After having blogged hardly with me, Pookie allows herself a little waterpiping
During our holidays we had to take every day a taxi to get to Sharm el Sheik (Egypt) because there were no other means unless you squeezed yourself in a little VW Bus with 12 seats which were occupied by 20 Egyptian workers.
The "taxi" adventure started already at home
1. The taxi we had ordered arrived 20 min late because the driver couldn't find our street. Then he didn't know the highway to the airport, he was new ! Mr. Gattino started to have half an attack he already suffered from travel fever.
2. The hotel taxis were limousines (!) The first time I ordered one at the reception and went out looking for a huge, long, black car with bar inside and dark windows, I found myself in front of a very normal everybody's car called "limousine" by the Egyptians.
3. All official taxis were very old Peugots from the 70th blue and white
4. Rules for taking it : Make your testament, step in, sit down, close your eyes.
5. Don't touch any handle it may remain in your hand
6. Don't fasten the seat belt it may fall on your knees
7. Don't touch a window : if it's open it won't close, if it's closed it wouldn't open.
8. Check the seat, you may sit on a metal spiral spring or on a hole
9. Don't look at the driver, he may use his mobile, rewinding a cassette by putting a pen in the hole and swinging it around or just talking with a friend who is taxi driver too, driving side by side at 60 km/h.
10. Don't bother when he doubles a bus on the right (for british and australians on the left) while another taxi is in the middle. All 3 cars with 1 m space
11. Don't worry either when suddenly he stops for no apparent reason and you almost land in his neck.
12. It is very normal to drive at 90 km/h where only 50 are allowed
13. Don't forget to pay the price you had haggled before getting in the car while you try to keep your trembling legs steady.
Winding up the cassette
Explaining something to me while driving at 70km/h at least
But there are very, very few accidents, I have never seen any and I have to admit, they are excellent drivers.
23 comments:
Now that sounds like an adventurous taxi ride...!! glad you handle these things with a great sense of humor!
Fantastic post! The photos are just a bonus :-)
Yikes! Happy TT and thanks for dropping by :)
welcome back. I can see we are lucky you made it home. lol.
my TT is 13 movies i've watched recently. but you might prefer visiting last week's which was 13 things my two cats do to amuse and annoy me.
Yes indeed my eyes would be closed! Sounds like the taxi ride was part of the adventure! I love the shot of Pookie with the water pipe. I always knew cats were into exotic habits!
As yes, taxi drivers can drive like maniacs at times! I actually find a lot of taxi drivers in Europe to be just as scary! Especially when travelling at full speed through narrow streets.
Great list, as usual. Thanks for the grins. Happy T13. :)
Sounds very scary!!! Kind of like riding with my husband who is reading and responding to e-mail on his blackberry while driving 70 mph on the highway!
Hahahaha! That is a very good list. I like the demonstration of the cassette rewinding.
Hi Gattina, I came in to say hello and catch up a bit before I went off to bed, it's late and I am working tomorrow at 7.a.m., but I will just say hello for now, and come back when I have some proper TIME - wow - once again you have given us some wonderful things to look at, and your stories - I'm coming back for a lovely SLOW look, thank you!
And yes I know about the 'limousines' - we got caught like that too, in Singapore, we were told they were sending a limousine, and were expecting something special - but it sounds just like the trip you had, we were surprised to arrive safely also.
:-)
Della
Oh, my. Hope the rest of your trip wasn't quite as exciting as the taxi ride! Or rather, that it was exciting in a less frightening way. :)
I think I would have got up really early and walked to the airport, ha,ha..
Ahhhh... brings back memories of New York City! They sound one and the same! LOL! It IS an experience! I never thought to take pictures though - you're GOOOOOD! Always thinking of that next blog article! LOL!
Wow, and I thought the taxi ride I took in San Francisco was scary. YIKES! I'm glad that you survived your Egyptian taxi experience!!
Pookie is cute! Did you name her after Garfield's Pookie? I love cats too. I love that picture of Pookie with the hookah.
This made me laugh... it reminds me of when I was in the Persian Gulf War in '90, while I was in the Navy.
We were anchored outside of Bahrain and got to go into the city while on "liberty" (shore leave for a few hours), and haggling with the taxi drivers.
I have to admit that I got very good at calling their bluff, which is a skill I still use today.
Sounds like some gypsy cabs in NYC!
hahaha sounds like Boston cabbies!
Pfew, that was a memorable taxi ride indeed!
Thanks for your comment on my TT today.
Sounds kind of like some of the drivers here in Dallas!
I bet taxi driver all round the world have to swear some kind of an oath to drive like this.... *lol*
We had a taxi (I thought he found the car on a junkyard) and taxi driver like this in Paraguay, except with an addition to your #7: the windows were shaken down, no need to close them and EVERYTHING got a layer of this red dirt on it, so our light colored clothes were a bit red'ish from that day. And all the others along the way too - we only saw them left in a big red dust cloud, the poor ones!
But we did get to the bus station we aimed for in time, so I guess he was skilled???!!! We were only lucky we didn't get killed....
Very enjoyable post. Love the pix. Thanks for stopping in on my TT, otherwise I wouldn't have found you and I'm glad I did.
O I would not do well with that at all. I'd have to have a drink before I got into those limosines!
WOw I am not sure I want to take a taxi in Egypt! Great informative TT. And thanks for stopping by my TT Terrific Teens
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