Cairo for The Thrill Seekers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Take the stairs of the Zamalek landmark to the lift hall for a briefing on what you will cover this weekend; the view is the map.

Sail the Nile in a felucca at dusk; the wind decides the speed and you can ask the captain to let you steer.

Koshary, the city's rice, lentils and pasta pile with hot sauce and crisp onions, is the carb load; a bowl costs less than a coffee.

Be at the gate when it opens and have the plateau to yourself; walk it all the way round, the panorama point lies a camel-ride beyond.

Add the Great Pyramid's interior, a hunched climb up a steep passage to the King's Chamber; expect a sweat, little headroom and no photos inside.

Refuel on mixed grill and fresh bread in a garden; the quail is the recovery meal after the climb.

Walk the ramparts of Saladin's fortress and the Muhammad Ali mosque, with the whole city laid out below in the early light.

Climb the minaret of the old gate for the best view in Islamic Cairo; the stairs are narrow, steep and the ticket small.

Grilled kebab and kofta since the 1940s in the old Hussein quarter; take it to the counter and eat standing.

Take a taxi up to the cave churches carved into the Mokattam cliff, a huge open-air amphitheatre set against the garbage-collectors' district.

A plate of ful and ta'amiya on the Downtown street before the airport ride; the cheapest high-protein breakfast in Cairo.