One of the commonest sights to see in the humbler parts of Amman, and in Jordan generally is roadside open-air shops selling food or pottery. The people who set these sorts of shops are usually people who cannot afford to rent a location to showcase their goods, so they opt for the roadside. It is true that this practice is not entirely legal or safe but the truth of the situation has it that it exists, and that I am writing about it all the same.

I took the pictures in this entry on my way back from Salt city just outside Amman the past month, when my mother stopped to examine the roadside merchandise. This roadside vendor specialised in selling raw foods, such as dried figs, honey, raisins, and so on.

As rule of thumb, items sold by the roadside are cheaper than those sold in concrete shops, for obvious reasons. This is an advantage these vendors enjoy but with the laws getting stricter each day I believe they don’t stand much chance to run on forever.

A final note, If you arrive to such a “shop” in an expensive car, you might expect to be charged a bit more on the items you buy. That’s how flexible the roadside market is, and it requires of you to be equally flexible. Bargain, bargain, and then bargain some more.