---
type: Video
title: "Rawdogging the Scam Capital of the World 🇪🇬"
description: A day testing Cairo's scam reputation — a perfume seller who won't hand back the change, a shoe clean paid at thirty times the rate, a fixed-price camel at Giza, and a dropped phone returned out of the sand.
tags: [egypt, cairo, giza, scams, haggling, markets, street-food, pyramids]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRS4cYl0e9s
video_id: eRS4cYl0e9s
upload_date: 2024-11-17
duration: 2329
---

# Rawdogging the Scam Capital of the World 🇪🇬

Harry's first time in [Egypt](/countries/egypt.md), with the premise stated
plainly: [Cairo](/places/cairo.md) is one of the most famous cities in the world
for travel scams, and he is going to walk into it without a guide and see what
happens. His stated intention is not to judge and to give people the benefit of
the doubt.

What he gets is a masterclass in selling and a conclusion that doesn't match the
title. The perfume seller in the first five minutes is the best salesman he has
ever encountered. [Giza](/places/giza.md) turns out to be no worse than any
tourist site anywhere. And the video ends with strangers running after him with
the phone he dropped in the sand.

*Obs: the video carries an eSIM sponsor read. Only the travel content is
recorded.*

## Key moments

- [00:00] The premise, and the ending given away: the scam reputation, and a lost
  phone.
- [01:01] Straight out of the hotel, handed a business card, and two strangers
  vouch for the man.
- [01:37] Lotus flower oil, sold as the ancient flower of Egypt.
- [02:09] The quoted maths: 10 Egyptian pounds a gram, 300 for a 30-gram bottle.
- [02:45] A second bottle opened while Harry is saying he hasn't agreed to
  anything.
- [03:15] "Money is not everything." Down to 250.
- [04:22] A third scent poured, and a running refusal that changes nothing.
- [04:54] **"No money more"** — the second bottle declared free, then priced at
  two for 500, then two for 400.
- [05:26] He pays 400. The change is 150 and he is offered 100 plus the bottle.
- [06:00] He refuses about six times, stays entirely pleasant, and gets the full
  150 back.
- [06:31] His verdict: the craziest bargaining he has experienced, and he says it
  admiringly.
- [08:10] The shoe clean, with no price given — pay whatever you like.
- [08:48] Asked what he thinks of England, the cleaner says he doesn't like it.
  Harry's answer: you're allowed your own opinion.
- [09:20] The going rate is around 70 Egyptian pounds. Harry pays 2,000, because
  they gave him the honest price.
- [10:01] It backfires — a crowd forms wanting a share, and the argument is over
  who actually cleaned the shoes.
- [10:34] What happens when you try to be nice.
- [11:06] First impressions of Cairo: better than expected, aggressive selling
  aside. Loud, bustling, good architecture, rough around the edges — and he likes
  cities like that. His comparison is India.
- [11:40] Into the market. He notes he tries not to film any woman without her
  permission.
- [12:18] Asking for a Mohamed Salah shirt, and being walked several streets to
  what the seller calls the factory.
- [13:38] 600 Egyptian pounds, about £10, one price and no discount. He knows
  he's overpaying by local standards and takes it.
- [14:45] The fried lotus dessert — pastry deep-fried to order, then Nutella,
  white chocolate, strawberry, caramel or Lotus.
- [15:17] 75 Egyptian pounds, which he identifies as the tourist price and pays
  without argument.
- [15:48] Everyone in Egypt supports Liverpool, because of Salah. The seller gets
  through five kilos a day.
- [16:18] One of the oldest streets in Cairo, cobbled, now given over to tourist
  goods.
- [17:20] The verdict: soft inside, crunchy outside, unlike anything he's had.
- [17:59] Street drummers who play for him and tell him it's free.
- [18:30] He insists on paying and gives them 200.
- [19:03] The observation of the day: **Egyptians do not take no for an answer**,
  and he has never met a nationality like it. He calls it resilience.
- [20:46] Another group who asked for nothing, and 200 given anyway.
- [20:57] A silver necklace with his name in Arabic, ordered on the spot.
- [21:20] 250 Egyptian pounds, thirteen minutes, and he's sent for a coffee.
- [23:01] He left his camera unattended the whole time and nobody touched it.
- [23:41] Giza, and the ticketing nobody warns you about: an area ticket at about
  $10 and a separate 900-pound ticket to enter Khufu.
- [24:51] The most useful line in the video, from a man who is himself selling
  rides: **the government price for a camel or horse is 500 an hour, so 500 is the
  maximum anyone can ask.**
- [25:56] Testing the scam-central theory deliberately.
- [27:04] Why camels are the transport here — no vehicles, so the desert isn't
  destroyed.
- [29:49] What a camel costs to buy: about $3,000 for a young one, up to $8,000
  or $10,000.
- [30:24] The plateau explained — nine pyramids, three large and six small for the
  queens, plus the Sphinx. Built by men and stone, no machines.
- [31:33] The negotiation after a ten-minute ride: Harry pays 400 against his own
  estimate of 200, and holds there when asked for 600.
- [32:37] Inside Khufu — tight, steep and exhausting. He thinks he might pass out.
- [33:14] The top: no view, an empty tomb, and his verdict that it wasn't worth
  $20.
- [33:51] The scarf haggle: 400, then 300, and Harry offers 200 while saying out
  loud what he thinks it cost.
- [34:59] Paid at 200, both happy.
- [36:08] The horse to the exit, quoted 500, walked away, paid 200 — and he gets
  the slow horse for it, which he says he doesn't blame them for.
- [36:48] The conclusion: not as scammy as people made out, no worse than any
  tourist site anywhere, with the caveats that he's experienced and was quoted
  high prices all day.
- [37:20] He drops his phone in the sand.
- [37:50] Egyptians drive back, search, and run it over to him. He pays the man
  who helped double.
- [38:24] The last word: he is shocked, and the people at the pyramids are very
  kind.

## Extracted pages

- Places: [Cairo](/places/cairo.md), [Giza](/places/giza.md)
- Country: [Egypt](/countries/egypt.md)
- Tips: [The gift that isn't free](/tips/the-gift-that-isnt-free.md),
  [Haggle with a reference price](/tips/haggle-with-a-reference-price.md),
  [Be assertive with touts](/tips/be-assertive-with-touts.md),
  [Reward honesty and hard work](/tips/reward-honesty-and-hard-work.md),
  [Insist on paying](/tips/insist-on-paying.md),
  [Judge a place for yourself](/tips/judge-a-place-for-yourself.md)