Our guide brought us to this restaurant complex of Kan Zaman at 10:30am, even though it didn't serve lunch till 1pm. He led kus around the few shops there to kill time, but mysteriously disappeared when I wandered into a shop selling Dead Sea products. I was instantly miffed when I saw the same mud masks here for JD2 versus the JD6 I had paid yesterday at the "cheapest place to buy them" according to our guide, who had likely received a fat commission on our shopping spree of JD96 at the souvenier shop located near the Dead Sea.
The shops are worth visiting here, as the products are reasonably priced, and unique. I bought a beautiful hard back book called Holy Places in Jordan which gave equal representation of the Muslim and Christian significance of each holy site along with vivid pictures. Here I discovered all the places I had missed seeing in this tiny country, such as King Herod's Palace where John the Baptist was beheaded, Lot's grave, and even Noah's memorial. I also purchased boxes of manna (!) which were little white mounds of candy, not the actual food source sent from the heavens for Israelites back in Moses' time. And of course more Dead Sea bath products...at that price, who could blame me? (It did, however, weigh down my already burgeoning backpack, and by the time we got to the states it gave way and burst at the seams.)
Since we still had an hour to kill, we met our guide/driver in the adjacent smoking lounge - not for a ‘drink' as alcohol is prohibited in most of this Muslim country, but for a Sprite while we watched people smoke a water pipe, sharing the fruity flavored hubbly bubbly among friends in their party.
Lunch time...we passed an elaborate buffet of Arabian dishes which smelled wonderful as we followed our waiter to our small table near a stone wall. It was fairly dim in the room, allowing the copper lanterns and copper buffet dishes to shine in contrast. The buffet offered typical Arabian fare such as lamb and spinach stew, chicken with sumac and onions, tahini, humus, pita bread, an assortment of mezzah salads, and rich creamy desserts. Excellent food and worth the wait. Service was quick and attentive, especially since we were eating so "early" at 1pm (3-4 is the typical lunch hour). The buffet reminded us very much of our daily buffets when we stayed at Taybet Zaman near Petra, and for good reason...they are owned by the same people.