CLARE: Sounds ... incessantly hooting horns, the muezzins (one we heard from the prayer hall of the Al Ghuri mosque which we were shown round by Mohammed), and more hooting!
Smells: The sweet smell of the hookah pipes, spices in the Khan al Khalili bazaar, dirt and sandy air and the immediate freshness as you cross the river, centuries of incense in the Coptic Church.
Sights: Tom’s face when he first saw the pyramids over the rooftops of Giza – rapture; Tom instinctively crouching down with his back to the wind as a little sandstorm whirled up; Ben sitting at the ancient, out of tune piano in the Windsor Hotel; the haunting beauty of Tutankhamun’s death mask and the statues of a palace scribe with his wife’s arms affectionately around his shoulder; Worst moment: Playboy Ahmed’s driving back from the pyramids ... no lane rules, hooting basically means you can go anywhere and the ring road is a speedway for boy racers racing each other!
Best moment: looking out over rubble strewn rooftops and satellite dishes as minarets lit up and the sun set, to the sound of the muezzin.

TOM: I felt nervous leaving home. It was nice that Barnaby came to say goodbye at the airport. When the sandstorm came I crouched down and hid my face so it wouldn’t get me. I thought the Sphinx was going to be really big but it was not as big as I expected. I felt really excited when I first saw the pyramids. I love falafel.

BEN: It was a very long journey – it felt like more than 4 hours. The hotel is more modern than I expected .... I thought it would be a basic square sandy building with no windows. The sandstorms in the desert stung our legs and arms. I wouldn’t have thought the pyramids were that close to the town ... it was just big modern city, then desert and pyramids. A falafel is a vegetarian version of the chicken nugget. I thought that Tutankhamun’s death mask was scary. The taxi ride was fun because there were no lanes you just had to swim in and out of the cars like dodgems.

LANCE: Windsor Hotel chosen for our Cairo leg has loads of character (although little maintenance!) – wanted to avoid the homogenous 5-star blocks of flats.
Great to have friends holding our hands for the first week. Thanks C, S and J !
Traffic noise is a drag though. Cars have no rules – they sort things out by honking at each other – ‘til 2am ! Beautiful sand-blasted buildings are a dirty diesel grey. Cars have a lot to answer for!
Done it all with zero disappointments – pyramids, camel rides, King Tut,
People we met were friendly and helpful (although some vendors could be over keen on the “selling” front)
Also privileged to have evening supper with British residents for taste of Cairo suburbia.
Good sign – we’re sad to say goodbye but would definitely come back.