Cairo-Week 2, Part 2: Riding the Bus

Now that I am on a mission to find a place to stay I have started to take the bus by myself. From what I have seen they have three types of buses in Cairo. They have a microbus which is like the 70s hippie love VW buses and they hold only 15 passengers at a time. They have the mini-bus which is either like a party bus or a regular city bus and then they have the autobus which is like the big charter buses that sports teams use to travel. I have only taken the autobus once when I was going to Giza to see the pyramids and I am guessing these buses are for long distance trips. The microbus and the minibus are for everyday use here in Cairo.

When you get on the bus you sit down and then you pass your money to the front and then the bus driver passes your ticket (along with change if necessary) to the back. If you get on the bus with a group of other people you are all passing your money to the front. The only problem is the bus driver sometimes forgets to pass the right amount of change to the back and you hear people going back and forth with the driver about their change. So, I am always conscious of having exact change for the bus because I am not prepared to yell to the front of the bus, “Hey you forgot to give me my change” in Arabic. The bus system is complex and comprehensive. The only thing is that I can’t exactly figure out how it works. I wish they would have a map of the bus routes. So far I just ask people where to get the bus. The first time I was taking the bus by myself it was at night and I was on a microbus. I was asking the girl next to me where I should get off to take the next bus she and the guy in front of me were very eager to help. Luckily she spoke a little English and so we were able to communicate. When I got off the microbus in order to switch to the minibus, the girl just took my hand and ushered me on the way to the area to catch the next bus. She was very nice and waited until the next bus came and made sure I got on the right bus. Overall, I have noticed that the people on the bus try to be very helpful when they realize that you don’t know where you are going or you can’t speak Arabic. My trick is to try to speak to someone who is young because maybe they know a little bit of English. I did this once when I was sitting next to this young guy on the microbus. Now the microbus is a get-in where you fit-in type of situation. If there is space a guy will not sit next to you but if they have to get on they will get on and you might as well just scoot on over because everyone is mashed up next to each other on the bus. So after this young guy figured out that I was lost and an American, (which by the way people love to ask where you are from and I don’t want to lie) nicely told the driver (and the whole bus) that I didn’t understand Arabic and he told them where I was trying to get off. He also, tried to slip me his number before he got off the bus. I said “La Shukran” and he said “okay” but then it became clear to me how Egyptian girls find their boyfriends. Overall, the bus experience is okay. I am still not clear exactly where to catch the bus back to where I am staying which led me to be on the bus once for 3 hours.

The bus is very packed and busy during rush hour, 9am and around 5-6pm. People just seem to randomly hop on the bus while it is in the middle of traffic. Also, if the bus is packed people have no problem asking you to hold their bags or other belongings if they are unable to stand and hold it at the same time. If an old lady gets on the bus usually someone will give up their seat for her. Also, if you have a baby someone will give up their seat for you or you can just let some nice lady hold your baby while you stand. Once this girl asked for my seat, she pointed to her stomach and said something about “baby”. I am guessing she was pregnant even though she just looked a little chubby to me. All in all the buses are fine to ride as long as you don’t mind hopping on and off the bus while it is still moving!