The Bdouls

The Bdoul tribe is a Bedouin tribe that used to inhabit Petra, 1500 of them used to have the caves in Petra as their houses or use them for their goats and sheep, they were moved out twenty years ago by the government of Jordan to the Bedouin village built for them overlooking Petra, some of them still live inside, a nice house to visit is behind al Habis mountain behind the old museum. The Bdouls are still sticking to the Bedouin traditions of hospitality and they still consider Petra as their home. They know Petra very well, they are very good climbers, and they fit very well with the background of the rocks as if they are Nabataeans.

The bdouls had a big change on their lifestyle since tourism started getting into Petra, they now have it as the main income source, they work in Petra selling souvenirs or handling local transportation with their animals, they organize tours inside, and outside Petra, hiking, trecking and camping. They also work helping archaeologists in their digs, and they know a lot about the history of the Nabataeans.

They speak English, and some other languages, a chat with any of them, over a cup of Bedouin tea, helps you complete the picture, and see what does it look like to be born and raised among these mountains, directly in touch with nature...

Some phone numbers of young helpful Bedouins, they work inside Petra and they are ready for any help: Harun: 0777247909, Salman: 079 5651137, Mahmoud: 077 7158370, Mahmoud: 077 6177894, Gasem: 079 6918064, Abdalla: 079 5069817, Ibrahim: 079 6904646, Mohammad: 077 6183315, Scotch: 079 5675696. Mobiles inside Petra can still recieve signal in most of the places, write down some of these numbers, you might need something while inside Petra and you can call if you have any question.