Sidewalks

I have complained about sidewalks in the US but now that I've seen the sidewalks in Jordan, I don't think I'll be doing much complaining about that ever again. I'll have to take a photo of the sidewalks here and post them; it's quite a sight.

For starters, the sidewalks are raised about 6 inches from the street which means that if you plan on riding a bike, it's actually more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk. You're better off in the street, if you can manage Jordanian traffic that is. I still get nervous crossing the street so as you can imagine, I have decided to pass on getting a bike. I have enough anxiety on my own two feet! There's a half page in the Lonely Planet Jordan book dedicated to traffic and crossing the street. If you really are too nervous, just tag behind the person closest to you who is also trying to cross the street and say a prayer. It's worked pretty well so far.

The second thing about the sidewalks is that there are trees planted in the middle of them. In my opinion, this kind of defeats the purpose of sidewalks if you are always trying to dodge the trees and random poles that one frequently finds smack dab in the middle. I have narrowly escaped a full on tree to head collision on more than one occasion. It might actually be a good idea to wear a helmet when walking on the sidewalk or crossing the street.