Home from AUC for Four Pounds Fifty

I have been meaning to right a eulogy to the Irish dance class which I have been teaching for the past semester and a half and which ended just before spring break, but the words have been evading me.  So, instead I am going to post something a bit more practical and less energy intensive.

Some of you may remember the fight for an affordable bus system (among other issues) that a number of students, including myself, had with AUC during the first year at the New Cairo campus.  Long story short, this effort failed.  Currently an AUC bus pass for one semester costs 1,740LE ($316). And the school is raising the price next school year.  You can also get tickets good for 1 ride for 20LE.  (A taxi into the city costs about 50LE so if you have even two other friends heading the same direction as you it is cheaper to get your own ride.)  As a result of the exorbitant bus fees a number of students started forging bus pass stickers this semester.

For those of you without your own means of transport, a forged pass, people to carpool with or who just want to leave school whenever they please, the following is a relatively quick and easy way to get from AUC to down town Cairo (or anywhere serviced by the metro) for 4.5 LE.

Requisites: Beginner’s Egyptian Arabic, intermediate sense of adventure, high tolerance for cramped spaces.

Step one: Getting to Future University

Head towards the gate near the Art department (this is the closest gate to Future University, which is the horrific campus across the highway from AUC which resembles the unfortunate love child between an airport and the Coliseum).  Sidle up to someone heading the same direction and ask them if they are leaving school.  If they are, politely ask if they can drop you off at Future University (most people pass Future University on their way from AUC).  In the event that they are not actually leaving school or unwilling to give you a lift, it is only a five minute walk.

Step two: Getting to the Moneeb Transfer Point

In front of Future University there is a micro bus pick up point.  Tell the driver of a micro that you need something to Moneeb (“Lazim haaga ala Moneeb”).  If they are not going in that direction they will usually point you to a micro that is or tell you that something is coming.  Occasionally, you will find a micro from Future University straight to Moneeb (if so skip to “step four”).  This will usually cost 3.5LE (sometimes 3LE).  More often the driver will tell you to hop in and that he will drop you off at a transfer point with buses to Moneeb.  This short lift should only cost 1LE.

Step tree: Getting a Bus to Moneeb

After a ride of about 10 minutes you will reach a little, informal microbus stop/station off to the side of the road like a rest stop.  There are usually 2 or 3 other micros parked here.  There will almost always be a driver calling for people going to Moneeb (it might sound like “Moniya”).  If no one is calling, ask someone at the stop and they might tell you that there will be a bus shortly or point you to the right one.  The bus to Moneeb should cost 2.5LE.

Step Four: Getting to the El Zahraa Metro Station

Get on the bus to Moneeb.  Try to sit near the door.  You do not actually want to go to Moneeb.  Your goal is to get to the El Zahraa metro station.  So, tell the driver (or the people sitting in front of you) when you get on, or during the first five minutes of the trip, that you would like to be dropped off by the El Zahra metro (“Mumkin urayib el Zahraa” or “Mumkin urayib el metru”.  This is fairly common request. It is about 15 minutes to the metro once you are on the bus to Moneeb.  You will be driving along a raised highway and just after you go around a sweeping corner to the left and start heading down hill you will see an off ramp ahead and the metro tracks running under the highway.  You may need to remind the driver to let you out at the off ramp, but usually they remember.

Step Five Getting Down Town (or elsewhere):

Walk down the off ramp to the metro and catch it to wherever you are heading (1LE).  Down town is about 10 minutes away (Marg direction).  Maadi is about 5 minutes away (Helwan direction).

Note: don’t expect it to go smoothly your first time, and be ready to improvise.  It may seem complicated at first but it becomes second nature within a week.

I can usually make it to Down Town in the same time as the AUC bus, sometimes slightly faster. Between taking microbuses, carpooling, hitchhiking and occasionally slipping on the AUC bus, transportation to and from university for February cost me 38.5LE, for March 24.5LE, and for the first half of April 15.5LE.  At this rate I will spend about 120LE for transportation to and from school this semester that is a savings of (1740-120=) 1,620LE or $294.50.  Last semester I got a round trip ticket on Air Arabia from Cairo, Egypt to Mumbai, India for $280.

If you want any other transportation tips feel free to email me (coleagar@gmail.com).

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