Jordan Local Customs

 
by Robin020
 
  •   Local Customs
    by Robin020
  •   Local Customs
    by Robin020
  •   Local Customs
    by Robin020
  •   Local Customs
    by Robin020
  •   Local Customs
    by Robin020
 

Most Viewed Local Customs in Jordan

26.

Covering Up   Petra

Covering Up, Petra

 2 Reviews  Petra is very popular tourist site also for the local Jordanians as well as for the other neighboring countries, you will see lots of Muslims dressed with their tradition clots, however, for... 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Coffee & Tea

by PierreZA

Coffee (Turkish coffee) is a strong boiled brew of cardamom flavoured coffee. It is usually served in small cups. You have to inform the waiter how you sweet you like your coffee, as it is prepared with sugar. Let it settle before drinking, and do not drink the thick, muddy ‘sediment’.Tea (shy) is sweet, often flavoured with mint and usually served in a glass. There are many coffee shops in Downtown Amman, as well as the other places I visited in Jordan and as in Turkey, you see waiters delivering tee and coffee to shops.

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Nargileh/Argileh

by PierreZA

I think Jordanian men are addicted to caffeine and nicotine :-) Other than normal cigarettes the nargileh (hubbly-bubbly) is a very popular local custom. You usually find these in coffee shops, where you can order a prepared water pipe, and a flavour of your choice. It is a very relaxing and sociable experience.

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Alcohol in Jordan

by barryg23

As Jordan is a predominantly Muslim country alcohol is not widely available in the country and its consumption is limited almost exclusively to tourists. Prices are very high and availability is restricted to expensive restaurants, up-market hotels and the occasional liquor store. Beer appears to be the most popular alcoholic drink, with Amstel the most common and the best value. Amstel brew locally in Jordan though it's difficult to come across it on draught - mostly you'll be buying the canned version. Prices start from about 3JD in a liquor store, while in a hotel bar you could pay up to double that amount. Another beer to look out for is Petra, very strong at 8%, but delicious and easy to drink. It's available in a few hotels in Petra and also in Amman.Jordan also produces a small number of wines. We tried a good number of these but none of them was exceptional.

Smoke shisha.

by cachaseiro

The waterpipe, also called shisha is very popular in Jordan and you see people smoking it in cafes everywhere.It's probaply the lack of alcohol that is partly due to it's popularity, but it is also a very social activity and even if i have never smokes cigarettes in my life, i do enjoy to smoke a shisha when i am in this part of the world.The tobacco is very sweet as it is flavoured with fruit and it has less nicotine in it than an ordinary cigarette, so it's easy to smoke even for a person like me who is not used to nicotine.

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Hospitality

by vinc_bilb

The hospitality is a real and important value in Jordan. Any invitation (other one than that purely commercial) must be handled as such. To refuse a sincere invitation is possible, but be aware that it is necessary to respect your interlocutor by putting to it right and polite forms, which could be not so natural for a Westerner.

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THE CAMEL - PART 2

by DAO

OK. Let’s stay focused here people. Now for part 2 about the most useful, yet despicably foul animals in the world. For those keeping up, we are still on the Arabian Camel with 1 hump. That hump is were these guys store their food so to speak. They can live off their stored fat for week! When they do start to run out their hump droops to the side. I have never seen this, but I have also never been with nomads in the desert for weeks either. So Mr. Camels can lose 40% of his body weight then just suck up 32 gallons (145 litres) of water to re-hydrate. Wow.Then he has an inner eyelid, in addition to his outer, which protects the eyes from sandstorms while still letting in enough light to see where they are going. They have huge eyelashes on their outer eyelids to keep out sand and can even close their nostrils completely for the same purpose. The last bit? they have broad feet so they do...

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THE CAMEL - PART 1

by DAO

Camels are know as the ‘Ships of the Desert’ and rightfully so. They can easily survive where other animals cannot. They are amazing strong, versatile, useful, but inherently vile and evil beasts. Just remember that they are foul tempered and will happily bite you and/or spit in your face. Just keep to the sides or rear and you will be fine. There are 2 kinds of camel – the Dromedary Camel (also known as the Arabian Camel) with 1 hump and the Bactrian Camel (or Asian Camel) with 2 humps. 90% of the world’s camels are Dromedaries and these are the ones you will find all over the Middle East. How useful are they? They can carry 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of weight, walk 20 miles (32 kilometres) a day in the desert and go without water for over a week and without food for months! Their coats can be used for wool; you can drink their milk, eat the meat (tough!), make leather from their skin...

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You too will be hungry during Ramadan

by crewrower

Good luck eating here during Ramadan. During daylight hours (starting before 6am), restaurants are shut down, and you'll be reduced to scavenging mini grocery stores or eating at tourist only places. Even if you want to respect the Muslim practice of not eating during daylight, which is a nice thing to do as a curtesy if for no other reason, you'll likely find yourself still scavenging at night for a place to eat. Because Ramadan is a family affair, families tend to eat at home after sundown. Restaurants may not open back up (again, except for the tourist ones), so getting a good meal could be tricky. I suggest carrying some snacks with you all the time in case you find yourself in need of fuel.

Arab Hospitality

by antistar

An Egyptian friend of mine once said, "Sometimes we think we treat foreigners better than we treat each other."A couple of stories from my trip to Jordan.A invitation to dinnerMy driver for the week, Jihad, possibly because he was amazed at my ability to sing along to parts of the famous Lebanese pop song "The Hat is Yours" (Habbeetik) on the radio, and also know what the song title really meant ("I loved you"), insisted I come back and entertain his family with my bad Arabic. There I was force-fed some amazing home-cooked Jordanian food. While I ate, his children came out to stare at me intently, copying my words and actions and laughing (a lot).Hazim, the bedouin and his tea.I was accosted somewhere in the desert by a genuine Bedouin. After surprising him with my few hastily learned words of Arabic ("salam alaikoum!"), he insisted I come inside and drink tea with him. And more tea. And...

Currency

by Sharon

Local Currency of Jordan is Jordanian Dinnar or in short JOD.Current rate (for the date of writing this tip) is: 1 JOD = 1.4 US $ 1 JOD = 5.74 NIS (Israeli shekel)If you want to exchange money you can do it both in the city of Eilat or at the Jordanian termonal. As far as i know the rate at the Jordanian side may be a bit better although if you go on a short trip and you dont take a high amount of money it doesnt really make a big difference.

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Local traditions and culture in Jordan

Top 3 Hotels in Jordan

Petra Movenpick  Petra

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Four Seasons Hotel Amman  Amman

 4 Reviews and 172 Opinions  We stayed overnight at the Four Seasons, on our return trip home to Australia. We were warmly... 

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Wadi Rum Zeltcamps  Wadi Rum

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165 Hotels in Jordan
 
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Local Customs: Cities in Jordan
  1. Amman Local Customs
  2. Petra Local Customs
  3. Aqaba Local Customs
  4. Wadi Rum Local Customs
  5. Jarash Local Customs
  6. `Ajlun Local Customs

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  I am considering booking a Thomas Cook trip to Aqaba jan 7th. The main purpose of the trip is sunbathing, but we also would like... 

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A: Personally, I would miss out the Dead Sea and do both Wadi Rum and Petra. However, if you are set on the Dead Sea, then Petra is the other choice. I cannot see that... 

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