Comments on: How To Survive A Cairo Taxi Ride

By: arno nyhm

arno nyhm — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:49:24 +0000

1) negotiating the price before dont stop the driver to ask for more mony at the end

2) the white cabs i used have always the counter on. but aware that they are reset at the begin and you dont pay the ride before – also look at the speed. i dont know how it works exactly but i have 3 differnet rides and 3 differnet prices 18 / 23 / 32. the 18 could be the normal price … with the 23 i remember i forgot to check if he reset the counter. and the 32LE driver try to cheat me 2 times (at start he reset the counter ony because i requested it) and then he set up the night fare – and i give him only 25

3) street crossing is like frogger – but easy. every driver knows that people crossing the street and they are not schocked like in europe – so they just see how you walk and drive around you. the only mistake you can do is to change your direction and go back. just go forward and dont be scared i always walk on the street near the cars like the egyts and not on the foot-walk and never feeled dangerous.

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By: Mo-ha-med

Mo-ha-med — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:47:59 +0000

Hehehe.. as a Cairo-boy, I must confirm.

Though whether you’re in shorts or otherwise makes little difference. Tourists still look like tourists – their ‘integration’ level is assessed based on how good their arabic is.

Re: your last comment – about asking the locals what the price for the ride is – you beat me to it.

I’ll be passing on this article to my expat friends!!

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By: Travels in the Riel World - …cultivating a global curiosity » Surviving a Cairo taxi ride

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:36:27 +0000

[...] by Bob Riel As someone who has survived taxi rides in Cairo, I found this recent Matador Travel article by Nick Rowlands to be hilariously accurate. Taking a taxi in Cairo is the Egyptian equivalent of [...]

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By: Nick Rowlands

Nick Rowlands — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:32:50 +0000

That’s interesting, and heartening, to hear that the other passengers in the service taxis wouldn’t let the driver rip you off. The experience I’ve had is that while most Egyptians are super-honest, many of them don’t want to get involved in what they see as foreigners’ business. Luck of the draw I guess. Brings up another good point, though, which is that if you don’t know the price for something (be it a bus ride or a cup of coffee), a good thing to do is to ask the locals that are hanging around what the going rate is (just make sure the vendor isn’t around, because if he was planning on trying to rip you off, he’s not going to take kindly to people helping you out with the correct price).

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By: Dave and Deb

Dave and Deb — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:18:35 +0000

Good advice about knowing how much it costs and giving the money after you get out of the cab. We were told that little tip before going, and it worked like a charm. Never had a problem. Another great way we got around was in the shared minivans. The driver tried to scam us on the price, but the other passengers in the van wouldn’t let him get away with it. They told us the actual price and what to pay. Amazing!

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By: janice hebbard

janice hebbard — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:38:34 +0000

mm, convenient that………… perhaps a strategically applied screwdriver??? old fare charging habits die hard.

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By: Nick Rowlands

Nick Rowlands — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:47:08 +0000

I remember when I saw my first new white cab, a few weeks ago. I was waiting for a taxi, and this shiny white cab pulled up. I’m like, WHAT is that? I’m not getting in that, it’s too new – it can’t be a taxi! The funny thing is, all their meters are already “broken”!

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By: Eliza

Eliza — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:47:42 +0000

this was accurate and hilarious….thanks for the great travel writing. true, you get inured to it the longer you’re here.
the sad (depends on your perspective) thing is the ‘rustic’ cabs are going to leave the road soon. seems the govm’t is going to give cabbies an ultimatum — off the road if your car is 20+ years old. the loans they’ll offer these (literally) poor cabbies will include a way to ‘pay’ through advertising on the side of the car. just one MORE nauseating advertising eyesore!

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By: Nick Rowlands

Nick Rowlands — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:48:36 +0000

Thanks for all the comments, people!

Crossing the street does feel like Frogger, Samantha, that’s very true! As with most things in Egypt, a healthy dose of insha’Allah (whether you believe or not) is the only way to deal with it!

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By: Samantha

Samantha — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:19:07 +0000

So true! I think your next one should be about how to survive crossing a street in Cairo…from my experience it was comparable to playing Frogger. I was the frog.

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