Cairo

  • DSC00995 View from our room at the Marriott Cairo Hotel. Thursday night traffic crossing the 26 July Bridge over the NIle.
  • DSC00996 View from our room overlooking the Nile.
  • DSC00997 View from our room overlooking the Nile.
  • DSC00998 View from our room overlooking the Nile. (Panoroma)
  • DSC01002 Mona and Cairo skyline.
  • DSC01008 Both of us and the skyline.
  • DSC01009 Looking into the inner courtyard Ibn Tulun Mosque. Likely the oldest mosque in Cairo and the largest in area.
  • DSC01011 Inner courtyard of the Ibn Tulun Mosque
  • DSC01012 Looking out a window into the courtyard.
  • DSC01013 Climbing a minaret, looking back over the original minaret for Ibn Tulun Mosque. Note the unusual external stairway on the minaret. The original mosque structures date to 879 CE.
  • DSC01014 Overlooking Ibn Tulun Mosque from the minaret located on the northern-most corner.
  • DSC01015 Cairo neighborhood near as seen from the Ibn Tulun minaret.
  • DSC01016 Cairo neighborhood near as seen from the Ibn Tulun minaret. Notice the many satelite dishes.
  • DSC01017 View from the minaret (looking southwest).
  • DSC01023 View from the minaret (looking west). Must cover all directions!
  • DSC01025 View from the minaret looking east. (Panorama)
  • DSC01026 View from the minaret looking east.
  • DSC01027 View from the minaret looking south.
  • DSC01028 Cairo neighborhood near as seen from the Ibn Tulun minaret.
  • DSC01029 Cairo neighborhood near as seen from the Ibn Tulun minaret.
  • DSC01031 Tomb of Amina wife of Muhammed Ali Pasha, located in the City of the Dead.
  • DSC01032 Amina's tomb - Notice the two braids of hair, meaning that she is married (braided) and had two children (number of braids).
  • DSC01034 Chris and Mona posing by the tomb.
  • DSC01035 Amina's tomb - The body would have been buried underground, below the surface tomb.
  • DSC01037 Tombs for the family of Muhammed Ali Pasha. Each pillar corresponds to someone burried here. The height of the pillar indicates the relative age at death.
  • DSC01038 Ornate female tomb.
  • DSC01039 Final resting place for nine descendants of Muhammed Ali Pasha. Men are identified by turbans or fezzes, women by coronets.
  • DSC01040 Another tomb.
  • DSC01041 ...and another tomb.
  • DSC01042 A view of the tombs in meager lighting.
  • DSC01044 An ornate tomb.
  • DSC01045 Looking over the tombs.
  • DSC01046 Light filtered through stained glass falls on a tomb.
  • DSC01047 More tombs - he had lots of descendants.
  • DSC01048 An extremely intricate tomb. Our guide claimed that the artist was brought from Iran to carve the tomb.
  • DSC01049 ...after several years, the tomb was completed and the man was so happy with the completed work, he had the artist killed.
  • DSC01050 ..reward for a job well done!
  • DSC01051 Tomb detail.
  • DSC01052 One of the remaining stained glass windows.
  • DSC01053 Another shot of the light falling on the tomb from the stained glass window.
  • DSC01054 Looking back at the tomb complex from the courtyard. Though barren now, the courtyard was once a lush garden.
  • DSC01056 Looking down the domes over the walkway.
  • DSC01059 Different persective of the domes.
  • DSC01061 Looking over the area around the tomb complex. (Panorama)
  • DSC01062 Looking over the "City of the Dead". This area is the Southern Cemetary of Cairo, all the buildings visible are tombs.
  • DSC01063 This is no ordinary cemetary, populated only by the dead, it is also home to ~500,000 people living in the tombs.
  • DSC01064 Posing by the domes on the tomb.
  • DSC01066 Mona puts her finger on it.
  • DSC01067 Looking west across to the Citadel, containing the Mosque of Muhammed Ali Pasha as well as his tomb.
  • DSC01070 Looking down from the roof upon the ornately carved tomb.
  • DSC01071 One of the courtyards. The damaged tomb was most likely a servant of the family.
  • DSC01072 Mona (and our guide) heading down the staircase.