‘Ayn Salmān

It takes a little over 2 hours to drive from the Port of Aqaba to Petra, but we had a wonderful guide and beautiful scenery to enjoy along the way.

At one point, a few buses turned off the main road to a single dusty lane. Our guide, Kamal, explained that this shortcut would shave at least 30 minutes off our trip.

All the more time to explore Petra!

Jordanians love cinder blocks, it seems, and many buildings have rebar jutting out of the top floor.

According to Kamal, this is so families can live together. His grandparents, for instance, built a house. His uncle built an apartment on top of it, and his parents built another floor atop that.

When Kamal was little, if he didn’t like what was for dinner at his parents’ house, he could pop over and see what grandma had made.

As Kamal pointed out, keeping the family together like this, each living in their own private apartment, is quite handy for both childcare and elder care.

In addition to rebar, the top floor of most buildings features a solar powered hot water tank. (See photos.)

Along the way, we stopped at a mountaintop cafe with an astounding rooftop view.

Not only did they serve Arabian style coffee, but they had plenty of Pringles for sale. Lol!

I find Jordanian style coffee quite tasty because they add cardamom to it. Yum!

I’ve yet to figure out how locals tie their head scarves, but it’s a good look.

Kamal is in his early 40’s and well versed in pop culture. His informative narration was peppered with numerous snarky asides.

If I didn’t know otherwise, I’d assume Kamal was American. Aside from rolling the occasional r, his accent was flawless.

I enjoyed learning about life in Jordan, both past and present. Phosphate, potash & tourism are the main industries.

Unlike other countries in the Middle East, Kamal told us that, “religion is not a big thing here.”

His family is Muslim, but he has many Christian friends, too. “We don’t fight with each other. You will see churches next to mosques.”

“And during Ramadan,” he explained, “when Muslims are fasting all day, you will see our Christian friends on the street corner giving us water and dates when sunset comes.”

“We even do Secret Santa gift exchanges with each other,” he continued. “Is it against our religion? No, it’s just fun.”

Before we knew it, we’d reached Kamal’s hometown, the hilly town by Petra.Read more