01/05/2025
Last month, April 2025, marks 10 years since I welcomed my first guests at the B&B — a mother and her daughter from Argentina! They stayed for more than a week, and I can tell you, it was such a wonderful experience.
We had long, lovely chats about our lives on opposite sides of the globe, walked to town to buy vegetables at the souk goddera, cooked dinner together, and enjoyed a variety of dishes — Jordanian, Argentinian, and Dutch recipes. The mother even taught me how to make jam from rose petals. Such lovely first guests!
In the years that followed, I’ve welcomed many more guests: couples, solo travelers, families with children, hikers of the Jordan trail, bikers, overland nomads, the young and the old — and even groups, like the women from the Woestijnreis.
Some stayed just a night, but most for two or three. I’ve also hosted long-stay guests who came for a week, simply to unwind from their busy lives at home.
It has been — and still is — a pleasure to welcome guests from all over the world! Many arrive full of excitement, finally about to visit Petra. I once had the sweetest elderly couple: he was from France and she from Germany (or the other way around). They arrived in a tiny, tinky-winky rental car, smiling ear to ear. Visiting Petra had been a lifelong dream, and finally, in their 80s, they made it!
I survived Covid — though it was (and still is) a tough time, as tourism stopped for a very long while. And just when we, the people working in Jordan’s tourism sector, hoped the high season of October and November 2023 would bring back the good old days, October 7 arrived.
Since then, tourist numbers have dropped dramatically — a disaster for everybody working in tourism in Jordan. I'm still holding on, thanks to the amazing support of friends and the few guests who still find their way to Jordan. Thankfully, this April brought more tourists back to Jordan, and we all hope that the numbers will continue to rise. I look forward to welcoming new guests to my B&B again soon! And I’m curious what the next ten years will bring!
And thanks to all past guests who made my days for the last 10 years!! Shukran jazeelan!
