A 25-year-old solo traveller in Egypt was rescued from an aggressive taxi driver by two strangers who paid the driver and ensured she reached safe accommodation. The incident occurred in Dahab, shortly after the turn of the century, when the traveller, who was a student nurse at the time, found herself in a dangerous situation at 3am.
Night-time taxi ordeal in Dahab
The traveller had taken an overnight bus from Cairo to Dahab, which dropped her and fellow passengers in the middle of nowhere. She then had to take a shared taxi into town, where everyone sat in the back of a ute tray. She was the only tourist and the only woman in the vehicle.
When they reached Dahab, the situation quickly deteriorated. The traveller did not speak Arabic, so she could not understand the driver, but it was obvious he was becoming increasingly aggressive toward her. As the tension escalated, two Egyptian men in the back of the ute stepped in, shouting back at the driver.
Strangers intervene and pay the driver
The men relayed to the traveller that the driver wanted more money. When she reached for her wallet, they told her to put it away. They paid him off themselves, and the driver left. Suddenly, she was alone with these two men in the middle of the night, wondering if she had entered an even more dangerous situation.
The men asked where she was staying, and when she said she had not booked accommodation, they took her to a hostel, ensured the owner charged her the locals' rate, and then disappeared without asking anything in return.
Three-day search leads to lasting friendship
The next day, the traveller was determined to find and thank the two men. It took three days of searching the city high and low before she eventually found them working in an internet cafe. They turned out to be medical students funding their studies by installing internet across Egypt. Since she was a student nurse, they had a lot in common.
They invited her to their home town, where she stayed for a few days and met their friends, families, and future wives. Every time she went out, they escorted her to make sure she was safe. They stayed in contact for years afterwards.
Reflection on kindness and safety
The traveller reflected that young women often meet the worst people when travelling alone, and she has been robbed everywhere, in every language. But those men were not motivated by anything selfish in helping her. She believes they would have done it for anyone, simply because it was the right thing to do.
They started as strangers, but she now regards them as two of the best people she has ever met. The story is part of a series on the kindness of strangers, which invites readers to share their own experiences.
