Cairo by Boat.

If you feel that Cairo is too dusty and noisy and overcrowded, try to change your perspective and take to the water. If you board one of the water buses that depart in front of Maspero TV tower in Downtown you slowly but surely leave all the buzz behind and crumbling buildings give way to a sometimes semi-urban, sometimes outright bucolic setting with banana plantations, donkeys grazing lazily next to the fields and the odd fisherman trying his luck in the muddy waters of the river Nile. You can for example take the 1.5 hour trip to Al Kanater, the barrages that mark the point where the Nile fans out into the delta. It used to be a favourite weekend trip of Cairenes from all walks of life, especially families with young kids. Judging from the buildings, the areas heyday probably was in the  1960s. Now, it's all rather derelict but the barrages themselves are still as impressive as they must have been when they were built in the early 20th century. Worth the journey! However, the best part about this excursion on the water is the return trip to Cairo in the soft afternoon light. As the boat glides on the glistening water under soaring bridges and the buildings turn into elegant silhouettes, Cairo is at its most calm and of an almost austere beauty.