You have decided travel to Jordan when the health situation returns to normal. You read about tourist destinations, food, visa, transportation and so on but you realize that everyone talks about how women should dress in that country and then you realize that you are that, a woman.
A woman in a islamic country it is not easy. As much as in other parts of the world women travelers handle themselves with freedom and care, here the situation has another turn of the screw because it is a very religious country. Let's see today then how to dress in Jordan.
Jordan and its culture
Jordan is a country with historical treasures so many travelers find it interesting. Have two international airportsOne in Amman, the national capital, another on the Red Sea coast, in Aqaba, so you can choose where to enter or enter through one, cross the country, and exit through the other.
If your choice is to start with the capital very well, because it concentrates good and important museums and important sites. You can do a city tour and then schedule day trips. For example, from Amman you can go to the ruins of Moved, one of the oldest cities in the Middle East with mosaics from the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. You can continue your trip to Mount Nebo to contemplate the historical and biblical Jordan Valley and end in the Dead Sea to take a rare, floating dip.
This northern part of the country, where Amman is located, has very rich and fertile lands and Islamic treasures such as the Ajlon Castle or the city of Gerash. Having seen all this, you can then head south, to the desert, the Wadi Mujib dry valley, Kerak and its castle of Cruzados, Petra and its canyon where you can ride a camel, its mountains, make walks through the desert of Wadi Rum in 4 × 4 jeeps, by the Valle de la Luna discovering the Bedouin culture until reaching Aqaba and its underwater beauties. Do you dare to dive?
But the truth is that while you do all this, and If you are a woman, you must be careful when dressing. Jordan is a very conservative country so the norm goes through cover curves and hair if you are a girl. It is not located at the most conservative end, you see girls in jeans or sports shoes but not so many. So the best is not attract attention and do not pack shorts, muscular or short dresses. Nothing that shows too much skin.
You don't have to cover yourself up like an old lamp, just take a few large headscarves to cover your headAfter all, you are western and nothing is expected of you but respect. When it comes to hair, you can even skip the kerchief in the cities, but remember that do not leave the hotel or hostel with wet hairPlease dry it well before because wet hair is considered sexual.
As for clothing in general, one is tempted to wear light clothing and take advantage of it and take some sun or go out cooler. This is not the case here, at least if you walk through the cities, museums or historical places. Inside a resort you can walk in shorts, but if you move around rural areas, even Amman, you don't want to be disrespectful just to be comfortable.
There are two words that a woman has to consider in Muslim countries: respect for culture and discretion. Wherever you go, do what you see, says the saying, and here it absolutely applies. You have to know that the world is not all the same, that there are different cultures and that even without sharing them we must respect them. The other thing is discretion. Do not draw attention. You are not going to like being the center of lewd looks from men and condemning glances from women.
If you plan to go to the beach of course you can go with Swimwear. There are many resorts in the Dead Sea area and you will see a bit of everything, from women in burquini suits, jumpsuits, to bikinis. To walk or be in the sea or sunbathe is all good, but you do not have to walk through the streets or the hotel dressed like that. I insist, you will not like the situation in which you will be in the blink of an eye.
And what about the shoes? For urban areas sandals or light shoes They are very good but if you go to the desert or Petra you can take trekking shoes or something with a more grippy sole. Speaking of urban and rural areas, you can put together your suitcase or backpack thinking about these two areas and their corresponding clothes: for cities, loose silk pants, wide T-shirts, leather sandals with some sole, a medium bag to put things you buy, and for rural areas you change shoes and add hats.
Finishing today's article on how to dress in Jordan if you are a woman you must rremember to cover these parts of the body: chest, shoulders, stomach and legs. Long sleeves can be important if you enter a mosque or religious sites, but covering the shoulders in other places is enough. Jordanian women cover their heads with hair under hijabs or burqas, but you are a tourist and the same demand does not fall on you. In religious places they usually offer you something to do it, if you don't have one.
Jordan is more modern than Egypt when it comes to clothing, but consider that if you move on an organized tour it is always easier than if you decide to move alone. What you should not forget, as an extra, is sunscreen, sunglasses, a comfortable hat, post-sun ointment and repellent. And of course, wanting to have a good time but that, after this pandemic that has us all tied up at home, is more than assured. And in triplicate!