Egypt #1 - Cairo, Giza, Dahshur, Memphis, Sakkara
Photos taken November 15, 2009 - November 18, 2009

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Not Egypt yet. This is just outside of Vienna, Austria, from our plane.
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Our hotel at the Le Meridians Pyramid in Cairo. Very, very nice. Actually, the hotel was located in Giza, just outside of Cairo, but very close to the most famous pyramids.
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Kevin, Mom and Dad Klocke landing at the airport
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Our hotel's pool area, with the Giza Pyramids in the background!
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Dad Klocke posing with a Mountain Dew, showing off the Arabic logo. Pyramid in the background.
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The Mena House hotel. Formerly a palace, is now one of the most famous and expensive hotels. We didn't stay here, just visited to check it out.
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Standing outside the entrance of the Great Pyramid. We just took a walk today, we'll be back to visit later.
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Kevin snapping a photo while laying in bed - that's the view from our rooms!
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The entrance to our hotel - you can see a guard dog that was brought around each vehicle to sniff for drugs.
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The pyramids, as seen from our hotel's balcony
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It doesn't look appetizing, but it tasted pretty good! We sampled a local walk-up restaurant. This is an egg and cheese omelet, wrapped in Lebanese bread. I think it cost about 80 cents.
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The Giza Pyramids Sound and Light show.
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Enjoying dinner at our hotel - Kevin and Dad Klocke sampling the Sakara Gold Egyptian beer.
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Yummm that fresh, warm Lebanese bread was good!
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We're a bit bundled up because this was an open air restaurant, and it cools down a bit at night.
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A local's market in Cairo, as seen from our tour bus.
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Kelly's favorite photo! (not really, she probably goes "yuck!" every time she sees it)
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this is the Coptic Christian Hanging Church. Coptic is just another name for Egyptian. We found it interesting how the architecture closely resembled Muslim architecture.
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Legend says that Jesus, Mary and Joseph took refuge in this church during a pilgrimage
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A hand-made quilt.
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The Citadel of Salah El-Din, containing the Muhammad Ali Mosque
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Muhammad Ali Mosque -- wow.
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just outside the mosque.
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Hundreds of hanging lamps inside the mosque. Could you imagine if these were all wax-and-candlelit? Would be mesmerizing.
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Posing for a photo shoeless. No shoes allowed inside mosques.
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A view of part of Cairo, from the plaza of the Mosque. Cairo is one of the biggest cities in the world, with more than 17 million people.
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If you look closely, you can see the pyramids in the faded background.
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Shopping at the Khan El Khalili Bazaar. The merchants here were very, very aggressive, trying to sell their wares.
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We took a riverboat dinner cruise on the Nile in Cairo.
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Belly dancer!
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Crazy spinner guy. He was outstanding.
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Captaining the dinner cruise ship!
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On the Nile at nightfall!
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Passing some water buffalo on the road on our bus, heading out to visit some pyramids
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A forest of palm trees!
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At the Red Pyramid in Dah Shur, one of the first pyramids built, dating back to 3000 BC.
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Inside the Red Pyramid, descending down the burial shaft towards the burial chamber.
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Inside the burial chamber. Just an empty room, save for the largest box containing the sarcophagus (constructed before the room was completed, it's bigger than the doorway, so it remains)
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Heading back out of the pyramid -- tight quarters in this shaft!
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Here's our view without the flash. PITCH BLACK (especially when heading down the shaft away from the light). Couldn't see the hand in front of your face. We lit the way with my mobile phone...
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Made it out alive!
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As you might guess by now, there was only one other couple at this pyramid. Other than that, we had the whole place to ourselves. We loved it!
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The Bent Pyramid
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The Bent Pyramid -- so-called, because the angle changes about a third of the way up. They were constructing it too steep, and had to adjust. Again, one of the first pyramids.
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Driving by a cage of chickens.
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A three-wheeled car!
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An Egyptian tourist police, at a checkpoint.
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Children waving at our bus. This happened lots, and always made us smile.
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At the Memphis museum, looking at a 35-foot statue of Ramesses II.
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The Step Pyramid at Sakkara. The first pyramid ever built!
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The temple granting access to the Step Pyramid. So amazing to me, this looks contemporary, not 5000 years old.
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Sam, our tour guide in Cairo, posing for a photo with us.
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We visited an Egyptian Carpet School (this was one of the tourist-trap stops to peddle wares).
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We weren't sure what to think of this experience. Supposedly, Government reform has significantly improved a once-abused system of child labor, but I'm not sure if that's just propaganda for us.
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On our last day in Cairo, Egypt played Algeria in a playoff match, sending the winner to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Cairo was abuzz in excitement. Flags were for sale on many street corners. Alas, Egypt lost 1-0.
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The front of our hotel.
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The Great Pyramid of Cheops
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Posing for a photo before we enter the pyramid. Each of those blocks weighs more than a ton (2000 pounds).
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Inside the burial shaft.
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Our tour bus -- at first, this seemed like overkill for just a family of five (it could seat 20 easily), but we ended up appreciating it because it had nice big windows and situated us high off the road for good viewing angles.
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The Pyramid of Menkaure
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The Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure pyramids
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You couldn't possible visit the pyramids without doing this, could you? Well, Kelly couldn't resist.
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Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil!
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A group of tourist on a camel ride in Giza
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This was a giant boat that was buried in the sand next to one of the Giza pyramids.
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The Sphynx!
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