You will also see multi-colored taxi-vans, called arrabiya bil nafar, all around town. These have the word “taxi” written on the side and carry 12-15 passengers. They function more like buses than taxis, running along fixed routes and often stop-ping only at certain places (25-5Opt). To catch a taxi-van, go to a taxi-van stop (some- times marked by a wooden shelter) and yell your destination as the van passes. From Ataba Sq. taxi-vans go to Ramses Sq.. Tahrir Sq., Northern Cemetery, Zamalek, Islamic Cairo, and Heliopolis. In Tahrir Sq. taxi-vans leave from behind both bus sta- tions and go to Heliopolis, Giza Sq., Dokki, Mohandiseen, and the Pyramids. At the stations, drivers will stand outside their buses and bellow their destinations until the bus is full. Taxi-vans provide the most comfortable means of inexpensive transportation between Cairo and some of the outlying areas, such as Giza.

The only major drawback to ground transportation in Cairo is the harrowing experience of being driven by a sometimes smoking, often newspaper-reading Cairene. Drivers careen as if playing a video game, with human life but a lost piaster. River taxis provide a more relaxing means of transportation to Old Cairo. Boats run every 30-40 minutes to the Nile barrages and Old Cairo (via Giza) for 50pt. The departure point is on the corniche in front of the television building, about 1 km north of Tahrir Sq.