The Land of no Top Floors, Sat, 26 Feb 2022 | written by Simon
Jemma and Simon at a Transit in Africa, Egypt

We made it! After an early wake up and a whole day in transit, we’re in Egypt!

We read all the things about taxis and making sure we’re not ripped off, but this taxi driver was the next level. We managed to after the price before going at least, but it wasn’t cheap, and the guy was just shouting at his phone all the way. He got us to the Teletin street where our apartment was meant to be and just said he doesn’t know it so we’re meant to leave here. Bye!

Turned out it wasn’t just him. Nobody knew anything about this place we’re meant to stay in, and we asked and searched for a while. Eventually, we just decided it must have been a scam and booked something else. Adventure!

We went for an evening walk and got stopped by a really nice taxi driver who gave us his number and said his brother has a felucca in Aswan – shame we already booked ours! We walked on, didn’t get to the beach, but had some great food and a tea on Talatin.

So what are the first impressions?

  • The night is cold and will only get colder inland.
  • Everyone except the airport taxi driver was really nice and helpful
  • All traffic rules, including having lights on, are completely advisory
  • Look out for fake cheap apartments
  • We don’t remember a word of Arabic when it’s needed
  • All around looks like a massive construction site. Everything is half done, buildings, pavements, streets are all half complete, and there is lots of chunks of concrete all over the place.