Fadi
The best driver in Jordan
This year, for my birthday, I decided to go to Jordan and Egypt. Venturing solo into the Middle East for the first time and by myself, I decided to pre-book my airport transfers and tours, as I wanted to be as cautious as possible and had read so many things about women and safety in the region.
I started with Jordan, where I had purchased an Amman airport-to-hotel transportation through booking.com. I find it funny how each country has a different dynamic when it comes to tours – transportation and tourism in general, which can vary depending on demand, availability and many other factors that are unique to each region. In Egypt, for example, you get one dedicated guide and one dedicated driver for most tours, while in Iceland, your guide is also your driver. In Jordan is completely different. When booking most tours, you will only get a driver / and or accommodations and meals, tour guides are something you hire at the specific location you are going to.
I wasn’t really expecting a guide to pick me up from the airport, but I did get the coolest Jordanian I could have asked for, Fadi. We are similar in age, and hit it off right of the bat. Fadi’s English skills are also outstanding. He blames the video games for that. He is the nicest and coolest driver I could have asked for.
We connected immediately and got along very well, so I hired Fadi as my driver for rest of my trip. I had already bought my tour for Wadi Run (Jordanian Desert), Petra and the Dead Sea that included transportation, but Fadi was my driver for all of the other things I did, including going to Jerash, trying Shashina (Jordanian’s yogurt drink) and going back to the airport.
While Fadi didn’t assume the role of a conventional guide, as he is not a guide (a certification is required for that) and he is not allowed to give me much information about the attractions, we had a great time and he drove me everywhere without a single issue, avoiding me the hassle of looking for someone else, purchasing a different tour or facing the language barrier discomfort that we might experience sometimes.
I would recommend Fadi to anyone who is looking for transportation to and from attractions in Jordan.
Jordan is not a big country and you could go from Amman (the capital) to Petra in 2-3 hours, so he actually offers all of those routes. If you want a guide for Petra, you need to get it there. For the dead see, you need to purchase an entrance fee to one of the hotels that have access to the beach, or you could also stay there. For Wadi run, I would recommend looking for the accommodation in advance as there are many different accommodations – packages available.
But if you need how to get to any of these, Fadi is your guy. I’m adding below his contact information, as well as the links to the tours I did, which I will go over in more detail in a different post.
