5 Types of Transportation in Egypt

Egypt is not only limited to taxis if you are an Expat living in Egypt. I highly recommend venturing outside of the most common way to commute especially if you are living in Cairo. Now, there are downsides and positives to all of these 5 types of transportation but they are all effective.

1. TAXIS
   

It is the most common way to move around and it’s literally everywhere. It seems like most of the coffee shops are frequented by taxi drivers. If you are living in Egypt you can relate to me when I say that taxi drivers are a very “interesting” community. In fact, I believe there was a book written about Egyptian taxis (I can’t bother to google that and find the book because it’s too late here). I had a fair share of bad experiences, from drives overcharging me to being kicked out of the car for not wanting to pay for the overcharge. I don’t know if other parts of the world do this but taxi drivers can refuse you as a customer. For example, you are outside and you signal for a taxi, the driver pulls over and before you get into the car you are supposed to ask him if he can take you to “so and so”. This is when the refusal comes about, he can now choose to say “no” because it’s either out of his way or the place you want to go is too crowded. If the place you want to go to is crowded or there is a lot of traffic to get there be prepared to be overprized. Taxi drivers love to charge their customers for the inconvenience of the crowd and the traffic.

        2. METRO AKA SUBWAY

The Egyptian under the tunnel is the oldest train in the African Continent. It is very safe and effective and did I mention it only cost 1 Egyptian pound (that’s less than 1 cent). There is an option to ride in the women and mix sections of the train. I guess because the train is super overcrowded during rush hours, the women prefer to be packed like caught sardines with all women rather than men. Don’t take it lightly, I feel like the women in the lady’s sections are super aggressive and at times it will be a very uncomfortable ride. Apart from that, the metro is the easiest way if you are heading toward downtown Cairo.

          3.UBER/CAREEM

I think Uber doesn’t need any introduction but Careem is a Middle Eastern app that does exactly the same thing that Uber is out to do. I tend to use these apps, when I don’t know how much the fare will cost me, or when I am out and about with the kids because I know that the driver will not “cheat me” with the fare fees. Uber or Careem is very effective, the cars are super clean and in good shape. The drivers are extremely professional; some have main jobs and do Uber/Careem as a part-time option.

           4.TUK TUK

These mini cars imported from India are used in areas with very tight streets where it’s hard for cars to drive by. If you need to go somewhere really quick and there is traffic then tuk-tuk drivers go in between cars really fast which can seem like you are riding a roller coaster.

5. MICROBUSES

These are independent minibus owners that drive people around 24 hours a day within a short route. These mini buses are popular among Egyptian, especially if they do not own a car and there isn’t any public transportation to the place they want to go and can’t afford to pay for a taxi all the time.

Of course, there are other types of transportation in Egypt but these 5’s are the most popular. If you know of any other type of transport in Egypt that you would like to recommend, please let me know in the comment section. I am also thinking about writing a post about what I’ve learned from riding a microbus. Let me know if that is something you would be interested to read about. Also, let me know your favorite posts here and what you would like me to write next.

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