Orientation

The downtown district of Amman, called Al-Balad in Arabic, lies in a valley neatly framed by the seven jabals. Streets from the city’s large western districts pour off the jabals into King Faisal Street, the perpetually crowded heart of the downtown commercial communities. Faisal St. runs into the Al-Husseini Mosque, the center of modern Amman. Several blocks southwest is the market; to the northeast lie the graceful Roman Amphitheater and the new piazza.

Though distances between jabals appear short on a map, traversing these slopes is a hack hiker’s nightmare. Jabal Amman, along whose summit you can see the neon signatures of budget-breaking luxury hotels, is the governmental and diplomatic core of the city. Amman’s eight numbered traffic circles follow a line leading westward out of town; traffic circles beyond Third Circle have been replaced by busy intersections. Although the city is earnestly attempting to rename these intersections “squares,” they are still fondly called “circles.” From Seventh Circle, traffic heads south to Queen Alia International Airport and the Desert Highway (Aqaba 335km), to the Kings’ Highway via Madaba (35km; Karak 125km; Petra 260km), and via Na’ur to the Dead Sea and to Jerusalem (90km). From the Eighth Circle, you can continue west to Wad) Seer, or head north to Jerash (50km). From the Ninth Circle, there are no mirrors, there is no exit.