bartorlando

I'm headed to Egypt next week for 11 days, are there any street scams I should be aware of? I'm going to be on an A&K tour.

sunshine007

Nothing major that I can think of. It's almost perfectly safe. If there's a problem (which I doubt) A & K will take good care of you.

Of the small variety, in downtown, men will ask to help you get somewhere & then want to take you to their father's store. The prices will be high. As Nancy Reagan would say, "Just say no."

And of course, t5he shop owners will start off at an unreasonably high prices when you ask for something. During my first trip here, I remember someone telling me a pen was 80 LE and I was stupid enough to pay.

And if you're a woman in one afternoon you'll hear how beautiful you are more times than you've ever heard it in your life. The first 30 times are funny - the next 126 get tiring.

Gatis

For sunshine, so is it better to go as a part of a big tour, as opposed to go on our own?

Momliz

we went on our own, and had no problems. We were as vigilant as we would be in Paris or New York.

Casual_Cairo

One scam that I witnessed not too long ago was this -

A couple is headed to the Museum about prayer time (noonish, or it could happen in the afternoon again around 3ish - whenever a Call To Prayer is being sung) Anyway, because the Call to Prayer is being sung as the people (single, couple or group) get near the Museum, an Egyptian comes up to them and asks if they are going to the Museum and when they say yes, he politely tells them that it is closed for prayer. It will reopen in about an hour but he can take them to his brothers store where they can sit and wait and have a drink or something.

Don't fall for that - the Museum does NOT close during prayer at all. It is open from 9 to 6.

sandi

Perfectly safe without a group. Just be aware of your surroundings and someone trying to sell you something you obviously don't need. Not unlike major cities anywhere. We had a private guide for some sights; other times we were fine on our own as two women.

sf7307

<i>Not unlike major cities anywhere. We had a private guide for some sights; other times we were fine on our own as two women</i>

Similar experience here. We were going to be on a private tour, but we arrived a couple of days before the tour started -- we wandered Cairo on our own with absolutely no problems. We're pretty good at saying &quot;no&quot;, almost always with a smile LOL!

sunshine007

Gatis, It depends on what you're comfortable with. Have you been to countries where they don't speak English or are third world?

You can hire your own guides or drivers or both after you come to Cairo who will take you where you want to go when you want to go.

I was glad that I had a tour company who provided guides/drivers/meet and greets at the airport the first time I was here. But I was on a tour of one. (me) So I went where I wanted to when I wanted to.

And of course our own Debbie aks Casual Cairo can take you places in Cairo.

hamlet

I returned from a trip to Egypt a few weeks ago and am happy to report I did not fall victim to (nor hear of) any street scams.

The only thing I really did not know or &quot;get&quot; before I arrived was how persistent the souvenir vendors can be. It was common to be followed for several feet by someone selling something. I've been urged to buy stuff by pushy salespeople over the years, but Egypt is the first place where my husband and I had someone actually grab our arms to pull us into a shop. That was very upsetting and it only happened once. Some people and places are more aggressive than others though. We did see some stores that said &quot;no haggling&quot; and they didn't say anything but hello when you walked nearby.

kiwi_rob

I spent a couple of days in Cairo on my own and found that a firm &quot;La, shukran&quot; (which, I think, means &quot;No, thank you&quot, worked pretty well.

Having heard a local woman in a back street shooing children away with &quot;Imshi&quot;, I tried that, too. It worked extremely well and brought looks of surprise to the faces of many of the touts. When, subsequently, I learned that it roughly translates to &quot;F... off&quot;, I stuck to simply &quot;La, shukran&quot;.

mopsy

My wife and I had no problems in Egypt back in 2005 but my sister in law and her boyfriend did the following year. They decided to go for a camel ride at the pyramids but failed to negotiate a price prior to getting on the camels back. Once the ride was over the locals wouldnt let them get off the camels unless they paid US$50 each. Having said this they arent overly street smart my sister in law and her boyfriend. I could tell you many stories of them getting stitched up overseas

Lynneb

I travelled alone to Cairo and did have a problem with a taxi picked up at the airport. We agreed a price and then he stopped the taxi half way to the hotel and started arguing about the price. It was a bit scary but I told him we'd sort it out when we got to the hotel.

I just got out of the cab at the hotel and asked them to deal with it - a lot of shouting ensued but it was resolved with me paying the original first agreed amount.

Also had the usual problems as mentioned above with drivers trying to take you to shops that you don't want to visit but I've had that in India too.

Otherwise it was fine.

kiwi_rob

If you get hit with the &quot;Pay me more or I won't make the camel kneel down so you can get off&quot; trick and you are stuck sitting up on the camel, just reach behind you and push down on the lower part of the camel's back and it will usually kneel for you. I was presented with that ultimatum and a passing guide gave me the tip. The camel handler was not happy!

kellyee21

One thing that happened a lot to us in Egypt that no one has mentioned is getting short-changed (or attempting I should say). I don't know how many times this happened to us, they hand you back the change and there is a bill missing. As soon as we would call them on it the &quot;missing&quot; bill would suddenly appear, without further incident. One time I didn't even say anything (in the metro) and just gave the guy a look and he gave me the rest of my change. This happened at the Post Office, Metro, Pyramids and I don't remember where else.

And then there was the time when we took a carriage ride, paid the agreed price and he still wanted Bakeesh, for the horse...

Elizabeth_S

Our guide alerted us to the fact that there is a 50 pound Egyptian note and a 50 Pilaster note (100 pilasters to the Pound) Sometimes the 50 Pilaster note is palmed off as a Pound note so Ahmed said to look carefully at 50 pound notes - here's a link to pics of the money

http://acm.aast.edu/currencypage.htm

sf7307

Elizabeth, we were given that same warning. I don't recall it being an issue, but we were careful.

Casual_Cairo

Re the 50 Pounds vs the 50 Piasters - I also see tourists frequently giving a 50 piaster note in lieu of a 50 pound note. Of course this will be brought to your attention quickly by the vendor, but it is another reason why you should learn the difference as quickly as possible because the vendor might try to trick you into thinking you gave him 50 piasters instead of 50 pounds if he thinks you have/had both on you. My suggestion is that whenever you are working with either note, you look at it twice and say something about the value out loud to anyone near by that will listen so you have a witness about what value note you are working with. I have also seen very honest Egyptians that were handed 50 Pounds for a bathroom stop, chase the person down that gave it to them to return it (knowing full well it is too much) and then the tourist takes it and walks away without paying anything. I suppose the tourist thought the bathroom man didn't want any tip and didn't comprehend that he'd given the guy about $10, but it's important to be aware of what you are paying people.

And, kiwi-rob - whoever told you the translation of emshee is F...off, was showing off his knowledge of foul English. Emshee mearly means GO AWAY....which if you want to trash it up a bit, could be translated the way you got it.

I find saying Andi (&quot;an&quot; as in Fawn - &quot;di&quot; as in Dee) works best. It means I HAVE and will frequently get the guy to give up more quickly if he figures you've already bought one.

Grcxx3

&quot;Imshi&quot; (or however one wishes to phonetically spell it!)....is one of the many words that have become part of our family vocabulary. It's just &quot;Go away&quot;....nothing more.

There was another term my DH used that was bit more emphatic....but I can't remember it.