Jordan Diaries: Navigating our way in al-Balad
For whatever reasons, Blondine and I totally forgot about the Citadel, a major historical place in Amman, Jordan. How did that escape our minds (or plans)? We could have beautiful sweeping views of downtown Amman from up the Jabal al-Qal’a (Arabic name of the citadel)... SIGH. Instead, after the Roman Amphitheater visit, we crossed over to the streets of ‘al-Balad’ which means old downtown centre and navigated the area on foot.
al-Balad street scenes
Arabic fashion: Women in (long) black (dresses) and hijabs.
al-Balad busy street scenes.
Ladies fashion shop in Amman and lots of food and drinks vendors around.
More street scenes in al-Balad, Amman.
Amman’s old downtown centre or in the Arabic world they call it—Medina, is nothing really of old world class importance, in my humble and honest opinion. It’s more like a rundown city that reminds me of Quiapo, Manila in the 1990’s. The medina in Marrakesh was more fascinating and pleasurable. But of course, for the sake of being in Amman, we have to see it for ourselves, and we did.
Gold Souk?
We searched for the ‘gold souk’ hoping to get some good jewellry buys. A perfect souvenir perhaps bought in Amman? But when we found the souk we were very, very, very disappointed. There was nothing pleasing to the eye there. There was not much to see really. There’s Abdali though, an up and coming area of Amman with new shopping malls but we did not come to Jordan to visit a modern shopping mall.
Gold bracelets... they look tacky to me.
Gold souq in al-Balad, not really that impressive.
The butcher scene in al-Balad, Amman
So we further walked letting the al-Balad streets lead us and the Amman rhythm slowly working our tempo, after all in a few hours we will be out of the city, on our way to Wadi Mousa down south of the country, so might as well feel and really get into the energetic pulse of the old city by exploring further.
Then, to Blondine’s fright we came across this butcher house with its prize goodies displayed on the window:
OMG, the goat’s face is de-haired (skinned as well?) and the eyes looked very much alive, like asking for help? Gulp. Poor goat. Blondine really had a scare and she couldn’t believe I took this foto.
In the Netherlands there is an on-going debate about regulating the procedure of slaughtering animals. The Animal Party (yes they have a seat in the Dutch Parliament) is spearheading this into law but are needing support. Unfortunately, this goes against the Jewish ‘kosher’ and Arabic ‘halal’ ritual method of slaughtering animals which are said to be very painful for the beast. So the debacle continues.
King Hussein Mosque
Anyway, we tread further down the busy streets of al-Balad and came upon the busy intersection of King Hussein Mosque, which I believe only Muslims are permitted to go inside. We lingered a bit on the plaza in front of the building appreciating its architectural beauty and taking fotos of the men dressed in ‘keffiyeh’, an Arabic head dress worn by many Jordanians and Palestinians. Yasser Arafat easily comes to mind. This clothing accessory seemed to have infiltrated western fashion as well especially with the younger generations using it as scarves.
King Hussein Mosque right on the busy junction, in the heart of al-Balad, Amman.
Doing my best here at street photography... and more below...
I also noticed that Jordanians are quite polite and tolerant, they are less aggressive and not ultra conservative compared to Moroccans. In Marrakesh medina I got slated a few times by older men whilst taking fotos but in Jordan, they do not seem to mind at all, in fact they smile a lot and are loving the attention.
Outdoor market beside the Mosque
Beside the King Hussein Mosque is an outdoor local wet market. It was getting rowdy in there so we refrained from further exploring the place and decided to leave. Good call I reckon.
That is a massive stash of fresh herbs there.
Big sugar snaps or snap peas and I cannot identify the other interesting green vegetable? Lots of dried herbs, plants and what not for sale as well.
A block away we hailed a cab and told the driver to drive to King Abdullah I Mosque. The cab driver does not speak very good English so it took us a few tries of tongue twisting King Abdullah I Mosque in different accents. Finally he got it and said—the BLUE mosque!
See you there in my next blog entry.
Travel Period: April 2011
Destination: Amman, Jordan
al-Balad street scenes
Arabic fashion: Women in (long) black (dresses) and hijabs.
al-Balad busy street scenes.
Ladies fashion shop in Amman and lots of food and drinks vendors around.
More street scenes in al-Balad, Amman.
Amman’s old downtown centre or in the Arabic world they call it—Medina, is nothing really of old world class importance, in my humble and honest opinion. It’s more like a rundown city that reminds me of Quiapo, Manila in the 1990’s. The medina in Marrakesh was more fascinating and pleasurable. But of course, for the sake of being in Amman, we have to see it for ourselves, and we did.
Gold Souk?
We searched for the ‘gold souk’ hoping to get some good jewellry buys. A perfect souvenir perhaps bought in Amman? But when we found the souk we were very, very, very disappointed. There was nothing pleasing to the eye there. There was not much to see really. There’s Abdali though, an up and coming area of Amman with new shopping malls but we did not come to Jordan to visit a modern shopping mall.
Gold bracelets... they look tacky to me.
Gold souq in al-Balad, not really that impressive.
The butcher scene in al-Balad, Amman
So we further walked letting the al-Balad streets lead us and the Amman rhythm slowly working our tempo, after all in a few hours we will be out of the city, on our way to Wadi Mousa down south of the country, so might as well feel and really get into the energetic pulse of the old city by exploring further.
Then, to Blondine’s fright we came across this butcher house with its prize goodies displayed on the window:
OMG, the goat’s face is de-haired (skinned as well?) and the eyes looked very much alive, like asking for help? Gulp. Poor goat. Blondine really had a scare and she couldn’t believe I took this foto.
In the Netherlands there is an on-going debate about regulating the procedure of slaughtering animals. The Animal Party (yes they have a seat in the Dutch Parliament) is spearheading this into law but are needing support. Unfortunately, this goes against the Jewish ‘kosher’ and Arabic ‘halal’ ritual method of slaughtering animals which are said to be very painful for the beast. So the debacle continues.
King Hussein Mosque
Anyway, we tread further down the busy streets of al-Balad and came upon the busy intersection of King Hussein Mosque, which I believe only Muslims are permitted to go inside. We lingered a bit on the plaza in front of the building appreciating its architectural beauty and taking fotos of the men dressed in ‘keffiyeh’, an Arabic head dress worn by many Jordanians and Palestinians. Yasser Arafat easily comes to mind. This clothing accessory seemed to have infiltrated western fashion as well especially with the younger generations using it as scarves.
King Hussein Mosque right on the busy junction, in the heart of al-Balad, Amman.
Doing my best here at street photography... and more below...
I also noticed that Jordanians are quite polite and tolerant, they are less aggressive and not ultra conservative compared to Moroccans. In Marrakesh medina I got slated a few times by older men whilst taking fotos but in Jordan, they do not seem to mind at all, in fact they smile a lot and are loving the attention.
Outdoor market beside the Mosque
Beside the King Hussein Mosque is an outdoor local wet market. It was getting rowdy in there so we refrained from further exploring the place and decided to leave. Good call I reckon.
That is a massive stash of fresh herbs there.
Big sugar snaps or snap peas and I cannot identify the other interesting green vegetable? Lots of dried herbs, plants and what not for sale as well.
A block away we hailed a cab and told the driver to drive to King Abdullah I Mosque. The cab driver does not speak very good English so it took us a few tries of tongue twisting King Abdullah I Mosque in different accents. Finally he got it and said—the BLUE mosque!
See you there in my next blog entry.
Travel Period: April 2011
Destination: Amman, Jordan
