Whether you are floating on the Nile in a felucca, sipping chai in a souk, sniffing perfume in the Coptic City or walking through the chaotic and traffic-laden streets, where the constant drone is broken only by the cry of the muezzin calling men to mosques for ritual washing and prayer, you are sure to find Cairo an all-out assault on the senses.

Your first encounter with the city will be the roads and whether it is safe to cross them. Possibly the safest time is at 3am or on a Sunday morning. Some roads have pedestrian crossings, but do not be misled. With cars lined up on both sides you will feel like you are ready for a Le Mans start. And if you are halfway across and the lights change, what should you do? I found the best option was to nonchalantly walk across while trying to ignore the horns and front fenders scraping the tarmac as brakes jammed.

Venturing onto the public transport system takes nerves of steel. What with lethal, dilapidated vehicles belching out clouds of fumes, regular bus smashes and train wrecks, and yet everyone miraculously survives in harmony. But that is Cairo, where a friendly debate about what food to order will sound like a debate over world peace.

On every corner juice-stands are draped with in-season fruit and vegetables. Sidewalks are tricky to negotiate due to the flock of hawkers and long-robed, over-friendly men discussing deals of some matter or another.

‘Cairenes’ are a pushy and fearless lot. Young women dressed in western-style mix mingle with others who are completely covered and peering out from burkhas. Hawkers pay sigana, a few coins to waft a potion of smouldering herbs over their goods in the hope that it will bring them luck.

In the Moqattam Hills and on the highest point of Cairo are the twin minarets of the Mohammed Ali Pasha, or Alabaster Mosque, the centrepiece of the Citadel. Built between 1830 and 1848 in the memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali’s oldest son who died in 1816, the mosque is the largest to have been built in the first half of the 19th century.

Muhammad Ali chose to build his state mosque in the architectural style of his former overlords, the Ottomans. The architect was Yusuf Bushnak of Istanbul who used the Yeni Mosque in that city as his inspiration.

The Alabaster Mosque has a central dome surrounded by four small half domes rising to two 82-metre elegant cylindrical minarets, which have two balconies and conical caps. Although there are three entrances on each side of the forecourt, the usual entry is through the north-eastern gate.

Steel yourself for the Pyramids

The forecourt is enclosed by arches rising on pillars and covered by domes. There is a brass clock tower in the middle of the north-western arch, which was presented to Muhammad Ali by King Louis Philippe of France in 1845. The clock was reciprocated with the obelisk of Luxor now standing in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. From the courtyard I can see the Pyramids of Giza, floating like a mirage through the smog. They appear to be close to the city and yet they are dwarfed by giant skyscrapers.

A visit to the world’s ancient wonder requires stamina. Despite the in-your-face hawkers, camel owners, heat and dust the pyramids are absolutely spectacular. The pyramid of Khufu was built more than 4000 years ago and stands higher than St Paul’s Cathedral, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.

Its construction took 20 000 craftsmen 20 years to build, moving some blocks that weighed two tons a piece. Guarding the causeway to the pyramid of Khafre, the time-worn man-animal Sphinx was created as a living image of the Sun God and looks a touch worn-out but is still very impressive. It is said that the rising water level is affecting the Sphinx but thankfully measures are in place to preserve the piece.

"… Egypt could not exist without the Nile…"

In retrospect, the best time to go to the pyramids is in the evening, on the back of a camel. As the tourists disappear as well as the high temperatures, the sun sinks low over the vast desert, and the pyramids turn a rosy red. I recommend you follow this up with a beer from one of the neighbouring taverns.

Egypt could not exist without the Nile. Towered by the Hanging Church in the Coptic City built on pillars, this natural resource is so much engrained in Egyptian society that during the time of the Pharaohs crop yields were predicted and taxes were set according to the water level of the river, which has dropped dramatically with the building of the Aswan High Dam.

Read about the city's mediaeval heart on Page two...

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