Driving Back To The Port

On the drive back to the port, we passed by a mosque.


and an open air marketplace,


and an unusual building - but what a beautiful blue sky as a backdrop, eh?


Tried very hard to capture some street scenes from a moving vehicle.


And another mosque.

When I was doing research on how to go about DIY tours of Rome, Athens, and Cairo/Alexandria, I stumbled on website after website full of warnings to tourists about how not to be taken advantage by taxi driver.

These sites cautioned the tourists to be aware of the scam that taxi drivers use to take advantage of people like us. They noted that only pay what you initially agreed upon at the beginning of the tour. And that if all else pays, yell POLICE.

When we agreed to take these two taxis among the six of us the agreement was 100 Egyptian pounds for 2 taxis. 50 pounds per taxi. Our driver spoke English, but there was another mediator who helped them understand the deal. They said yes. Of course, the deal was only a roundtrip to the Library. But as you see, we were taken to the Citadel and the Mosque.

When we were dropped off at the port, the fare became 100 euros per taxi. Yap! So the males in our group, most notably my husband, argued to stick to the initial agreement. So a bartering ensued. The drivers wanted more but our group steadfastly held on to the deal, which seriously is a steal.

And so we decided to give a little bit more since we were shown a few more sights than what was agreed upon. But the non-English speaking taxi driver was adamant that he be paid in euros, and 100 euros at that.

So we had to use the tactic that the internet and other previous travelers on travel forums suggested, we yelled POLICE and a mediator immediately appeared on our side. He inquired what the matter was and when both sides presented their sides, the mediator told us to pay whatever was initially agreed upon. Please do not be afraid to stand your ground.

In Barcelona, when a prospective pickpocket (a female no less) tried to snatch an Eastern European woman's backpack, she yelled POLICIA at the top of her lungs and the pickpocket and her accomplice disappeared in an alley so fast. We stopped to talk to the girl as she inspects if something was taken from her backpack - the zipper was open. And I asked if she read the forums advising people to yell POLICE, she smiled and said yes.