Mecca - Medina (Saudi Arabia) December 2008 & August 2009

Me, again.
The pilgrimage itself takes a few days, during which men wear only two pieces of white, unsewed, simple cloth.
It immitates the material with which the Muslims burry their deceased, so during the pilgrimage, Muslims must think at death, and what should he have done to be a better man, and what can he change when he returns home.

All people during the pilgrimage are equal, because nobody wears sewn clothes, and everybody is carrying the minimum stuff he needs: water, some food, some money. The family is left behind, the wealth is left behind, and everybody there tries to be a better man, to seek mercy from Allah. I was given gifts there from persons I didn't met earlier. I ate with them, talked with them, laughed and cried with them.

I ran into an Uzbek carpet-seller in Medina. Beneath our hotel he was running his shop, he noticed my Asian traits and addressed me in Uzbek, which I did recognize because of my mother tongue, Tatar. He thought I was also Uzbek

We drank a cup of tee, and he kept on telling me how did he came to Saudi Arabia from Afganistan during the '80 petrol boom, how did he manage to run a business in Saudia Arabia, because non-Saudis in that country are forbidded to possess real estate, how did he went back and bring his wife, and how did he manage to send his sons to the university.






I was freezing in the cold mall.

When the pilgrimage ends, men can wear normal clothes. But who's that Robin Hood, who'd try to wear blue jeans in the desert ? :lol:
It's really comfortable, except for those occasions when you sit near a group of Arabs, and while trying to stand up, you accidentally step on the jelabiye [dress], and while you flip your arms to maintain your balance, everybody is bursting into laughter

Exterior of the mosque

More white cars, sorry for the quality

Like this one, sorry for the construction site in progress in the front.
The green dome you can see near the little minaret [tower] included in the mosque building was set above the Prophet's tomb.
The minaret , one of them at least, dates back to the Ottoman rule over the Holy Cities, Mekka and Medina.



You can see the dome better here.
The square building in front there, in the courtyard, is one of the bathrooms available in the mosque.
Muslim religion requires that all men and women must wash their hands, faces, and feet before praying.

The country where bottled water is 4-20 times more expensive than the same amount of gasoline.
They're pooring water to humidify the atmosphere around. Birds come and drink from there.

There are no wandering street dogs, I always felt secure there, knowing that robers are put into prison as soon as possible, murderers also killed and thieves have their hands cut.

However, I noticed street cats But I think they might have an owner, though...
Strangely, they were surprisingly friendly. I rarely managed to touch a cat that didn't know me in Romania, but there it seemed that the cats are used to being cuddled.



The 3-4 shops in the left are closed, while the shop in the right is prepairing to close.
The light turned off means that there is nobody available to help you, so the shop is closed.
Aw, and also the simbolic cloth drawn upon the shop :lol:




And this is also a closed shop:



The Police. I couldn't believe my eyes how big and powerful those police cars are, and how skinny and short the policemen are...

Very intersting trip report Cadir! I've never seen street view pictures from Medina. Keep the coming! :cheers:


BTW: what are those buildings behind the mosque?

Cadîr said:

The pilgrims are advised to keep in mind their entrance gate number, in order not to get lost. We always used gate nr. 36 D, because it wasn't that crowded and also close to our hotel.

Click to expand...

Cadîr said:

When the pilgrimage ends, men can wear normal clothes. But who's that Robin Hood, who'd try to wear blue jeans in the desert ? :lol:
It's really comfortable, except for those occasions when you sit near a group of Arabs, and while trying to stand up, you accidentally step on the jelabiye [dress], and while you flip your arms to maintain your balance, everybody is bursting into laughter

Click to expand...

This picture looks like taken from a movie with Jesus. :lol:
Cosmin will ban me now. :lol: :jk:

BTW: you look quite different from the "average muslim". Were you stopped in the street and asked questions like where are you from etc?

Le Clerk said:

Very intersting trip report Cadir! I've never seen street view pictures from Medina. Keep the coming! :cheers:
BTW: what are those buildings behind the mosque?

Click to expand...

Thank you
Those are hotels, I posted about 3 of them before, I think they are on the other page. I like the square, beige one. You can see them here:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=67746197&postcount=11

One of the hotels is owned by the family of bin Laden

Hmm no, we were not stopped on the street especially to be asked for our country But during trips, during lunch outside, during shopping, yes we were.

The Arabs are impressed by the plastic money we use in Romania And I met a dentist who studied Medicine in Romania 15 years ago, he was living in Chad and he was still speaking Romanian

And Arabs appreciate Romanians for their oil engineers, I think it's a communist trait,for the doctors and for the girls

Streetview:

Thank you AlexQ

More hotels:

Awesome report!

About freezing inside air-conditioned places while the sun is scorching the earth outside: I had the same kind of problems in China. I don't get it; why, WHY do these people like stepping from +35C outside to +20C inside malls, buses, etc?

You'd think these guys are accustomed to the heat; it may not be the case in Saudi Arabia, but during my trip I found the temperatures outside far more bearable than those inside places with AC (except where I could switch'em off ).