Cairo is a city that makes sense of every superlative you have heard about it. With more than seven million people in the city proper and many millions more in the metropolitan area, it is the largest in the Arab world and one of the largest in Africa, and its streets are a river of cars, buses, donkey carts, bicycles and pedestrians, all moving at once to the music of horns.
The Egyptian Museum, a pink neoclassical building on the edge of the square, holds the treasures of the pharaohs, including the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb, though many of its finest pieces are moving to a vast new museum near the pyramids. East of the centre lies Islamic Cairo, a labyrinth of medieval streets, mosques, markets and madrasas that is among the richest historic districts in the world. The Khan el-Khalili bazaar sells everything from spices to lamps, and the smell of coffee and frying falafel fills the air.
Riding a motorbike here is a feat of nerve. Lane markings are decorative, traffic lights are advisory, and the unwritten rules include honking to announce yourself rather than to express anger. Keep your speed down, watch every gap, and never assume that anyone has seen you. Friday mornings are the quietest, when the city sleeps in, and it is the best time to move across town. The Nile bridges can bottleneck badly in the afternoon.
Fuel is not a problem in the capital, with stations all over the city, though queues form at busy times. The best advice for the start of a ride is to leave early and head for the ring road, then out into the desert. A glass of sweet mint tea, a plate of koshari, the national dish of rice, lentils and pasta, and a view of the river at sunset make a worthy start or finish to the day.