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What happens when you miss the last bus in rural Jordan? You hitch a ride

Amman was the aim - but how to get there? - Copyright Amos Chapple
Amman was the aim - but how to get there? - Copyright Amos Chapple

Josh Johns wins this week’s Just Back travel writing competition and £250 for his account of a hair-raising journey through Jordan.

What do you do when you are stranded in Ajloun after the last bus has gone? You find Zaid and his makeshift bus service.

He caressed his misbaha (Islamic prayer beads) between his thumb and forefinger as he drove, tenderly wrapping them around his fingers. Occasionally, I’d catch his glance in the rear-view mirror; his mouth beaming in a warm smile as he uttered his tasbih for evening prayer.

The emerald beads twinkled in his green eyes as he looked at me momentarily before zipping back to the road ahead. His bead-swathed hand thrust the gearstick, lurching the weather-battered Kia around another sinuous bend.

There were no seat belts but I definitely wasn’t going anywhere, safely wedged in between Youssef, a phone salesman from Amman, and Tom, an Aussie backpacker staying in the same hostel as me back in Jordan’s capital. Over in the passenger seat was Omar, Zaid’s distant cousin, and in between them, perched precariously behind the gearstick, was Ahmad.

We were all aboard the Zaid express.

'Ajloun Castle became a darkened silhouette' - Credit: getty
'Ajloun Castle became a darkened silhouette' Credit: getty

An hour earlier, Ajloun had been abuzz with residents preparing for their Iftar, the evening meal after sunset during Ramadan. Skinned goats dangled lifelessly outside butchers’ shops, the metallic, bloody smell of butchered meat promising the end of another day’s fasting.

Families spilled from the thronging streets, past the market vendors and into the mosque. Ajloun Castle became a darkened silhouette as the sun sank below the hills. There I was, somewhere among the chaos, coming to the abrupt realisation that I had just missed the last bus to Amman. Then I saw Zaid and his car.

Mid-journey, with Zaid caressing his beads, the car screeched to a halt on the roadside in a small village. A fluorescent orange hue flooded the hills. Omar shook Zaid’s hand, slapped him affectionately on the back and leapt out of the car. Before Omar vanished, another man hopped into the front seat. He and Zaid shared a friendly exchange of Arabic and we zoomed off towards Amman again.

Zaid continued to roll his beads between his fingers before flinging his arm to the right, pointing to the hills. “That way, West Bank and Israel.” He turned his whole body to face me in the back, forgetting that he was driving. “Over there, Syria.” Thankfully, he turned back to the wheel, jerked the car into gear again (much to Ahmad’s discomfort) and returned to uttering his prayers.

We stopped in one final village near Amman, where Youssef left us. The last slither of daylight melted away with the call to prayer drifting from a nearby mosque, signalling a formal end to the day’s fasting.

We eventually reached the traffic-choked streets of Amman. I climbed out of Zaid’s car and passed him some dinars through the window to say shukraan. He smiled, still rolling his prayer beads between his fingers. Another man hopped into my space in the car and, as quick as that, Zaid had disappeared into the city traffic.

How to enter the next round

Email your entry, in 500 words (with the text in the body of the email), to justback@telegraph.co.uk. For terms and conditions, see telegraph.co.uk/tt-justback.

The winner will receive £250 in the currency of their choice from the Post Office.

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All currencies can also be ordered online for next day branch or home delivery. Check exchange rates at postoffice.co.uk/travel-money/currency-converter.

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