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"Jordan Jubilee"
GENERAL INFORMATION
Weather in Jordan GENERAL INFORMATION
JORDAN OUT OF DOORS
HISTORY OF JORDAN MEETING THE PEOPLE
THE MIDDLE EAST AROUND
THE WEBSITE FUN
STUFF The Gates of Damascus More Jordan links
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Among the most popular things to buy in Jordan are the decorated sand bottles, sometimes with the most intricate designs done in the sand, with the aid of a knitting needle and a funnel! The photo above, while very colourful (I couldn't resist it!), shows the young man using DYED sand, that is to say ordinary beach or desert sand mixed with powdered colours. These coloured designs will fade fairly soon and very quickly indeed if exposed to the sun. It is better if possible to buy the bottles in Petra, where the sand used is almost always the natural sand of the rocks. These bottles and the sand in them are often referred to (by the salesmen!) as "Petra's treasure". Prices of these bottles vary enormously according to the design and the size of the bottles. While the fair-sized bottles shown above seem to have pretty detailed designs (I have become something of an expert in sand bottles!) the dyed sand takes away from the price. I expect the young man would sell these for 5 or 6JD each. Bottles of the same quality done with natural sand are more likely to cost 8 to 10JD. But the starting price for simple sand bottles, with or without a camel done in the sand, is around 2 or even 1JD. You can get a name written in the sand for 1JD extra. If you want something really fine, an intricate design or a large bottle, then the price can run up to 10 or 20JD or often more, sometimes much more. Some of the work done is quite extraordinary. Very often a stallholder will have a large bottle on display with samples of all the possible designs worked in the sand. If you ask the price of this sort of bottle, he is likely to reply 100JD - he might take less if you are set on it, but to tell the truth he doesn't really want to sell this bottle, it is a "showpiece". You can gauge the quality of the bottles on sale by the number of dishes of coloured sand nearby: a good worker might have ten or twelve different colours available. "Sahlah" at the Sandcastle shop in Petra often has fifteen (I shall be mentioning this shop again, it is a very good shop, larger than most and has an enormous range of objects, many of them of high quality).
In this picture you can see the "Bedouin" knives which are not just for decoration but which would be used for serious work, and also the hand made fringe on the kefiya on the right (the one on the left looks a bit the worse for wear!) . The red and white versions are popularly supposed to be Jordanian (the black and white being Palestinian or Syrian) and the Desert Patrol looks most romantic wearing the hand made fringed kefiyas. (I once asked a soldier if he had made the fringe himself, and he grinned and said "No, my mother did it", which just goes to show something or other.) Knives in fact are fairly easy to find, good quality knives rather more difficult. They are usually perfectly authentic, especially the better ones, and most locals (all Bedouin) regularly carry a knife of some kind with them. I think it is safe to say that even when the "carrying knife" is a Swiss knife, they have also somewhere nearby a seriously sharpened knife like the ones carried by the Desert Patrol. The souvenir knives sold in most places are pretty blunt, and normally have a metal or horn handle. You might be told that the horn comes from the ibex or gazelle, in fact - sorry to disillusion you - usually it comes from a goat! A reasonably good knife (not as good as those required to work with) would cost something over 15JD, 25 or 30JD is not extraordinary for a good one. There are also imported knives around, made in places like Damascus and beautifully decorated. But there are a number available that cost between 5 and 10JD, and as long as you are not looking to kill something these are perfectly adequate. They make good paper cutters for instance - rather impressive if used correctly. You might be interested to know that almost all of these knives are still made by hand locally. Certainly a Bedouin would not buy a "shop-made" one ("unreliable!") If you are in Wadi Rum, there is often a gypsy family camped there who make and sell knives that cannot be more "authentic" since this is where the Bedouin there buy most of their knives. Note that these are NOT tourist quality, and the prices are likely to be 30JD upwards according to the size. They can make a knife according to your specifications during the day.
A good deal of interest is shown in "narghilas" or water pipes. There is a most attractive shop in Aqaba where you can see a large choice of narghilas and which also sells ouds (the Arab lute). The narghilas are priced here, as elsewhere, between about 4JD and 45JD - the ouds from 45JD upwards. But for 45JD you don't get anything really but a piece of attractive looking wood - to get a good oud you need at least 150JD and for a really good one (musician quality) over 200JD. This shop is on the left hand side of the road running down from the main market towards the sea, and the Housing Bank is on the southern end. You can also find a very large variety of "shisha" tobacco here. (There are a great many blanket shops on the other side of the road a very good buy if you should happen to be needing a blanket - the small ones cost from about 8-10JD and the larger ones from 23JD upwards, according to their weight. An unusual souvenir, I grant you, but they are beautiful blankets...) Rugs : ah here you have a tremendous variety!
Note the complicated pattern on the bands on this rug. Simple prayer rugs are also easy to find, these are the rugs that are used everywhere by the locals. Preferred colours are red, green and blue. You probably know that prayer rugs are spread on the ground with the "head" of the rug laid towards Mecca. Prices somewhere around 12-15JD. If you are interested in quality rugs from Jordan, you should check out the Bani Hamida weaving project. Their workshops are in Mukawir, just off the Kings' Highway, but they also have a shop in Amman where their work is displayed at the Jordan River Centre on Jebel Amman. There is also a weaving workshop run by the Howeitat tribe at El Husseinyer on the Desert Highway north of Tafileh.
More exotic carpets from further afield, abound, I am not qualified to say much about them. Personally I rather like the colourful Iraqi ones, again these are artisan made. The carpets from Turkey and from Iran are well represented everywhere, the Sandcastle has a very large choice (photographed here), but the men there are knowledgeable, and you are unlikely to be able to get a real bargain! An interesting thing to look at are the dresses and skirts on sale. In the souvenir shops you can find two sorts of these : the Indian cotton ones and the Palestinian embroidered ones. The first are often quite attractive, but rather "peasant-like". They aren't bad if you have just brought pants with you and suddenly need or decide that you would like a dress or a skirt.
The second - ah! these are beautiful and very expensive. Thickly embroidered in cross-stitch on every side, these are invariably done by hand, dresses, skirts, waistcoats... The colours have a significance, there are several books available on them. If you can't afford 100JD upwards for a jacket, you can always buy a cushion cover which is also available and noticeably cheaper. A compromise could be a shawl, also beautifully embroidered, but much cheaper than the jackets, say around 20-30JD..
Other souvenirs available : masses of "stuff". Loads of what I can only call "glass thingummies" some of them rather nice, lots and lots of brass whatnots, ditto. Among the glass objects you can also find a particular kind of crystal wine glasses, semi opaque and coloured. A good many people like these. Marquetry imported from Syria is rather fine, there are many sizes of boxes, but also little tables (that fold up), very attractive. Backgammon boards are also available.
Jordanian ceramics are also very nice, plates and dishes make rather a good buy. They are very colourful, often with local views (the "Treasury", the Al Aqsa Mosque) or with a verse from the Koran ("God is Great").
Souvenir shops in Petra : there are a number of them down in the site, I am not concerning myself with these at the moment.
These are "thumbnail images", which were photographed in the Visitors' Centre in Petra. Click on them for enlargements. They show a display of knives, the jewellery boxes and the embroidered cushions - all very nice indeed! Have a look at the Petra Visitors' Centre, there are a couple of small shops, one run for the benefit of the Rural Women of Jordan and another for the Ladies' Working Circle of Wadi Mousa. Their stock is rather limited but there are some very nice things there. I am thinking in particular of the jewellery/cigarette boxes, done in mother of pearl marquetry. Very attractive and very reasonably priced. Behind the Visitors' Centre, on the way down to Petra, there are several good shops, the stock is larger but it is rather crammed in and isn't easy to look at it. Ahmed Sahedat and Khalid Shaban each have a good choice of modern jewellery. Higher up, on the road by the Movenpick Hotel, the Bedwina has a large choice of everything, including rugs. The Bedwina, like Ahmed, has a nice selection of Indian cotton dresses. The Sandcastle is higher up close to the Silk Road Hotel. Don't miss at the very least a quick look in here, it's much bigger than it looks from the outside. In fact there are several other good smaller souvenir shops nearby. The same family as run the Sandcastle also have a shop in Petra, it's the little shop on the right just at the entrance to the Siq where the horses stop. They are very hospitable if you want to take a breather there after trudging up the Siq on the way home. They have a website at http://petrasandcastle.com/ which is very colourful and tells you a bit about the family as well. Almost next door to the Sandcastle, you will find "Made in Jordan" a mixture of a display room and a showroom, where all the merchandise is really made in Jordan by skilled artisans. Much of it is made by people working with the Noor al Hussein Foundation and the Jordan River Foundation, but there is a good deal by independent workers who have difficulty in showing their work elsewhere. Obviously it is more expensive than the normal souvenir shops, but here you will find real quality. Bookshops : "Jeff's Bookshop" is in the line of shops behind the Visitors' Centre, a small but comprehensive collection of books on Jordan and where you can also buy films and postcards - but these you can get just about anywhere. There is another bookshop near to the Sandcastle. Several of the souvenir shops also sell guidebooks. Most of the souvenir shops would accept Visa Cards, but are likely to pass on to you the surcharge levied by Visa. I don't advise you to offer travellers' cheques, there is a very high commission charged by the bank. If you have no alternative, then change them at a bank yourself, the commission is less than that charged to shops. And
last but not least - as everybody will tell you :
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