Amman is Jordan’s capital and largest city, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. On first impressions it’s all over the place, but after finding your ground, all the pieces of the city seem to come together.
First impressions of Amman
Arriving into Amman at around 8:00pm, we hopped into a taxi outside the airport after much squabbling and bartering with the driver for the reduction of our fare. He was taking us to our hotel for the next two nights, located in Amman’s downtown district.
Within five minutes of our taxi journey, mayhem began. In all my life, I have never witnessed so much traffic and congestion.
Football fever
The sounds of thousands of horns, the flashing of lights, people shouting to one another, people sitting on top of their vehicles waving flags, taxi drivers spitting too and fro. Football! Apparently the Jordinians go crazy for it, and their recent victory against Australia was the sole cause of the pandemonium that prevailed. Understandable.
Eventually, as we passed on and the traffic died down, we arrived in downtown Amman. Hungry, tired and relieved we had all made it through relatively unscathed.
Upon arriving at our ‘supposed’ hotel, we soon came to realise that it was the wrong hotel, and what followed was at least an hour and a half of tedious searching, being told in broken English that it was only two minutes away, ‘’Oh yes!” “I ask my friend” “We show you” “Welcome” (the latter you hear constantly in Jordan).
Unfortunately, the majority of the time they took us right back to the wrong hotel. About to give up, and deliberating with each other as to whether or not we should just book another hotel, out of the shadows of one of the many café’s in downtown Amman, appeared the silhouetted figure of a young, British university exchange student who kindly pointed us in the right direction. Amusingly it was only two minutes away.
Searching for food
Down dark, unlit back streets away from the noise of pollution, we found the homes to arrays of stray cats and their kittens, feasting on the market’s leftovers and any other morsel of meat they could find. (I think the sanitation services are on strike because bin bags full of waste are part of Amman’s landscape!)
Tucked away behind leftover market stands and bins, we found a roadside café. The only place that was opened. With no other option we pulled up a seat, hoping we wouldn’t be disappointed. Thankfully, it was another but disappointing. We ate the most fantastic meal of chicken, hummus, soup and salad for less than £3.50 each (looks can be deceiving!). After our scrumptious dinner we settled into sleep.
Exploring Amman by day
During the day, Amman becomes alive once again as hundreds of shops open their doors and welcome you inside to view their Aladdin’s cave of antiquities, rugs and carpets and taxidermy.
The smell of spices flows through each street to the next, the scent steadily weaving itself amongst the flow of people and cars. “Please come and look”, “We have the best tea in the whole of Jordan!” provides a well needed break from the sun above.
The markets are abundant with fresh fruit and vegetables. As you bite into a fig, and remember how you thought the figs at Sainsbury’s were gorgeous, you realise how wrong you really were!
Everyone seems so friendly and happy. Even those who live amongst the poverty, and as you peer inside their homes and realise they have very little, welcome you and are so enthusiastic about providing you with their hospitality. “Welcome”, “welcome to Jordan”.
Want more travel blogs from Jordan?
- How to Spend One Week in Jordan – Travel Itinerary
- Petra’s One Mile Wonder: From the Siq to the Treasury
- Floating in the Dead Sea
- Bedouin Night from the Wadi Rum Desert
- Adventure Through Little Petra and Beyond
10 responses
Maybe we were just lucky, but my husband and I had great luck with cab drivers in Amman. Though one did get pulled over for speeding and use us as a way to get out of the ticket, which we found hilarious. I really enjoyed my time there, and I got the feeling that Amman could be a real up-and-coming Middle Eastern city if the economic circumstances of Jordan change. Anyway, this post made me want to go back and eat more of that very cheap, but insanely delicious food!
Haha he used you as a scapegoat! Brilliant! Our first taxi driver was an exception, as the others we had were great fun and truly welcomed us! The people, food and its location to to so many other extraordinary places will ensure that people will continue to go. But I agree, Amman has so much more potential, but economic and political circumstances hinder what could be an extremely flourishing city.
I’ve never really thought of other parts of Jordan as a destination other than Petra. So, this was such a wonderful inside look at Amman. It looks interesting and would love to get lost on those streets and shops. Sorry to hear about you experience but it looks like everything worked out well. Beautiful pictures, Shing!
Ooops maybe my title sounds too melodramatic as the taxi experience and the first night was soon forgotten about hehe! Oh Petra is only one facet to Jordan (albeit a dazzling facet!) and Amman is full of character, not to mention having the Dead Sea practically on its doorstep, and other places like Mount Nebo, the Citadel and Jerash are all nearby!
Not the best introduction to the city but I’m glad that you grew to love it. I’m so looking forward to exploring the city and the back streets. I hope it’s still fig season!!
Oh I hope the season is upon you, the figs were delicious! The city sprawls out, and doesn’t have the same ‘centre’ like most capitals do, so it requires a little more effort to search for the good parts! But I know you”ll have a fascinating time – really looking forward to seeing all your pictures and reading your stories!
I think cities like this are the most rewarding once you find your feet. It felt a bit like that for me in Chiclayo, Peru. A strange city and by no means attractive, but in general the people were lovely.
Hi Katie! Going back to this page is like a walk down memory lane so thanks for the comment! Hmmm I’ve never heard of Chiclayo before so thanks for the reference. Going to see if you’ve written about it now, if not I’ll turn to Mr Google 😉
.. if you want to visit a real life dystopia .. mega dyspotia .. Amman is it .. it is incredible ..
Amman has more than 4 million people .. nearly ten times the size Tel Aviv ..