Petra Nights Tours Jordan: May 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011

Hashem Restaurant Amman

Located in a side alley in downtown Amman, you find the famous, small restaurant Hashem. Clients are mostly locals wanting a fresh meal like falafel, hummus, ful, bread and hot sweet mint tea. The food is delicious and the rates are incredible cheap with 1.5 to 3 JOD. Watch the cooks making falafel and chat with the friendly waiters. Location is at Amir Mohammed Street, for tourists not easy to find, ask the locals for the direction in downtown area.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Heritage Experience Restaurant Petra

The family-run restaurant is open since April 2011, and like the name Heritage Experience hints at, the focus is on traditional Jordanian/Middle Eastern cuisine like Mezze, Mansaf, Maglouba and Kabsa. Distinctive feature is that only local women prepare the dishes and guarantee the original flavor. The products are fresh and bought locally, in spring and summer you can enjoy lunch and dinner outside in the courtyard.

Location: Beside Ain Musa Hotel – Tel/Fax: 00962 (0)3 215 4800

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Travel Distances Jordan

Travel Distances Jordan
Amman Airport - Amman City	30 km	Circa 30 minutes
Amman - Jerash	50 km	Circa 1 hour
Amman - Dead Sea	50 km	Circa 1 hour
Amman - Allenby Bridge/King Hussein	60 km	Circa 45 minutes
Amman - Petra (Desert Highway)	260 km	Circa 2.5 hours
Amman - Madaba - Mt Nebo – Kerak – Petra	320 km	Circa 7 hours
Amman - Aqaba	340 km	Circa 4 hours
Petra - Wadi Rum	130 km	Circa 1.5 hours
Petra - Aqaba	140 km	Circa 1.5 hours
Wadi Rum - Aqaba	60 km	Circa 45 minutes

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Filipino Community in Jordan

There are approximately around 26,000 Filipino Nationals living in Jordan. Many of whom have been staying in the Kingdom for a long time. In the Capital City of Amman, there is this small area near the 2nd circle that has become a popular place for the Filipinos, even some of the taxi drivers call it Manila street. The place has a couple of small cafés and restaurants that serves authentic Filipino cuisine. There is also shop along the area that sells up to date DVD’s of Filipino themed Movies. A number of supermarket also sells Filipino made food products which in a way satisfy the palatial cravings of its ever faithful patrons. As they say better have a little something than non-at all. Friday is considered to be the busiest day of the week in this area as this is the day where most of the Migrant workers take their weekly off. At the side street next to the supermarket, you will find a couple of street vendor selling different kind of food stuffs commonly seen in the Philippines from Dried Fish, Salted eggs, Vegetables like Philippine Variety of Bitter Gourds and Eggplant. You will also find cooked delicacies usually seen in the dining table during town “Fiestas” like sapin sapin, Cassava Cake, and Ube Halaya. Crispy Chicken skin, stewed beef innards remains their best sellers.

Roman Catholicism is the Philippines pre-dominant religion in which in a way Jordan has become a heaven in practicing their faith. Jordan is known to be a county where place for catholic pilgrims takes place next to Jerusalem. Jesus Christ was baptized by St. John the Baptist in Bethany and the Mt. Nebo is the place where Moses had gazed at the Promised Land before he died. In Amman, there are several Catholic Church that offers a holy mass dedicated to Filipinos and at times the mass is celebrated by a visiting Filipino priest. Practicing one’s faith is a freedom guaranteed by the Kingdoms constitution.

The Filipino Community in Jordan is just a small part of millions of Filipino Migrant workers scattered all over the world with their remittances as one of the major catalyst in the Philippine economy. It may be true that having a job overseas is not easy as others may think. But the things we enjoy in Jordan makes us feel just like HOME.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Umm Quais Jordan Spring Photos

Jordan in Spring Photos © Petra Nights Tours

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Hejaz Jordan Railway Museum Amman

Short historical intro about the Hejaz: In 1900 Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid started to establish a railway connection between Damascus and the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, Medina and Mecca. The aim had been to lighten the travel for Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and to improve the transportation of military forces if necessary. The rail tracks reached Medina in 1908, along the 1,300 km long route several stations are located in Jordan. So in Amman there is a small Hejaz Railway Museum after downtown area, in the Mahatta district. The museum is decent, consists of a room with some railway memorabilia, maps and old equipment. The more exciting part is the yard with the old locomotives and wagons, some of them you are able to enter. It is a quiet place, away from the tourist crowds, but you can feel history and train fanatics will not be disappointed. Opening Hours: Sun – Thu, 08:00-14:00, Entrance fee: 1 JD

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Jordan Tours during Ramadan

Hi there! This is the first post from Petra Nights Tours. Still the site is under construction but I could not wait to write something. As we received in the last days emails from clients wanting to know about the situation for travelers during Ramadan, this is the topic for the first post. Ramadan is the holy month of fasting, in which Muslims are not allowed to eat, drink and smoke from dawn until sunset. The Ramadan date varies according to the Islamic lunar calendar, in 2011 it is expected to be between 1st and 29th August (+/- 1 day according to the actual sight of the moon). Due to fasting people are less active, especially in summer when the days are long and hot.

Offices and shops have shorter opening hours, so many stores, banks and offices close early at 14:00. Tourist places like museums, archaeological sites close about 15:00, except Petra and Wadi Rum, you can visit till sunset. The daily fast-breaking is called Iftar. During Iftar the street are empty and is very quiet, but after this live comes back and many people go out with friends and family as shops open till late in the evening. You can see decorations in streets and houses, mostly lanterns in the shape of a moon.

Ramadan Lanterns

Non-Muslim tourists are not expected to fast in Jordan, but to be respectful don’t eat, drink and smoke in public during daylights, do it more discreet. In tourist areas and bigger cities you will find some restaurants and shops open during the day, so there will be no problem for a lunch.

The end of Ramadan is celebrated during Eid Al Fitr, when families come together to celebrate the end of the fast. During Eid Al Fitr businesses and government offices are closed for up to 3-4 days. The hotels at popular destinations like Aqaba or Dead Sea are crowded and rates are higher than usual. Like you see there is no real objection to travel during this time, as long you have no problem that every day life is slower, and most of tourist sites are closing earlier.