People are friendly but dont let them fool you or overcharge you. Use the new capital taxis known as Taxi al A'sema, which are clean, reasonably priced and have air conditioning. The Egyptian Pound is worth about a tenth of a UK Pound and Egypt is much cheaper than the UK so bear that in mind.

Preferably use bottled drinking water like Schweppes, Nestle, Aqua and Baraka. University students like to practice their English so don't be baffled if they try to talk to you. You will know them because they use complicated vocabulary compared with street vendors who may try to rip you off in their simple English. I am an Egyptian who lived in England some years ago and adored the Brits I hope you have a wonderful time in Egypt.

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Remember that most taxi drivers who operate on the street, not from the tourist hotels, don't own their cars. They might make 120 Egyptian pounds a day and give half to the car owner. A kind tourist who pays 50 Egyptian pounds instead of 20 for the trip might mean the driver can buy a kilo of meat for the family at home.

Cairo is hard for middle-aged fathers who have to work all hours to pay for tuition for their kids. Remember that the next time you think you are being fleeced and pay extra to the decent ones. They deserve it.

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Historic sites in Cairo, such as the pyramids, have horses and camels available to ride. Be careful though as many are severely maltreated and half-starved. It was especially upsetting to sit on a horse who looked healthy enough but was so petrified of his owner he went backwards to escape the whip. Please use caution when riding camels and horses. The tourist industry is what fuels this trade.

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Beware of tourist traps:

Me and a group of friends got goaded into taking a camel and horse ride around the pyramids. It was all very cheesy but the pyramids looked great. After half an hour, we were all getting a bit bored and so the young Egyptian lad at the front of the camel caravan decided to slap the back of the lead camel, we went charging through the desert, the horse that I was on was clearly agitated by all of this and bit the rump of the horse in front. The horse in front responded by kicking back at the horse that I was on and clipped me on the shin. Bloody hell, it hurt! When we got back to the stable I had blood running all down my shin. The owner took me into the toilet (reminiscent of the Trainspotting toilet) and applied purple lotion onto my leg - I limped off and sulked behind the sphinx.

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No meters. You're meant to know how much a journey costs, and if you don't, you'll get ripped off. Also, be sure to memorise the numbers in Arabic from 1 to 10, so that you can haggle more effectively.

The rough rule of thumb for knowing how much a certain journey should cost - roughly, a trip from Zamalek to Tahrir would be about 5 Egyptian pounds. This isn't a long journey and takes maybe 10 minutes, depending on traffic. 5 Egyptian pounds is about 50 pence. Longer journeys, especially to tourist destinations, will always give inflated prices, but try to haggle them down. You can also pre-agree the prices for longer journeys, but it's trickier for quicker inner-city taxi rides.

Further, when you get a taxi from the airport, it's very important to disregard the first couple of drivers who offer you their taxi, so that you build some credibility. 50 Egyptian pounds isn't that bad, especially for westerners just arriving, to get a taxi to your hotel in the city, but if you can get it lower, so much the better. The reason it's more expensive from the airport isn't just the distance (it's maybe forty minutes) but also the fact that the taxi driver has to pay a couple of entry fees and bribes in order to be inside the airport area at all.

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Obviously. But: don't let yourselves get ripped off. When you get the taxi to the Pyramids, INSIST that they take you to the main entrance, not the side entrance. The side entrance is a way of trying to funnel you through some tourist shops. Also, DO NOT let the driver pick up any of the men waiting by the side of the road, near the Pyramids, because these are the guys who tend to try and take you to the side entrance. This happened with me, but I caught on quickly enough, kicked the extra guy back out of the taxi and told the driver to turn around and go to the main entrance.

Don't let the camel drivers etc rip you off, unless you want to take a ride, in which case be sure to haggle. Also, when they offer to pose for a photo, if you take it, they'll make a fuss about being paid afterwards.

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The biggest, most chaotic, fastest set of road crossings you'll possibly have ever encountered. It's good to cross the streets here, but be careful and be ready to run. No one obeys the lights, and sometimes the lights don't work.

Around Tahrir is the American University in Cairo, a huge government building, some shitty hostels and some decent cafes. One in particular, Ali Baba, has a bit of a hackneyed name but is famous and was the favourite of the recent Novel laureate/Egyptian novelist who died, Naguib Mahfouz. I didn't get around to going to Ali Baba. There are other good outdoor cafes in the area, too.

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