First Steps in Cairo
When I landed in Cairo last spring, taxi drivers swarmed me before I even cleared customs. One dude named Ahmed promised he knew "best places for foreign gentlemen" immediately. Yeah, red flag right there. We haggled hard – ended up paying triple the local rate just to get to my hotel near Tahrir Square.
Testing the Waters
Next evening I hit downtown bars. Some expat guy slouched over his Stella beer muttered: "Bro, prices exploded since COVID." He scribbled rough rates on a napkin:
- Normal massage joints: 300 EGP ($10 USD)
- Happy ending places: 700-800 EGP ($25 USD)
- Full service hotels: 1500 EGP+ ($50 USD)
Street hustlers quoted me triple those numbers at first though, betting on tourist ignorance.
Beach Testing in Hurghada
Took a bus to Hurghada expecting cheaper deals. Nope! Beach touts preyed on drunk Russians. My "guide" Omar dragged me to a club with jacked-up prices:
- Cold beer: 200 EGP ($6.50) instead of local 30 EGP
- Girls' drinks: 500 EGP ($16) soda water cocktails
- "Takeout fee": Quoted $200 USD outright
Laughed straight in his face and walked. Found a shady backstreet bar later where actual negotiations happened in whispers.
Final Reality Check
Truth bomb: As a tourist? You're always paying extra. The listed €50 "massage" on hotel flyers? Suddenly becomes €200 behind closed doors. Thought I scored bargaining a girl down to 1000 EGP ($32), til the security dude demanded "house fee" at the door. Total cost? Exactly what Omar quoted originally.
Showed police stats to a cafe owner – he just shrugged: "Government want tourism money. Street want survival money. Everybody squeezing somebody." Finished my cheap koshary stew thinking how naive those "Egypt sex travel guides" really are.
