The Sphinx, with the second-biggest pyramid, Khafre, looming in the distance.

From left to right: the smallest Giza pyramid, the Sphinx, and the second-biggest.

The Sphinx, with the second-biggest pyramid, Khafre, in the background.

The biggest of the three pyramids, Khufu.

The Sphinx.

Me in front of the Sphinx!

Joanna, looking at the amazing site before her.

The Sphinx, profile view.

The sphinx, with the desert trailing off into the distance.

Khufu.

Khufre.

A camel, chillin' in front of Khufu.

Look--each brick is about 3/4 the size of me...

...and look how many there are in a single pyramid!

The hole where they found a burried boat.

From below, looking up.

Putting slip-covers over our shoes so we can go into the room where they have on display the 5,000-year-old boat of King Cheops, which was found burried near the Pyramids c. 1954.

5,000-year-old rope! This is the original rope that held together King Cheops boat! The ropes were woven between holes on the wooden board that made up the boat.

The hole they found the boat burried in. There are 42 of these pillars set across the top. When they removed the first one, the rest fell, breaking the boat into thousands of pieces. Thus, they had to rebuild the whole thing.

Our tour guide, who claimed that he helped with the restoration, in front of a model of the boat.

The boat, from below.

The king's chamber.

The back.

Front-view.

The big one. How long do you think it takes to get to the top?

Me on a camel! (with the guide)

The back of the big pyramid, where you can enter to climb through it. (We didn't get a chance to do that this trip.)

The second-biggest pyramid, Khafre, with a guard in the foreground.

Notice the nice cap on this one. Apparently they used to be covered in limestone casing that made them shine in the sun. But that was stripped off over time to build palaces and mosques :-(

The big pyramid, viewed from in front of the second-biggest.

So big!

A little pyramid (not one of THE pyramids, with Cairo off in the distance, amidst the smog).

Cairo in the distance (look into the smog and you can see outlines of some of the skyscrapers).

One of the men who sells camel rides.

Up close and personal with the big pyramid.

Waiting for the bus to go home at the Mina House hotel, right next to the pyramids. From left to right, Vera (h.s. science teacher from Boston), Joanna (my roommate, 4th grade from Toronto), me, and Linda (cookie K-3 art teacher from Canada--an impulsive shopper who literally bought a blanket off the back of a camel while we were at the pyramids. she rocks.).

Our first glimpse. The second-biggest of the three main Giza pyramids, Khafre, with the Sphinx in front.