Aqaba

We stayed in a very fancy resort hotel in Aqaba. It had several pools and its own stretch of beach.

In the evening of the first night, we heard loud drumming in the courtyard. What was up? When my friends and I got there, we found a wedding procession underway.

A large group of men were singing and dancing to the tune of a drum that one of them was beating. Someone was video taking the whole event. I couldn’t find the bride until I went behind the procession. She was there, long white gown, completely made up, looking very serious, on the arm of a tuxedo’d gentleman. Perhaps even the groom.

There was a large group of women around her and another large group of to the side.

The Jordanian flag colors are what are referred to as the “Pan-Arab” colors: black for the Abbasid caliphate, white for the Umayyad caliphate, and green for the Fatimid. The red triangle symbolizes the Hashemite kingdom and the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans and has a star in the center. The Palestinian flag is the same but without the star.

Just inland from the beach and tourist walkways was a large patch of allotments. They looked well cared for and productive.

The shopping was pretty rudimentary. No fancy shops. Sometimes no actual shop at all.

You could buy any kind of pickled veggie…

And goat meat too:

Aqaba was an important trade hub centuries ago. We saw ruins of an older city and this castle. Beautiful in the afternoon light…

Some evening shots as we walked back to the hotel.

Mosques are everywhere in Jordan. Even tiny villages have something. Must have loudspeakers for the muezzin’s 5 daily calls to prayer.

And to finish: our bikes on the trailer ready for their bedtime. 🙂