Photos by Andreas Fathalla, (Kalamazoo College), Student Correspondent for CET Jordan, Fall 2022
One day on the weekend we went on a tour of Wadi Mujib with our CET local neighbors, and on the way there we stopped for a view of the Dead Sea. The water is extremely salty, so much so that you can see giant rocks of salt cover the shoreline. Fun fact, this is the lowest point of land on Earth, at over 400m below sea level.
On a separate trip to the Dead Sea with CET, we stopped at a panoramic viewpoint before going to the water. The view was really breathtaking, and as the Dead Sea is on the Jordanian border, you can see the mountains of Palestine right across the sea. Later we went down and swam in the water; you actually float rather than swim because of the salt concentration. Just don’t get the water in your eyes!
Somewhere between the Dead Sea and the city of Amman, I saw this desert mountain range from the highway and decided to take note of the location so I could come back the next week to go hiking. I was able to walk along the dirt roads and explore about 8 miles of the range, though there’s much more to see here left for another day. If you want any info about this hike, feel free to reach out to me, as always.
Between the mountains I hiked on, there was a valley with a river that ran through where some farms were kept. I met one of the guys running a fruit farm and ended up helping him harvest guavas from the farm’s trees. He let me eat as many guavas as I wanted and take some home, they must have been some of the best I’ve ever eaten. It was great to see such a unique side of Jordan and speak the local language with people I was able to meet in a location like this, it was clear not many people take this hike.
In downtown Amman, this is one of the many staircases used to connect the areas of West Al- Balad( سوط البلد ) , Jabal Amman( ب جل ع م ان ) , and Jabal Al-Weibdeh( ب جل الو یبد ة ) . The staircases allow for an easy way of getting between the parts of town atop and at the bases of the hills. This particular staircase is right by the restaurant Hashem in West Al-Balad, and there are some nice cafés only accessible by the staircase path.
We went on a tour provided by CET called Underground Amman, where we got to walk through the streets of downtown Amman and see some of the most popular works of Graffiti around the city, I thought this one was really cool. It’s painted onto a wall at the side of a hill, so if you’re looking into the distance from the side of another hill in the area, you can actually see this mural from afar.
My friend Ro and I got fresh pressed sugarcane juice in West Al-Balad, at a place called
Sugarcane Downtown قصب وسط ال)ب لد ). It’s only half a dinar for a cup, and it’s a great place to go right after getting food from one of the restaurants in the area like Hashem.
I went to a concert at the Roman Amphitheater with a group of friends from CET. The music was Arab techno, by the group 47 Soul. It sounded really good and was very unique. We all went to the front by the stage and a lot of us danced Debke, a traditional Jordanian line dance. Sajid, holding the camera, got this picture of our group from a height.
One day on the weekend I took a trip to the town of Jerash. There are supposed to be busses that run from the North Station for very cheap, but they apparently don’t run on Fridays so I got a shared taxi instead. I explored the archaeological site pictured above; the place covers a large area and has a bunch of impressive roman ruins, including various colosseums.
After our tour of Wadi Mujib with our local neighbors, the tour bus took us all to this place in the hills outside of Amman. I spent some time walking around the hills and nature in the area, there were a lot of great views to see. This would be a great place to come to and relax at with a campfire one evening if you’re looking to spend some time in nature.