Presenting the second half of my account on Aqaba. At this moment I clearly see that my decision to split it in two was a wise one, for if I hadn’t done that I can imagine my readership finding it difficult to maintain interest in such a lengthy piece.

Shopping in Aqaba obtained a new meaning after declaring the city a special economic zone as many citizens from other cities find good bargains there. This has added to Aqaba’s vitality and increased the city’s revenue from local tourism.
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I am not an expert on cigars but I figured this was an interesting sign. I sincerely hope nobody imagines I am promoting smoking or anything of the sort.

Enticing displays luring people in with antiques, accessories, souvenirs, belly dance costumes, wooden chests, Argila’s, spices, and monster seashells.

This is a detailed picture of a collection of spices.

One antiques store had a model wearing some amazing accessories displayed in its window. I zoomed in and took a shot of the head as it was the most remarkable thing I saw that day. I love the metal coins on the rim of the face cover, I believe this accessory is called a “Borqo’”, that’s “Borgo3″ for those of you who can distinguish the eighteenth sound of the Arabic alphabet written as a number. I could be wrong about the name but I desperately need one similar item. It is so exotic.

Books about Jordan are also popular merchandise. They come in a variety of languages, there are even some that detail recipes for Arabic or Jordanian cooking.

“Sand Art” entails the usage of delicate tools to fill up transparent glass bottles with colored sand and fashioning various shapes inside the bottles. It is an exquisite art form that is very much in demand by tourists. Take a look at this beautiful sand art store.

Thanks are due to this sand artist who kindly agreed to be my model. After asking around I was told that sand artists acquire their polychromatic sands from nature or, if they want to use a color unavailable in nature, they use special pigments to dye the sand prior to use. The price of sand art bottles varies depending on the store and the size of the bottle.

Larger bottles usually are pricier because artists dedicate more time and patience to them. A shopper’s tip, ask around before you buy sand art bottles. I have found some places in Amman to sell them for less.

A famous five star restaurant in the heart of the city called Ali Baba hosts hordes of people every day and night. It has been in Aqaba for as long as I remember. Should you feel like enjoying a dish there make sure you can afford it. A picture of the restaurant at night.

This is a picture of a humble sidewalk cafe. Such places are populated at night by Jordanian men and Egyptian workers looking for a cup of tea or coffee and a nice gathering with fellow workers. I have seen that some sidewalk cafe’s in Aqaba have put up TV’s to attract more clientele. And since the majority of workers live in poor conditions and do not own TV sets,this comes as an offer they can not say no to.

I went to a local marketplace called Souq Al Rowaq. The goods sold there are primarily cheap and made in China. I do not speak of quality because I do not know.I liked it at the market because it is very traditional and down to earth. Here is a heap of slippers. And a general view of the market.

There is hardly any notable perfume that you can not find a duplicate for in this place. The people behind this trade can technically mimic any perfume you tell them of, and indeed they already have a vast collection of scents for any taste. I think this is probably illegal but it is never uninteresting.

Now for a more fun collection of items that I came across in Aqaba. Allow me to start with a gigantic slipper that I found amusing.

And a bizarre seashell made into a scented oil holder, creativity assured.

Here is an intriguing label. The name of this denim trade mark is catchy, as it means “destruction”. I am not sure if the word “damar” exists in the language of the manufacturing company, perhaps it means something else to them. Perhaps they deliberately chose this transliteration, since the slang word “damar” to Jordanian youth denotes coolness and other attributes. I will explain further; when a person comments on something by saying “wow! damar!”, this usually means the thing in question is hip,sexy,or simply smashing. I just thought this was interesting, and the spelling mistakes on the label funny.

Lights by the shore less than a minute away from where I was staying. I shook the camera out of idle curiousity and I adore the result.

On the way home to Amman, I passed by the great Mujib landscape. This is one of my favorite places in Jordan. It lies in the southern part of the kingdom and I believe it is part of Karak. This series of grand mountains overlooking the Dead Sea hosts a number of tales, most notably the story of the prophet Lut and his people.

In Islam, the story -and this is the version I have been taught- revolves around the people of the prophet practising sodomy and other acts frowned upon by Allah. Therefore Lut is ordered to leave his village alongside fellow believers, and as they were warned not to turn their heads and witness the punishment of their people none of them did so, save for Lut’s wife who was not a true believer.

Thus she joined her people in their torture and she was turned into stone. Many people like to make guesses about which rock is actually the woman, and there is one erect stone that some have assured me is indeed her figure. Regardless of the existence of this certain stone,I love the unique formations and colors of the massive rocks in this area. To conserve this beauty, a natural reserve was opened in Mujib and it has come to my knowledge that one could go trekking deep into the mountains and if one is lucky enough he or she may spot herds of deer and other forms of wildlife. Finally, a picture of the part of Mujib right beside the Zara road and a general in-car rear view of that road which connects the Mujib area with Amman.

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 3rd, 2005 at 12:39 am and is filed under Jordan, Picturesque. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.