Old cars don't die they just go to Cairo and become taxis. In Egypt no car could possible be too old or unreliable to be used as a taxi in Cairo. We saw 1958 Fiat 1100s, 1961 Fiat 1500s Fiat 124 and 125s, Peugeot 504, Renault 12, Datsun 120Y with the newest being a 1983 Nissan Pulsar.
In Cairo all taxis are painted black with white lower front and rear guards. Other provinces have different colours on their guards. All taxis are seriously bumped and scratched from their "I shall never yield" attitude. To be a taxi driver you need only have a four door vehicle (preferably predented) paint it black and white (yes most do it at home with a brush) and the most important item is a taxi meter. Of the 16 taxis used not one had a working meter or speedo. Knowing how to drive or where anything is located is not a prerequisite to driving a taxi. There is no set fee structure in a taxi. The passenger pays what he feels the ride is worth. Locals told us that a trip downtown is worth no more than 10 pounds. So we always jumped in a cab advised our destination and then paid the fare that we believed was right. This never resulted in a problem unless you have more than two people in the cab when they would expect a higher payment. Should you wish to bargain a price upfront this immediately alerts the driver that you do not know what a fair fare is and prices start at up to 100 time the fee paid by a local or 10 times that of a tourist. Even when a fare is agreed upon the driver will continue to bargain and renegotiate his fare up from the price agreed until your ride is finished. This makes for a most unpleasant trip through one of the most crowded cities in the world. Our mind settled on a fare of 10 pounds for over 20 minutes and 5 pounds for under 20 minutes. This made all our drivers very happy and no arguments were entered into. The driving style is more art than rational. Whilst lanes are clearly marked on the road they certainly bear no relationship to where cars drive or how many cars can travel abreast on the roads. Pedestrian crossings are a further decoration on the roads in Cairo. Crossing the road is something infrequently done by pedestrians in Cairo and is reminiscent of the 80s game of Frogger where a complex sequence of forward and reverse motions must be engaged to safely cross a three lane road with five cars abreast. Pedestrian refuge islands are well named in Cairo. Where some of the more timid pedestrians have set up home and raised families in waiting for a driver to stop and allow them to cross the road. Traffic lights are simply not used, some are constantly flashing amber whilst other work but are simply not obeyed by anyone. It is dangerous to believe that a green light is a sign of a clear road. Cars do not even hesitate for a red light but career through at break neck speed. Only Police signals are obeyed and even then reluctantly. On many occasions we see Policemen being literally pushed by cars who are in a hurry and prod the policeman with the intimidating use of a horn or by pushing him physically with the front of a taxi. The use of a horn is more an auditory expression of your mood and feelings than anything else. It is not only used as a warning or to say hello or goodbye but simply to let people know that your are in their suburb or in a neighbouring suburb, or to tell them you are on their side of the road or on the opposite side and often just checked randomly to see if it still operates. Taxi Drivers would be the richest people in Egypt if they charged by the beep rather than bargaining with tourists. Our tour guide tells us that he one day took a cab to work as he does not believe it is safe to drive on Cairo roads with a horn that does not work. This is quite believable as Cairo drivers use a system of Braille driving and their sense of hearing to place their car accurately into the Cairo traffic. Greater Cairo has a population of over 20 million and whilst traffic is thick it is never stopped. In a three lane road there may be 4 cars across ahead, but this doesn't concern the taxi driver. A few carefully placed beeps of the horn and the driver careers his scrap metal into a space which previously did not exist. It is rare to see any car in Cairo without at least 7 separate dents on each body panel. The word Road Worthy has no Egyptian equivalent. Cars with missing headlights, dented body work, even missing windows are a common sight. During our tour we entered many a taxi that had no window winders or door trims. A few had no internal handles and thus the door could only be opened by reaching outside for the external handle. Every taxi had the Koran carefully placed on the dashboard between the windscreen and the driver. Praying is apparently more apt than any driving skill in this high risk job. Seat belts are generally non existent in the rear and not working in the front. Despite a law requiring the use of seat belts no-one even does the motions of putting them on. On a few occasions when Police (on every corner) peer into the car, the driver would pull across the remains of his seat belt and sit on one end. It was considered most uncool to actually put it on and use it as a seat belt. Cairo taxis are definitely to be placed alongside bungy jumping and skydiving whilst in the land of the pyramids. Dominic Votano www.premierstrata.com.au www.unitliving.info Premier Strata Ph 9630 7500 Fx 9630 1915 --membersozdat------------------------------------------------------- OZDAT Mailing List Please Note:- Send (un)subscribe requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send submissions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] No unauthorised redistribution of this email http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/index.htm http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/listindex.html http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------
