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

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...

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?

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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:

On the road to Mecca:







Muslim women from Romania:


On the road:


Mountains around Medina, with dates orchard in the valley





Some men:

Robi_damian said:

^^ Foarte tare reportajul. E cred primul din Orientul Mijlociu de aici. Ai apucat sa vezi mai multe din Arabia Saudita? Cum ti se pare ca tara? Mereu am avut o opinie, sa zic, nu tocmai pozitiva...

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Am petrecut mai mult de 5 saptamani insumat acolo, dar nu am fost decat in marile orase Mekka, Medina si Jeddah.

Nu stiu ce sa zic ca e ca si tara Ca un cuptor urias in iulie, ca vara la noi in decembrie Initial cand sa coboram din avion, ne-au preluat niste utilaje, pe care paseai iesind din avion, si apoi coborai pe scari. Niste camionete modificate, asa incat sa coboare pasagerii. Am zis ca e caldura de la motoare, cea care m-a bufnit in fata.

Dar aceeasi caldura am simtit-o si la iesire din aeroport, dupa ce statusem la formalitatile vamale.

De 5 ori pe zi se face chemarea la rugaciune, care se poate auzi si in Constanta (e drept, de 3 ori vara si de 4 ori iarna) si in acest timp toata lumea inchide magazinele si se duce sa se roage. Exista fantani publice unde ne spalam pe maini, pe fata, pe picioare si mergem sa ne rugam.

E interesant ca orarul zilnic e setat in functie de aceste rugaciuni, iar in timpul rugaciunilor, toata lumea se opreste.

Au foarte multe lucruri importate din SUA si Japonia, si impresia generala pe care ti-o formezi initial, privind pe geamul masinii foarte spatioase si care consuma 18%, dar la care alimentarea e totusi mai ieftina ca apa, [am dat mai mult de 7-8 dolari sa bagam motorina], este ca te afli undeva in sudul desertic al SUA. Chiar te-ai crede acolo daca nu ar fi mai colorati si imbracati specific.

La unele benzinarii am auzit ca se ia plata la plinul masinii, o suma fixa, dar nu stiu daca e adevarat.

Mi-a mai placut ca au mulat perfect tehnologia peste traditiile vechi de mii de ani. Moscheile mari de exemplu au aer conditionat care vine de undeva din subteran, sau il sufla de pe acoperis prin niste fante aflate langa coloanele de sustinere. Nici acum nu mi-am dat seama cum au facut, insa racoarea se simtea de la 50 de metri inainte de a intra in moschee. E ca atunci cand treci pe langa rafturile frigorifice din supermarket si simti racoarea, numai ca aici e alta diferenta de temperatura

Am ajuns si in cartiere mai sarace, unde toata lumea avea aer conditionat [explicabil, din cauza climei] si antena parabolica.
Nici macar acolo nu am gasit caini, si nici prin curti nu am auzit. In schimb am vazut pisici vagaboande, care nu sunt speriate de straini cum sunt cele de la noi M-au lasat sa le mangai. Regret ca nu am facut poze.

Ce am vazut iar si a fost ceva inedit, o groapa cu petrol. Acolo, inainte de a ridica o constructie, se face o expertiza pentru a observa la ce adancime se afla...nu panza freatica, ci petrolul Ca de iesit, sigur va iesi, asa cum la noi, la orice adancime sapi, vei da de panza freatica.

Si langa groapa, niste movile din saci de ciment, si alaturi, sute de bucati de otel-beton. Fara imprejmuire,fara paznic, fara nimic

Iar usile de acolo au fie zavor, fie lacat. Nu sunt multe cele care au cheie, si pe acelea am vazut ca nu le incuie nici macar noaptea.Iar cand se indeparteaza de masina, lasa cheia in contact. Urma sa aflu de ce:

In anumite zile, se anunta la TV si la radio ca va urma aplicarea legii intr-un anume oras, dintr-o anume regiune, pentru o anume infractiune. De exemplu taierea mainilor hotilor.

Toata lumea are masina, insa e ilegal pentru femei sa conduca. De aceea, ele se duc in desert si fac off-road pe nisip Cea mai veche rabla din anii 80 are aer conditionat. Te astepti ca rablele abia sa se poata misca,nu sa mai si dea aer conditionat, dar torc foarte lin, sunt foarte spatioase si cu suspensii foarte bune. Sau or fi drumurile bune...?

Supermarketurile, hotelurile si mall-urile poarta numele clanurilor locale care le detin. Nu toate, dar sunt destule si e reprezentativ. De exemplu exista hotelul Bin Laden, care e familia renumitului terorist.

La achitare, femeile au casa separata, ca sa nu astepte la coada si sa se amestece cu barbatii. Chiar si la KFC exista acest sistem.In mijloacele de transport in comun, femeile au prioritate sa stea jos.

La restaurant, exista 2 zone: family si men. Cele family nu sunt altceva decat separeuri.

Desi nu au verdeata ca si cadru natural, si-au creat un fel de topoclimat in jurul parcurilor sustinute artificial. Fiecare petic are un program de udare, si un ****, bengali sau indian care se ocupa de acel spatiu verde.

Politistii de acolo sunt foarte slabi, as zice chiar rahitici. I-am intrebat ce fac ei in timpul unei zile de lucru, si mi-au zis ca patruleaza pe un anumit sector, iau masa, fac rugaciunea, patruleaza mai departe si se duc acasa.

Evenimente la care participa relativ des sunt urmariri cu masina ale pustilor care iau masina parintilor, sau supravegheaza chiulul de la scoli si licee, sau observa daca cineva se imbraca indecent, si intenteaza proces de puscarie, ceea ce se intampla rar.

Va mai zic si altele, alta data

Cosmin said:

So basically it's a beacon of modernity, secularism and freedom. What a surprise!:nuts:

The pictures themselves are great though! :cheers: I don't think I'd last too long in that heat, but at least it's a dry heat, unlike HK and Taiwan, so basically you roast instead of boil.

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In Jeddah the air is more humid, being a main harbour on the Red Sea coast.
During the winter the temperatures are quite bearable,even pleasant,it is like our May or June for instance.

dan sam said:

- Al Khobar, Dammam, Al Quatif, Al Hufuf, Bahrein with Manama, etc.


To be continued,

dan

PS: keep up posting your pictures !

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Oww, nice to read this
I'd like to see images from Eastern Arabia, as well as personal opinion regarding this country, especially a person who has not many in common with the population there Because I tend to bring a subjective note to my arguments many times, and I'm sorry about it. However, I am sincere and I confess it

Ok, pictures coming soon

Derbedeu said:

How do they check? I mean it's not like every muslim speaks arabic and such. I also doubt that every muslim even has a firm grasp of the koran. Or what if you're a recent convert for example?

BTW: Nice pics Cadir.

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You declare your religion when applying for a visa.
The most of the vizas are of religious type, and grant you access to the Holy Cities. The others are for business/diplomatic purposes, and don't allow your entrance to Mekka and other places nearby.

However, there is no checkpoint or something like that.

Thank you for your appreciation. The Mekka series coming soon.

I was simply saying that nobody looked after my documents, while entering the Mikat [boundery]. And it happened twice.

Those gates and signs on the road are for religious purpose, so that a pilgrim should know the moment he enters the sacred area. For instance, while in pilgrimage, one shouldn't enter the area without having taken a bath and dressed according to the pilgrimage regulations: 2 pieces of white cloth for men, and normal Muslim outfit for women.

It is compulsory for the religious ritual.

The above gate is imitating the 'rahle', which is a piece of furniture we use for reading books while sitting on the floor/carpet/pillow.

From the internet:

@kayanathera:
The mosque in Mekka doesn't look like any other because it has the Kaaba inside of it, and also the Safa and Merwa sites, which pilgrims use to run between them, in the ritual. So it had to have a special shape... And yes, not many agree with its architectural style.

Hmmm...I was actually asked whether I were Chinese, while sitting an exam in Bucharest

Here, maybe while having my hair short cut will underline my Asian traits



@Le Clerk: You're welcome I had the same feeling most of the time, I was either in Iraq, or in USA

The actual name of the holy mosque in Mekka is 'Mesjid el Haram', which means 'the forbidden mosque', because only Muslims have access to it, the hunting, cutting down trees or vegetation is forbidden, and also fighting is strictly forbidden. Not because in other places would be allowed, but if done here, one must pay the poors an amount of agricultural products.

The Kaaba is the builduing towards which Muslims turn their faces during the prayer. We, the Muslims in Romania, turn our faces towards S-E, but those in Indonezia turn their faces to sunset, and those in Sudan turn their faces towards East.

It is a symbolic building, built by Abraham [Ibrahim] and rehabilitated during The Prophet's time, but before his being a prophet. The Prophet helped solve the dispute between local clans, regarding who should put the stone in it's place, by putting it on a carpet and carrying it.

The stone [hajer el eswed= the black stone] is a rock that Allah sent to mark the place where Muslims should gather, meet othe Muslims and pray. So, everything during the pilgrimage is symbolic.

Kaaba during the pilgrimage, photos taken from Ebraj el Beyt tower, shown by vinterriket earlier, more precisely from the Burj Zam-Zam tower, floor no. 38.
We had to climb 11 floors through a mall, then shift the elevator and climb 27 stories further.

The black cloth you see on the Kaaba is replaced every year. Earlier before you've seen parts of it being sewn with golden wire.









I also made fun of the Saudi policemen or military, they were so skinny:













The King's speech broadcast on the National TV



Arafa Mountain. See the umbrellas ? It was mid December



Going to Mina, where we stoned the devil



It is a religious ritual, involving throwing stones towards 3 symbolic pillars



These are the pillars: