WOMEN BEWARE TAXI DRIVERS

Molsons, why do you keep changing your story? And there's nothing wrong with living in Tel Aviv, you must have nicer weather than in Europe.

#18 says : " it seems like the only thing these same few people really care about (every day, day after day, regardless of verifiable news reports advising to the contrary) is to continue to convince as many people as possible to come and spend money,"

Verifiable news reports advising people not to come to Egypt? Traditions of the internet here require me to say: Link or they don't exist.

That's aside from the fact that actually existing, verifiable travel advice from various European foreign ministries continues to indicate that Egypt is a safe destination.

And besides, presumably people posting questions here are looking for answers from people who live or have recently visited here, not for news reports. If they were looking for news reports, they'd be on news websites.

So I can't help wondering what your motivation is in dissing people who are consistently providing factual information based on real experience and that is also consistent with the information officially provided by Western foreign ministries. I'm also mildly curious as to why you think you know better and we should all shut up. Presumably the people who post questions here would prefer if others with experience of Egypt did answer them, that's kind of the point of the board so it's rather odd that you object to it.

Why did the driver yelled when his passenger tried to roll down the window, telling her to roll it up because the aircon was on?

Taxi drivers work very hard, for a very low wage. They are usually reluctant to put the aircon on because it uses fuel, and fuel costs money. They will rarely put the aircon on, unless specifically asked to do so. However many drivers put it on when they have Western customers, as a courtesy. Of course they get pissed off if you open the window without asking then to stop the aircon first!

To sum it up: thousands of Westerners living in Cairo, half of them women, take taxis to commute in Cairo every day and we're all perfectly fine.

Yes, some taxi drivers (not all) will try to rip you off by pretending that they do not have change, so do take a lot of small bills with you.

Yes, some taxi drivers are a bit lousy and will flirt with Western women or even, in some very rare cases, try to touch your knee or arm (some might even - gasp! - pretend they're divorced when they're not). Just tell the guy to behave and he will stop in most cases; if not get out of the taxi, an easy task in such a congested city.

If you're a woman and don't feel too comfortable take a white taxi, they have a meter and a registered driver.