Cindy McCabe. (Source: Cindy McCabe)
In Jordan, a Community Disrupted Is Awaiting Travel’s Return
01.05.2024 - 20:55 / cntraveler.com
Trying my best not to make a mess, I devoured the chocolate-drizzled, walnut-topped qatayef and instantly felt better about the wet, wintery day. In Jordan and throughout the Middle East, these palm-sized semolina pancakes are typically only popular during the holy month of Ramadan—As-Salt, a city on three hills about an hour north of the Jordanian capital of Amman, is “the only place where one can find qatayef year-round,” my As-Salti guide Sewar Alfauori explained between bites.
Minutes earlier, a downpour had drenched the city in buckets of water that now cascaded down the steep limestone streets. In a futile effort to escape the rain, we had stopped by the pastry stand at the deserted Al Hammam Street, a pedestrian-only thoroughfare that normally attracts travelers to its spice and textile shops in As-Salt’s UNESCO World Heritage city center.
Travel to Jordan, which shares a western border with Israel and the occupied West Bank Palestinian territories, has reduced dramatically in the last six months. According to the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, visitations dropped by 80-90% in some places due to concerns for safety in the region following the months-long war in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas attack. The impact of the neighboring crisis has been devastating for the country where tourism serves as the largest export sector and second largest employer.
As-Salt, a hilly city one hour north of Amman, has a history of a practice known locally as takaful al-ijtimai—a unique blend of Bedouin hospitality and tolerance of diverse ideas, religions, and cultural traditions.
Although As-Salt is not as well known among travelers today as the ancient Nabataean city of Petra or the Mars-red Wadi Rum desert, the city played a vital role in the region’s development. Occupied since the Iron Age, it blossomed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, during the late Ottoman period. As-Salt was the crossing point of pilgrims on the way to Mecca and traders headed for Europe, Asia, or Africa. This strategic location helped turn the small village—known as ‘Saltus’ in Roman times—into a major commerce hub. Merchants from Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine settled in As-Salt to trade goods like livestock, grains, textiles, and plant dyes. By way of Damascus, As-Salti wool reached as far as the European and American markets; from the ports of Haifa, crops like wheat and raisins spread across the Mediterranean.
Where trade flourished, people gathered. Soon, As-Salt attracted skilled craftsmen, architects, and stone masons who built its characteristic golden-colored limestone houses with public gathering spaces, internal courtyards, domed roofs, and tall, arched windows. At the crossroads of cultures,
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