Like a movie reel playing beyond the windows of the ride, night or day, the city comes alive.
Merchants sell their wares; traffic hoots along while cars surgically pass one another, close as a razor to a gentleman's face; people weave between the motorists unaware of how brazen and how brave they seem -- everywhere there is something to see.
The stomach-churning thud is followed by an almost-human scream.
A shadowy image of the dog just struck by a car, now limping perilously in a losing bid to dodge oncoming traffic, is all the eyes can make out in the fading light of early evening.
The palpable pain forced from the unfortunate canine's throat quickly fades into the distance, the image burned in the mind but the sight and sound of it long gone as the cab turns another corner, hurtling down another street and the night ride through a city which is home to 12 million continues.
Welcome to Cairo.
Ten days in this city off the beaten track, without a single visit to the pyramids, the museums or many of the more conventional tourist attractions can be gruelling and at times heartbreaking.
But for the grateful, it is a lesson for any Westerner daring to complain about their comfortable day-to-day existence.
The seemingly innocuous ride on a metro can be unnerving -- poverty stares back painfully during a walk through an old neighbourhood from blind men feeding on bread and the kindness of strangers.
Young boys, who should be in school, instead give chase, selling trinkets or whipping by in three-wheeled taxis, dubbed 'toc tocs,' that zip past garbage often heaped on streets, offering feeding grounds for cats, dogs and donkeys.
The less sanitized take of life in Cairo is nothing like the promise of tour package offerings.
More than ever the sight of veiled women, young and old, speaks to the nation's religious majority.
And more than ever, minority Christians or tourists in the Muslim nation are outed simply by their attire.
But the common sight of young women in painted-on slacks with eyes made up to be sultry and mysterious is a glaring contradiction to apparent adherence to any moral code seemingly expressed by the head-dress.
The desire to adopt North American culture is everywhere, but its shallow grip is apparent when veiled women sport T-shirts with Englishworded slogans too naughty to repeat.
On the metro, the contradictions continue.
Some men trip over one another to offer their seat to a woman without a veil while others, so boisterous they are frightening, insist all females retreat to the women-only train cars.
Yet, in the midst of it all there is something to be said for the city where the warmth of so many of its people is so obvious and as much a trademark as scarabs.
There is not a street corner where people don't gather and greet others.
Travel guides suggest when asking someone for directions here to offer greetings first -- getting straight to the point can be seen as offensive if not prefaced with innocuous friendly banter.
Cafes where men smoke shisha literally spill on to the streets where cars dash by, sheep are herded past and many are up for a game of backgammon with a willing stranger.
A cup of aromatic Turkish coffee is served to the winner.
There is also fantastic food to be had in Cairo.
Snack on fresh nuts, no end of sticky, honey-soaked pastries and tea, tea, tea.
The more courageous might want to try a classic national dish, molokhia -- a thick soup made from a dark, leafy spinach- like vegetable pureed with olive oil and garlic.
The soup, often served with slices of lemon, is something people typically love or hate.
Kushari, hardly for those counting calories, is a carbohydrate- bloated delight.
A big bowl of macaroni, rice, lentils covered in crispy fried onions and spicy tomato sauce is easy to find.
The best, must-visit spot in Cairo is Khan el-Khalili, an ancient outdoor market which can deliver samplings of local food and easily eat up hours of time.
Everything from per-fume oils, to stone carvings, to painted papyrus, jewelry, clothing and tacky made-in- Egypt souvenirs (which may or may not be made in Egypt) tug open many tourists' wallets.
Wind through the narrow and beautifully chaotic alleys, to look, to buy or pull out the camera.
Or just get lost in it all. And don't worry about getting an early start to the day unless you want to find a perfect spot along the corniche overlooking the Nile to see a sunrise.
Many stores don't open until noon, but late into the evening merchants are still open, selling everything from fabrics and clothing, to melons at outdoor markets set up on virtually ever corner and everywhere in between.
Taking the subway is faster than hopping into a cab if the focus is getting from A to B.
But taking a taxi is probably one of the best, least expensive and recommended ways to get snapshot after snapshot (with or without a camera) of life in Cairo, a city that is a constant cacophony against a kaleidoscope of hustle, bustle, friendly and fascinating.
By all means see the pyramids of Giza and the famed Sphinx, visit Old Cairo, burn off hours at the museums, mosques and Coptic churches but break away from the tourists and see the city in an entirely different light.
And a lot of it can play out before your eyes from the seat of a cab, honking its way along the frenetic arteries of this ancient city.
nadia.moharib@sunmedia.ca
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