Shopping in Amman

Amman has shopping facilities ranging from ::I to boutiques. You may find such diversity as haute couture from Paris, leather goods from Turkey, casual clothes from Italy and traditional dress from the Bedouin tribes' people. Craft shops specialize in many handmade items, varying from old jewelry and hand-stitched fabrics to sand-painting and hand-blown glassware.

Some of the better shops sell kaftans, many of which are splendid garments, sewn with gold or silver thread and beautifully hand-embroidered. Some machine-work is done on these garments, but most are completely hand-sewn and are made in local villages.

Amman is also famous for its downtown gold souk (market) in the centre of the city and bordering on King Faisal Street. Few of the narrow walkways in the souk have names and many of the shops are not numbered. All are within easy walking distance of each other, however, and the area is easy to locate. Here the price of gold is at a fixed rate per gram, based on the current world market. The cost of workmanship on a particular piece is added to give the retail price.

Bargaining is a dying custom in Amman, and in the Kingdom generally, as most shops have fixed prices. Keepers of souvenir shops and in the downtown souk, however, still welcome the opportunity to haggle over prices.