Taxi driver: Amman to Iraq

The BBC is looking at the lives of five taxi drivers - who know the streets of the world's capitals better than anyone - and talking to them about their work, their city and the problems they face.

Here, the BBC's Jon Leyne takes a cab with a man who until recently worked one the most dangerous routes in the world - the dash across the desert from Amman to Baghdad.

The Amman-Baghdad run was one of the few ways of making to the Iraqi capital

There's something very peaceful about the air-conditioned calm of the Jordan inter-continental hotel in Amman - but this is the start of one of the most dangerous cab rides in the world.

For much of the last decade, this was pretty much the only way to get into Iraq from the outside world. And a hardy bunch of drivers were the ones taking you there.

Because of the current situation in Iraq, most of them no longer complete the journey, stopping at the Iraqi border and turning around.

But the threats they faced on the journey included bandits, kidnappers and rebel fighters.

"I got robbed about four or five times on the road," says Tariq, who travelled the route for 13 years.

"I also ran away from the robbers, or Ali Baba - that's what we call them - around five times."

Bullets and bandits

The robbers are easily identifiable in the their fast, luxury cars, such as BMWs and Mercedes.

"They follow you," Tariq explains.

"If you don't stop, they will shoot at the tail... if you do not stop for them, that is the biggest danger. They will follow you, shoot at you, shoot at the tyres, the window.

Tariq says Iraq's streets are now too dangerous

"They will break everything."

Tariq said that once the car is stopped, the robbers move the driver outside the vehicle and put a gun to his head.

He adds that the best vehicle for the trip a Chevrolet GMC. His own model is bullet-ridden.

At a petrol station, he shows how the bullets went all the way from the bonnet, along the passenger side door and towards the boot - but as Tariq was the only occupant and driving, he escaped.

Once the Jordanian-Iraqi border is reached, at around 4.30am, Tariq used to seek to do the passport handover quickly.

"We used to rush - we wanted to drive during the daytime, in the sunlight, on the Iraqi roads," he explains.

He said that on every trip through the Iraqi desert he came close to believing his life would end.

"Every time I went there, I would say to myself, 'this is it, that's my last trip'."

Tough as he is, he no longer travels the 850 kilometres from the Iraqi border to Baghdad.

"It's far too dangerous," Tariq adds.

"It's not worth it at this time."