#4

It’s been a while, I must say. I’m actualy 7364.65 miles away from the place I usually blog. Currently in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Probably in the Africa continent. I’ve never been good in Geography. Anyway, how are you readers? I have so much in my mind to express but it’s appropriate to share my experience here in Saudi Arabia.

First day, our flight landed at 8.45 pm at Jeddah. That’s around 3.45 am in Malaysia. When we arrived, we were greeted averagely by the Arabs. They were pretty scary at first. Only because some of the people couldn’t follow such simple instructions which obviously would tick the security guards off. So we had to go in a queue for about 2 hours because of BAD systems. We waited that long just for our luggage bags. And they weren’t even careful with them. They would throw them to the floor like dirty laundry. Anyway, after a whole 2 hours, we got our luggage safely and we walked to the bus. It was probably 7 blocks away. Once we got in the bus, it took us 4 hours to reach Medina. We obviously slept in the bus because we weren’t used to the time zone yet. Oh, and when we stopped somewhere for a quick pit-stop, IT WAS FREEZING. We were totally unprepared and it was beyond our expectations. It was so cold I can feel my bones begging for mercy. We had to pray in such weather and with total shock after sleeping so soundly in the bus. After that was done, we got up in the bus and went through about an hour to reach the hotel. Once we got there, it was probably the best feeling ever. We stayed at a hotel called Elaf Tayiba and it was great. It’s a decent 4-star hotel with WIFI at the lobby. The room was comfortable and it was so much more than we expected. Without doing anything further, we put on our pajamas and went to bed. Now that was probably the best sleep I’ve ever had in 16 years. We woke up during Subuh prayers at 5 am and took our wudhu’ in cold water, shock of my life. After praying, we basically sat the lobby, steal WIFI, eat, pray, shop, visit places and yaaaaaa that’s all we did. Medina was a very decent city. Not that busy, not that hot, not that cold, everyone was so friendly and it’s definitely somewhere I wanna live! After 3 days of doing nothing much, we had to say goodbye to the city of peace.

We hopped on the bus and went through 4 hours to get to Mecca. En route, we had to stop at a certain mosque for Miqat. Meaning, we read some sentences that will put us in an “Ihram” state. At that point, we are forbided from clipping our nails, cutting our hair, say bad things, expose our body and a lot more regulations. If one breaks the rule, they have to pay “dam” which is in a form of money. Usually it’s paying the amount of money worth a goat, or a camel. Luckily, we manage to control ourselves and non of us had to pay for “dam”. Anyway, once we reached our hotel in Mecca called Al-Saraya Eman, we had dinner and then perform our first Umrah. If you don’t know what Umrah is, it is a form of activity Muslims do. Umrah is actually a mini Haji. And a Haji is actually compulsory for people who has the money to do it.

Anyway, we performed our Umrah which consists of walking around the Kaabah 7 times, called Tawaf. Walk from Bukit Safa till Bukit Marwah 7 times, called Sa’i. And then do Tahlul, which is cutting at least 3 strands of your hair. After doing Tahlul, you are automatically lifted off from Ihram meaning we can do all the things we couldn’t while being under it.

Once we finished our first Umrah, we went back to the hotel and went to sleep because it was 5 am and we were truly exhausted. Oh, an information I left out, the hotel was rated below average. 2-star, in my opinion. It was small, dirty, poorly-serviced and has no wifi connectivity AT ALL. But I was grateful, without a doubt. Being at such a Holy city meant the world to me and I had absolutely no reason to complain. In Mecca, we visited many historic places such as Bukit Arafah and Hudaibiyyah. It is busier here. The mosque is further which means we have to get ready sooner. Cars are everywhere and people here are less friendly compared to Medina. Okay anyway, we performed our second Umrah on the fourth day. It was amazing. We did the Tawaf on the higher floor. Better view of the Kaabah and less people but it was under the sun. If you guys don’t know this, I’ve always been afraid of the sun. I get sunburns so easily. Although I participate in so much sport, my face is my top priority. So, after we did Tawaf, we did Sa’i and then Tahlul. Then we went back to the hotel and rested all day. Mecca is less interesting because it’s much too busy here. Everyone is busy doing ibadah and selling stuff around the mosque and policemen were everywhere. Basically, it wasn’t my kind of beef. Currently, it’s 3.47 pm here in Mecca. My flight to Malaysia is tomorrow evening at 10 pm and it’s a 10 hour-flight back. I can’t wait to go back.Well, it’s goodbye for now. Nothing much to say about Mecca nor Medina anymore. Till the next entry, bye!

Sincerely,

The Abstruse Writer