In early 2015, I was given the opportunity to visit Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah pilgrimage. It almost didn’t happen though. Firstly, thanks to a corrupt and deceitful travel agent my passport sat in a drawer for two weeks instead of being sent to the embassy. Then, secondly, I was stymied by the sheer incompetence of the staff at the Saudi embassy – who mis-typed my nationality into their system as “Paraguayan” (WTF??), then refused to admit they’d made a mistake, and instead questioned whether my British passport was genuine!! Anyway, thanks to the kindly intervention of another travel agent, I got my Saudi visa literally five hours before my flight to Madinah was due to leave.
It’s getting hotter and less comfortable over the next few days! Welcome to Madinah!!
I’m lazy. Very, very lazy. So it was inevitable I’d find myself a hotel as close as possible to the main attraction – The Prophet’s Mosque – without breaking the budget. The Intercontinental seemed ideal as it was 3 minutes walk away from Al Masjid an Nabawi, and there was a good chance they’d upgrade me too. Of course, they did. 🙂
HUGE two bedroom suite at the Intercontinental Hotel, very close to Masjid Nabawi.
Relaxing at home after our first Fajr salah at Masjid Nabawi. We are all very very tired. Time to sleep until Zuhr. 🙂
The tried to make me go to Dar al Rehab. I said “no, no, no”.
Masjid Imam Bukhari
The Masjid Imam Bukhari is just minutes walk from Masjid An Nabawi, and was built at the site Imam Bukhari is thought to have stayed when he visited Madinah.
Jabal Uhud
Jabal Ruma in Uhud
Masjid Qiblatain
Mihrab of Masjid Qiblatain
Masjid Quba
Jabal Uhud
The perilous journey up Jabal Uhud
Jabal Uhud
Climbing towards Ghaar-e-Uhud
Battle of Uhud gravesite, with 70 martyrs buried here.
View of Madinah from Ghaar-e-Uhud
Grave site of many Sahabah, inside the Al Baqia cemetery.
Al Baqia cemetery.
View of Al Masjid an Nabawi from Al Baqia cemetery
Al Baqia cemetery
View of Al Masjid an Nabawi from Al Baqia cemetery
Masjid Ejabah
Masjid Ejabah
Just wandering around Madinah, I saw the weirdest sight… a multi-storey building that seems to have toppled onto its side.
Just wandering around Madinah, I saw the weirdest sight… a multi-storey building that seems to have toppled onto its side.
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