delicious — including the humongous, flame-kissed flatbread that would be almost as fascinating to see being made as it was to eat.
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