Sometimes we come up with crazy travel plans – this weekend being a case in point. More on Cairo to follow, but here’s a few of my favourite snaps of the exuberant and exotic Egyptian people who really made our trip. First up, this gem of a coffee shop that I fell in love with in the heart of old Cairo.

Clockwise from top left: an Egyptian wedding; a man rides his horse and carriage past a scene that’s been part of the landscape for thousands of years; a belly dancer mesmerises her audience on a Nile river cruise; and standing room only on the bus.

Ancient craftsmanship: Despite millennia of plundering, the antiquities of Egypt are remarkably well preserved. This carving is part of the tomb of Queen Meresankh III near the Giza pyramids.