Deaf on the Nile

Colin Randall

• Last Updated: December 10. 2008 9:30AM UAE / December 10. 2008 5:30AM GMT

How refreshing to return to Abu Dhabi after an Egyptian holiday and walk from baggage reclaim to cab rank without being badgered by porters, taxi touts or others eager to help themselves to my money.

And how relaxing to join crowds celebrating National Day on the Corniche and not have to fight off street vendors and their trashy goods, purchase of which amounts to tipping by another name.

Egypt has immense beauty, sensational archaeological treasures and lots of nice people. But far too many of those people rely on tips for a sizeable chunk of their income. You can barely move without meeting outstretched hands.

Most westerners exploring the cradle of civilisation can well afford to tip low-paid workers in catering, transport and other services. It is the sheer number of those at it that causes dismay. The most inconsequential act is performed in the expectation of monetary reward. A man showing us to a hotel room we were perfectly capable of finding for ourselves waited for his baksheesh before opening the door to another tip-seeker who had at least brought the luggage. A concierge looked cross at receiving nothing when a free newspaper was picked up from his desk.

It was the same when one of his colleagues opened a taxi door. But if you tipped everyone, and with the amount they considered acceptable, you would return home destitute.

The apparent scarcity of coins and low-denomination banknotes hardly helps. No one ever has any change. Or they maintain a pretence of having none in the hope of pocketing the lot.

At the pyramids, visitors are advised to beware of anyone who offers a camel ride with a reassuring “you pay what you want”.

Should “what you want” fall short of “what he’d like”, he may leave you stuck on the camel’s back. In the Valley of the Kings, a man stared in disgust at a withered note for five Egyptian pounds (Dh3), payment for taking a couple of snaps of visitors.

Egyptians have no monopoly on annoying ways of squeezing money out of people.

In the French city of Montpellier, until the mayor ordered a clean-up, aggressive beggars down from Paris for the summer would stand in front of passers-by, vicious dogs by their sides, attempting to block any attempt to sidestep them.

At a fashionable London club, a waitress replied when invited to cross out the “optional” service charge and receive a cash tip: “If I ask the manager to redo the bill without it, he will want to know what was wrong with my service.”

The difference in Egypt was that tipping and street selling have assumed industrial proportions.

In the end, I was indebted to our tour guide, Ibrahim. “Don’t encourage them by replying,” he said. “Just pretend you’re hard of hearing.”

It took a while getting used to, but it worked, especially with the hawkers. We were deaf on the Nile. Ibrahim’s generous tip was assured.


crandall@thenational.ae