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Sinai Border Exit Tax

Sinai, Egypt Border Exit TaxEverybody wants their cut. For some reason the Egyptian border authority has seen fit to charge travelers 75 EGP ($15) to exit the Taba border region.Why?Probably just because they can.Travel tip: When traveling in Egypt, make sure that you have way more money than what you plan on spending, as every [...]

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Sinai, Egypt Border Exit Tax

Everybody wants their cut. For some reason the Egyptian border authority has seen fit to charge travelers 75 EGP ($15) to exit the Taba border region.

Why?

Probably just because they can.

Travel tip: When traveling in Egypt, make sure that you have way more money than what you plan on spending, as every person that you cross paths with every step of the way is going to fight for their cut of your travel funds.

In the words of the Israeli medical student:

“What can we do? They want money, we have to give them money.”

The fee to leave the Sinai border region is 75 EGP ($15) per person. I suspected that such a tax would be charged, and prior to getting into the taxi that I decided to take to Cairo I asked the driver about it.

“No tax, no tax,” was his reply to further convince me to use his service.

One minute after being out on the road we pulled up to this sign and a handful of men approached the taxi and charged each of us the 75 EGP tax. I was pleased that it only took a minute to prove that the driver was a liar . . . at least we would no longer need to waste time debating his integrity from here on out.
—————————-
Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Egypt- May, 2009
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Click on map to view route of travel.

The lines were now drawn, the sides were now set, everybody knew where everybody else stood — the Egyptians wanted money, and the travelers were viewed as the grand proliferators of such — we were traveling on to Cairo, and we expected to be nickled and dimed the entire way out of Egypt.

Read of the journey from Taba to Cairo
Part 1- This is Egypt – Travel Sinai Desert
Part 2- Minibus Fiascoes and the Dirtiest Toilets in the Egypt
Part 3 – Ain’t Nothing in Sinai Egypt

Sinai, Egypt Border Exit Tax

Filed under: Africa, Egypt

About the Author:

I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. has written 3699 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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VBJ is currently in: New York City

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