Thoughts of Nash: Salt (Not to be confused with the table kind)

As a month has finally passed since my arrival in Jordan, well technically about five weeks, I decided it was time to extend my borders a little. Thus, when I heard that our director Dil and his wife were doing a trip out to Salt I decided that this might be a good opportunity to get out and see some new things. As a result last Saturday morning I woke up early and headed over to Dil's place to meet up with a group of students from my program to head out to Salt.

Now, I know you are all wondering what Salt is, and no, it isn't the table kind that you are all thinking. Also, it isn't a salt flat either, like in Utah. In fact the name has nothing to do with the lovely seasoning that we all love so much. In fact, I'm positive if you tried to put it on your table or food, you would have a rather difficult time. Rather, Salt is the old capital of Jordan, and a rather historical city. It is located somewhat North and West of Amman, and is considered a relatively poor city. From what I understand about the city, it is built on three hills/plateaus which all face each other creating a really interesting topography. Anciently it was centered on the trade routes and roads that connected Amman and Jerusalem. Later, it became the home of the first King of Jordan, King Abdullah I, whose home has become a museum in Jordan. However, it later lost its right as the capital when Prince Abdulla II moved his headquarters to Amman. The city however, has a full history of: tradition, archeology, trade, and agriculture. The population of the city today is somewhere around 97,000 people, so similar to the area of Orem or Provo.

Since the trip didn't involve much more than walking around the city I have decided to simply show the pictures of the trip and include a few captions concerning what things are.

Many of the homes within the city are extremely old, and the trail that we followed took us by many of the homes that have probably been there for more than several hundred years. However, many of the homes were in such disrepair that all that remained was the outer walls and a hollow inside.

You can see that the entire city is built up on the hill side, and that it starts on one side of the valley and continues all the way around. The Entire city just twists and turns going up the hill connected by stairwells and secret alleys.

This is the main market in Salt. When you enter into the market you start off with fruit and vegetable stands, which then transition into clothing, shoe, and spice shops as you walk down into a smaller alley which eventually opens up on the far side of town.

Inside King Abdullah's Home, this is a traditional meeting area. The home is now a museum which people can visit.

This is an old Water pipe for smoking Hookah. Think of the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland. This was part of the room shown above and was probably owned and used by the King himself. And if not, well we can at least pretend that it was.

This is a Traditional garb for Bedouin Women, the one on the left is the same as the one on the right. The one on the right is literally the size of an entire wall, and it is wrapped around and tucked as the woman puts it on until it looks like the one on the right.

Traditional Garb of the people during the early years of the Kingdom, and following the First World War. For an excellent movie which recounts the event check out Lawrence of Arabia.