Now Hajj was upon us, first stop:
MINA!
We’d assumed ihram from the hotel and told to take with us sleeping
bags, minimal clothing and lots of energy! First stop the Mina tents!
We all boarded our buses and it took us down to Mina, now we were
warned,
as was tradition with every pit-stop,
sometimes people take your tent, maybe the air-con isn’t working –
hey anything goes!
Only question was what’s to happen this year? lol
We got to our tent and because we were Aussies our tents were the
furthest thing away from anything and everything, where the big sign said
MINA
STARTS HERE v
that’s where the Aussie tent was lol.
You’ll know why this is funny later!
We walked in- the thought of people already taking residence and
the air-con not working was at the back of my mind but alas...
It was totally and absolutely empty!
Clean pristine and ready for the taking!
Red carpet on the sand floor and mini Arabianish couches lined the
edges of the tent, it was very big very spacious- I loved it! Generally
speaking comfort isn’t the name of the game, the couches were kinda like mini
sofas, they unfold to become beds, only enough for one person to fit on
straight, face to the ceiling, no space between the beds and if you’re a bigger
build it’s not that comfortable, but alhamdulilah I’m a petite build so I was
super comfy lol. I really loved the Mina tents, they were so Arabianesque and
so me! Sahara desert beneath the red carpet, floor couches /beds, light
blankets, little pillows, even linen! The latter three being made in China, but
hey! You’re just not living in the 21st century unless something you
were sleeping on in the desert was made in China lol.
Seriously though- it was sooo humbling.
Appreciate.
As we settled we gathered around umm AR and we had a little prep
talk, it’s so easy to get so caught up in the travel settling and unsettling,
but she told us to
Stop.
For a moment.
Appreciate.
-here at the Mina tents
Remember Rasulullah sallalahualayhiwasalam
and how he would do da’wa here to Quraysh and the visiting pilgrims
in the early days of Makkah,
he would travel
from tent to tent
tent to tent
and invite them to Islam, they didn’t have air-con back then, the
heat of the desert was scorching but he’d still go around with Abu Bakr and
invite them to the Oneness of Allah, subhana wa ta’ala, he’d face rejection but
regardless he’d persist.
But...
Allah’s promise is true,
after every hardship comes ease.
It was here that he gave da’wa to the pilgrims of Madinah and they
pledged allegiance to him, subhanAllah here in Mina was the turning point for
Islam and Muslims, without that pledge there would have been no refuge for the
Muslims from the incessant persecution of Quraysh. It was here and this sand
beneath this red carpet that we were sitting on was witness to the Medinite
community giving the pledge and sealing it with our Beloved. SubhanAllah.
Here they asked him if he would ever desert them?
And he said to them “I am of you and you are of me” *tear*
We unpacked and each person unrolled their beds and we all sat
around chit chatting nervously about the days to come. Everyone was so self
conscious about breaking ihram, just the thought of no scented
soaps/creams/deodorant/brushing hair etc for a few days was hard to grasp but
umm AR really put it in perspective, I remember her so emphatically saying, you
spend 12 months per year day in day out caring about what you look like and
what you smell like; all you do year in year out is pamper yourself; all that’s required is
that you not do so for the next few days for the sake of Allah- just let it go!
Here in Mina
it’s not about you,
it’s not about how you look or
how you appear to people or anything,
it’s all about Allah
and only Allah!
For the next 10 days or so
you are nothing
and He is everything!
So here begun the stinkiest person is a winner competition! Lol :D
Of course one of the biggest worries whilst in Mina was the shared
toilets! I heard sooooooo many stories about the toilets! OhMhyGod the stories!
I mean your sharing them with hundreds of other people the lines are long you
have all the different age ranges- some who can hold it in a lil longer than
others and some that just can’t lol I was told u gotta pick the right times to
“go” n follow the
“Get in n get out ASAP rule!”
to avoid all forms of
impatient door banging! lol
I must admit the toilets were pretty bearable, like very bearable
and the lines weren’t that bad! Alhamdulilah!
Another thing is FOOD! The Saudis are feeding millions of pilgrims!
You may get your food on time, late or Allahu a’lam maybe never? Depends. But
so far for our duration in Mina no one took over our tents, bathrooms were
relatively speaking rather empty and clean, and our food came
On time!
Super hot!
Super good!
In super amounts!
We always had food left over and we would leave our tents to give
it to the less fortunate pilgrims who had no tents and were sleeping outside on
the streets. We’d approach them as they slept and left it for them.
SubhanAllah.
Lutf of Allah? Check!
This was the 8th of Dhul Hijjah and tomorrow was the big
day- not a wedding day kinda big day but a bigger day than a wedding big day!
:D
it would be the 9th and the day of Arafaat!
- the day that Rasulullah sallalahualayhiwasalam said was Hajj.
The day of Arafaat is Hajj.
ARAFAAT!
We were to pack even less now for the next day the plan was to go
to Arafaat after sunrise and pray Dhuhur and Asr there then leave for Muzdalifa
for Maghrib and Isha. We needed to take our sleeping bags with us for
Muzdalifa, personal belongings and basically no clothing other than what was on
our backs- short stay out of Mina but this was the most crucial!
Remember that 9A4 page booklet of duas I made? Yeah that.. I forgot
it at home! *sigh* so basically on my journey I rewrote what I could and made
that new set of duas at every pit stop.
Arafaat being the pit stop
of all pit stops!
We all gathered outside our Mina tents and lined up to board the
buses packed my bag water bottle and tied my sleeping bag to the string at the
bottom of the strap of my bag.
I was set to go to Arafaat!
As we stood I had saw an old lady who was pacing up and down,
unsettled, she came up to me nervous and asked me where I’d gotten my sleeping
bag from?
I said “Bin Dawood”
She looked so worried and said
“I didn’t know we needed to bring sleeping bags with us”
I felt so bad!
I said “Please take mine!”
She said “No, no, it’s yours!”
I said “No please take it!”
I unstrapped it from my bag and gave it to her.
Haram she’s an older woman the ground in Muzdalifa wasn’t going to
be soft there was no way I could live with myself having not given it to her!
So I did. Alhamdulilah she accepted it. Sure I didn’t have a sleeping bag now,
bas khair inshaAllah!
Now we were warned the Arafaat tents were nothing like the Mina
tents, these tents were thin carpets on hard sand
no couches
no pillows
Nothing.
the poor of us the rich of us
we all had the same tents.
Arafaat was not what I expected! Firslty I didn’t even expect to be
in tents! You get there thinking your all going to be on this massive plain of
land- you’ve all seen the photos of Arafaat with all the hujaj in ihram raising
their hands to the sky on the peak of that mountain! I mean who didn’t think
they’d be at the peak of the mountain?! Sure there are millions of people on
hajj but you imagine yourself on that peak lol.
We arrived at Arafaat and entered the tents- no air-con so it was
hot especially as Dhuhur approached. I was tired I tried to sleep in the shade,
the roof wasn’t consistent and there were breaks in the shade, humid and hot-
lethargy kicked in.
We listened to a few talks, and Umm AR said rest – the most
important time is that one hour or so before the sun sets, that’s when you
leave the tent and forget about
Everything.
Anything.
and everyone.
You don’t know a single soul in that one hour but yours; it’s just
you and Allah.
I’m not here, neither are your friends or family.
Leave the tent find any empty space to stand, face Qibla and make
dua- it doesn’t matter where you stand this whole plain is Arafaat. Go all out
with ur du’as because this is the moment that alllllllll your sins are
forgiven!
known unknown,
major minor,
u name it
it’s gone.
you’re on a clean slate !
Just like the day your mother gave birth to you!
:D
The Biggest Sin on Arafaat! :O
The biggest sin that one can commit is to come down off Arafaat and
think “I wonder if Allah forgave me?” that lack of certainty is the
biggest sin one could commit. SubhanAllah.
One year she went she told us she left her tent to make dua, she
took position next to an African woman who made dua and it was SO heartfelt and
she was sobbing so much in it and was so into it that umm AR said Allah! I want
whatever she wants!! Lol
So basically people this moment,
is the moment!
We done a khatma in the tent, each girl recited a chosen juzu and
we rested drank lots of water and then prayed Dhuhur and Asr together in
jama’a.
Now..
It was time.
The time had arrived. 1hour prior to sunset.
I gathered my dua booklet left the tent did a small walk to the
back of the tent and stood in a rather random spot. It wasn’t the peak top
that’s for sure! I had the road next to me, barbed fence between me and it and
my backdrop was the back of tents lol. Honestly it didn’t matter, I looked up
to the sky, began my praises of Allah sent salutations upon His Beloved and one
by one I made dua for everyone who asked me to, mentioned the name of everyone
who asked me to, and mentioned the ummah of the Beloved, asked Allah for
forgiveness, admitted my wrongdoings and pleaded for forgiveness for all my
sins asked for all my needs and wants dunya and akhira and finally concluded
with praises on the beloved just as the sun set and there it sounded...
The call for salatul Maghrib.
That was it.
Arafaat was over.
We were forgiven!
Everyone on that plain.
Forgiven!
Just like that.
Just like that!
100% a life time of sins forgiven! SubhanAllah!
We all started to head back to the tents and everyone was so
joyous, smiling happy, laughing, hugging, kissing, and congratulating each
other! I’d touch my friend’s faces and say oh wow! Your skin feels like baby
skin!! Not because it’s soft and smooth but because one is likened to being
like the day their mother gave birth to them :P
We all gathered in the tent while everyone made a mad rush to get
to the buses to make it to Muzdalifa before
Maghrib- which always surprised my teacher because really what’s the
rush? You have until Fajr to get there lol.
So we waited for the call from the brothers to tell us when the bus
arrived, it might arrive early it might arrive late- you really have no
guarantee.
This was one of the most beautiful moments on Hajj.
We sat in our tent and waited as the night progressed, everyone was
fast leaving Arafaat and we were in no rush to leave... We waited by the light
of our phones for hours and sung qasidas and nasheeds- this is what it means to
make the most of every moment on Hajj- your waiting, waiting is difficult but
if you make it worthwhile you’ll turn a difficulty into a beautiful ease.
Allahuma lakal hamdu kama yambaghi li jalali wajhika wa ‘atheema
sultanak. : )
This was the day that the world would fast. They would fast as we
were in Arafaat making dua to Allah, and from here on our return we would start
with the Eid Takbiraat! SubhanAllah!
MUZDALIFA!
This was the funniest thing ever.
Lol, trust me no one would say it’s a funny experience, not in the
least. But there is something SO profound about spending one night with every
singly hajji- rich, middle class, poor, destitute, white, black, legal or
illegal- on rocky ground with the sky as your canopy- no tent no bed nothing-
in the middle of the desert after having had alllllllll your sins forgiven!!
I mean this is it! THIS IS YOUR TEST. You have a scroll sparkling
clean and empty, what’s the first thing you’re going to fill it with?
Muzdalifa is the very first thing that’s written and Allah is going
to test us HARD because EVERYONE misses this point, and I mean everyone! (ok nearly
everyone).
Every country has a piece of land designated for them to sleep on
for the night lol. People get there and they can burst into arguments over
turf! I find this so comical because last year the Aussies arrived on their
turf and someone had taken over- now remember this is hajj- you can’t be
arguing!!! so imagine how hard it would have been to try and kindly tell people
to KINDLY remove themselves from the land beneath them loolol.
You know that saying “does it have your name written on it?”
Yeah, it can be very easily thrown left right and centre in
Muzdalifa.
Literally all you have is a gate number and a random country sign
that’s supposed to indicate your pebble bed is somewhere in the adjacent 1km
square radius.
That’s what Muzdalifa is- pebbles- it’s actually incredibly amazing
if you think about it- millions of Hujaj pick up pebbles- up to 70 each- to
throw in Jamaraat
every
single
year,
yet Muzdalifa doesn’t have a depletion in its pebbles. It’s kind of
like zamzam- never ending supply that seems to miraculously rejuvenate
itself. SubhanAllah.
The other pickle is the toilet issue- you may get a bathroom near
your area, or you may not.
When we arrived alhamdulilah no one had taken our turf and there
was a bathroom not even 300m away from our “turf”!
Lutf of Allah? Check!
Blessings Come In Unexpected forms..
All the women huddled around each other I had Nena and Hana sleep
on either side of me. I didn’t have a sleeping bag! But Allah is the
Most-Generous! Some of the girls weren’t going to stay the whole night and one
girl told me to take her sleeping bag because she was heading off in a few
hours! SubhanAllah! I don’t even know who she was, but I knew this was a gift
from Allah because I had given that older woman my sleeping bag : )
Poor Nena had to deal with the disadvantage of having a free space
next to her- which most would think was a good thing! Everyone likes a bit of
personal space lol but unfortunately men happened to want to come and take this
little piece of turf LOL. Like umm ok! Hello! Women’s section brothers! Move
along now! We all had to keep screaming out to them “NISAA NISAA!” every 5 mins
lollolol.
We settled and above head was a 10,000 VOLT street light! Fancy
trying to sleep feeling as though it’s Dhuhur in the Sahara!
Me Nena and Hana burst out laughing at random things- but I laughed
so much I couldn’t get to sleep- add to that the 10,000 VOLT lightning bolt
above my head- ironically- sleeping at
this stage was only a dream.
I also happened to get the flu out of the blue!
And I don’t even remember there being a lead up to it!
I just felt like I had reached day 3 the absolute peak of the flu
here in Muzdalifa- I had full body aches, and super swollen tonsils that
absolutely KILLED me when I tried to swallow! I couldn’t sleep! I’d been making
dua all Makkah I’d been drinking zamzam not to get sick- but this wasn’t a
sickness- this was one HECTIC blessing! HUNORMOUS blessings!
Scholars say if you get sick it’s a sign of acceptance!
My Arafaat was accepted!
With or without the sickness it was accepted but I mean this was
the CHERRY on top!
:D
I tried to sleep I really tried, I shut my eyes and I could smell
the sweetness of deep sleep on the horizon but then suddenly I hear an enormous
bellow of
ALLAHU AKBAR!!!!
BISMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHIM!!
ALHAMDULILAHI RABBIL ALAMEEN!!!
I shot my head up like a zombie and looked at Nena and said
“You can’t be serious!”
MALIK YOMID DEEN!!!
IYYAKANA’BUDU WAIYYAKANISTA’EEN!
...
A guy had arrived with his group and decided to lead salatul
Maghrib and Isha not even half a meter away from me in the direction of the
Qibla which happened to be in the direction of my ears.
I was like wow! FORGET IT!
Sleep is out yo!
Lightning bolt above head
Screaming man
Body aches
Swollen tonsils
Can’t move
Pointless to try sleep.
MashaAllah though!
We had some Africans sleep near us and they slept like babies! I’d
say most people slept like babies actually, but Africans definitely mastered
the art of sleeping on the ground. So have I – long story there, but here in
Muzdalifa I couldn’t do it.
I got up grabbed two panadols- dunno where from, there was a guy a
meter or so away from me selling tea and 2min noodles lol- yes in Muzdalifa
there is 2 min noodles!
I got up bought some to burn my tonsils any way I could to make it
get better. The bathroom didn’t even have a line! It was so empty! Shocked yo!
Who wouldn’t take advantage of such a chance, lol. Returned back to my little
pebble turf and decided to start collecting the 70 pebbles for Jamaraat. As I
sat I had an African lady wake from sleep she was on the opposite end to my
head and we started sign language talking- just adjacent to her were some Iraqi
women also who couldn’t speak English, we spoke and I know what they were
saying was wow! You’re so young! Good girl you’ve done Hajj so young and they
proceeded to give me some biscuits. It was so sweet! I accepted then the
African lady decided to give me some of her food too lol. *so sweet!*
We started picking out rocks trying to make sure they were the size
of chickpeas, I complained to Hana about this early saying hey! I don’t cook! I
dunno what size chickpeas are! I so got laughed at for that! An Arab that
doesn’t know the size of hummos in its natural form? *shame*
The Iraqi ladies had a lot of luck picking out pebbles! They gave
me a whole heap! I was like wow! How nice! It was going to be hard picking out
70 and they done all the hard work for me! :D
*Sunnah smile* :D
I put all 70 in my little water bottle that we get given left right
and centre and I attached it to my langer. That way it was a necklace and in it
was my 70 pebbles, no loss, no sweat.
The night drew to an end and fajr came in, we prayed in sub groups
and gathered at the gate to head back to Mina. We could have walked it or
bus-ed it, but if you were gonna bus it you’re totally reliant upon the bus
arrival time and the bus traffic, so we decided to walk it back to Mina.
We started out and it was beautiful as much as it was tiring,
exhausted from the night before, but every step taken was worthwhile.
I looked around as we approached Mina and I could see how deserted
Muzdalifa had become, and there was rubbish everywhere, and there were poor
people scavenging through whatever remained on the plain... It was so sad to
see. The same scene was seen at Arafaat on the way out, it reminded me somehow
of judgement day...
It was quite a sight.
The walk was really long... But when we finally arrived back at
Mina we rested up and settled in again in the tent...
Next stop:
JAMARAAT!
So this is how it works, you can either stay for one day and do
your Rajm then head back to Makkah for tawaf OR you can stay in Mina for 4 more
days and do your Rajm then head back to Makkah for tawaf.
Day 1- The BIG pillar ONLY is stoned 7 times
(can go home or continue the stay in Mina)
Day 2- The small, medium and big pillars are stoned 7 each
Day 3- The small, medium and big pillars are stoned 7 each
Day 4- The small, medium and big pillars are stoned 7 each
So thats 7+21+21+21= 70 stones altogether.
Each stoning is removal of one major sin.
But one MUST leave BEFORE Maghrib of that last day and make it back
to Makkah for the final tawaf.
First day came and me and my bro headed out.
It was SUCH a LONG and exhausting walk! I mean were at the
beginning of Mina, remember the sign
MINA STARTS
HERE v
That’s where the Aussie tent is,
And Jamaraat is alllll the way at the other end. Lol.
Me and my bro set out the first day and went solo to the Jamaraat-
solo only because the rest of the group beat us out! lol.
People traffic is a killer.
You walk snail pace.
It’s such a slow walk!
It’s hot
Its sweaty
Its hot
Its sweaty.
From memory it took something like 2 hours or so to get there, I’d
tie my brothers hand to mine so we don’t separate and I wouldn’t have to grab
his bag the whole way.
We got to a MASSIVE tunnel.
It was the best part of the walk.
It was so cool in there, there was a massive fan that would blow
air in your face as you walk through it on the way to Jamaraat and blow air on
your back on the way back from Jamaraat.
Remember this point!
We walked through and eventually we made it to Jamaraat it looked
like a massive RIVER of people literally a river all flowing in the one
direction.
We got to the Jamaraat building and me and my brother took the
flight of stairs up to the top floor and did our rajm there.
It was sooooooooo smooth and there was hardly anyone there! I
walked straight up to the pillar
1. Bismillah Allahu Akbar! Threw one pebble
2. Bismillah
Allahu Akbar! Threw the second
3.
Bismillah Allahu Akbar! Threw the third
4.
Bismillah Allahu Akbar! Threw the fourth
5.
Bismillah Allahu Akbar! Threw the fifth
6. Bismillah
Allahu Akbar! Threw the sixth
7. Bismillah Allahu Akbar! Threw the seventh!
I pelted each stone in a sign of my rejection of Shaytan.
Me and my bro continued with the river of people out to the other
side and done a U-turn back to the Mina tents.
Again super slow walk!
Took like 2-3 hours!
Every now and again we’d see the water fountains (aussies say
bubblers lol) and we’d drink a drink like no other! It was so refreshing and
such a desperate drink!
Everything was going good...
But then just as we neared Mina...
Me and my brother got lost!
LOST!
In MINA!
Whoa!!!!!!
Every tent looked the same!
Every road was unfamiliar!
Where were we!? Did we walk too far? Too little? Where’s the tent!?
We tried to ask someone for directions, but as if he’d know where
our tent was!
I actually got scared.
Exhausted, thirsty, hot, tired, lost.
I mean we had walked for so long and didn’t know where we ended up.
We continued to walk a little more and made dua..
I saw a street that had the Aussie tent sign at the front..
I walked through it and kept searching for the familiar green
leaves that lined the entrance of our tent
And there it was!
After half an hour of pacing streets,
WE FOUND OUR TENT!
Alhamdulilah rabil alameen!!
SO GRATEFUL!
Walked straight in clonked straight out!
Exhausted yo!
That day I broke my ihram and buried my hair in Mina under the
carpet in the sand- so that on the Day of Rising I can have a piece of me rise
from Mina! :D
Most of the girls went away with Umm AR back to Makkah after the
first Jamaraat.
The tent was left to few girls
It was really beautiful bonding time..
The dream...
Here I met a really amazing convert sister that was with us.
She’s one of those blessed from the get-go-kinda people.
She came from a Hindu family and told me when she was born her
family stopped worshipping idols- out of the blue. Her father figured it was a
ridiculous practice so he stopped.
When she grew older and converted to Islam she converted without
knowing the basic prayers- she knew that we had to pray 5 times but didn’t know
what to do or what to say, so she used to seek out 10 mins 5x a day and just
talk to Allah.
I believe she said this carried on for three months in this state
till she saw a dream.
She was in a fork in a road and there was a shepherd standing
before her.
He was handsome and beautiful, he was tall, perfect hands, perfect
face, his face was illuminated, small gap between his teeth, radiant teeth and
he wore a white abaya that was a gleaming white! She looked at him and asked
him who he was, and he told her “I am Muhammad” sallalahualayhiwasalam! In her
shock and disbelief she said are you lying!? He said “no I’m not” and smiled at
her.
As he would, is there anyone more perfect than him in gentle
manners?! By Allah! No! Even in the dream state, as he is, he is still the most
beautiful and most perfect of men! Salallahualayhiwasalam! She said that and it
moved my heart!
I was so immersed in her dream, the way she described him, it was
as though I could see him before me!
I’ve read his description, and heard it as well, but there was
something so profound about her description of him here in Mina, she saw him
first hand and she was relaying it to me. Direct from her heart to mine.
SubhanAllah
He asked her what she was doing here?
She said that she was lost, she then asked him to show her Allah!
He told her he can’t show her Allah.
She insisted.
So he took her to a masjid/building and he told her to wait there,
The roof then opened and there was an intense brilliant light!
At this stage she said she either collapsed or she awoke from her
dream.
It was such a profound dream!
She told me there after she would go from material shop to material
shop to try and find a white material as beautiful and as radiant as the one
she saw him wear in the dream and she could never find one. SubhanAllah.
She also told me that her father-in-law was buried in Mina! He went
from Arafaat and died in Mina! Imagine that! Lucky man!
The next three days of Jamaraat we went with Sheikh Abdul Moez, he
never took the upper stairs though he only took the lower level for the
jamaraat.
Snail pace
Again, jam packed snail pace on the way there.
Day
two:
This time I took a little spray bottle with me and as I’d walk I’d
spray my face with water because it was so hot and sticky and sweaty being
stuck in and amongst so many people!
I called it spray face. Lol
When I was with Nena and Patty pancakes I’d be like “spray face?”
And they’d say yes! So I’d spray their face too! Lol DO IT! If you go on hajj
do the spray face!!!
When we got to the Pillars, we were approaching and we were still a
good 10 METERS away from the pillar!
And I see this guy who looked like he was on a cricket field grab
his pebble and yelled out
ALLAHU AKBAR!
And he THREW the stone from where he was! I was like YO! Ur like 10
METERS away man! Lol!!! It was so RANDOM and so FUNNY!
People go all out at Jamaraat! It’s supposed to be symbolic of
shaytan but the way these people pelt and throw it’s like it wouldn’t have made
a difference had the devil been there visible himself for one and all to see!
Calm down people take a chill pill!
I’ve heard such funny stories of people throwing their shoes
at the pillars LOL definitely an Arab there!
No doubt about it! Lol.
On our way back we were walking through the tunnel and I was like
“spray face time!” So I start spraying my face, but I didn’t feel anything.
Wait a minute thats odd!
I spray again, three times four times.
Nothing!
I look ahead and Taupheeq (Patrina’s husband) turns around and
looks at me kinda awkward... And it was then I realised .
OHMYGOD!
The air in the tunnel was blowing the water in his direction!
It was getting him the whole time!
Me Patty and Nena burst out laughing!
It was sooooooo funny!! :D
Day
three:
At Jamaraat Hamza was walking to the pillar and there was a train
of people who very much didn’t want to let go of each other and as Hamza tried
to pass he almost got into a brawl with one of the guys I was like WOW man!
Take it easy lemon squeezy!
It’s a pillar, it’s Jamaraat it’s HAJJ! If your train breaks I’m
sure it can be mended, we are people and people trains are malleable!
Funny in a shocking-kinda-way.. lol :/
Day
four:
This we went as a large group with the sheikh and ended up losing
everyone! In the end it was just me and my brother who didn’t lose sight of
the Sheikh and ended up making dua behind him at the final Pillar. *Win!*:D
He headed out to Makkah and me and my bro headed back to Mina. Here
the brothers were shaving their heads in the streets using razors! :/ Obviously
it’s- not but it looked painful! Street barbers the whole way back to Mina!
Kinda Cuba thing going on. J
Anyway we returned and waited for the buses. We couldn’t walk
because my brother had inconvenient luggage- so we waited for the buses.
Back to Makkah!
The buses came in due time and it was a goodbye Mina I loved you,
you’ve been amazing, hey Makkah here I come! I’ve missed you!
We got on and WOW did it take long to get back!
The bus driver missed the exit 3 times!
THREE TIMES we did happy laps! Lol
I mean it wasn’t that bad because we were on seats, and luggage was
overhead, but I mean missing the exit three times in Makkah traffic is kinda
like torturous!
So by the third time we just said to the driver to get us as close
as possible and we can walk the rest!
So we got off the buses and walked it back to Makkah, the clock
tower overhead the massive thing it is worked a gem as a compass! :D
It was a nice walk back alhamdulilah.
We walked through Aziziya and saw the difference it was compared to
Ritaj hotel.
We were living luxury without a doubt.
When we got to the hotel I could not believe my eyes!
Got into the elevator and at that point I knew it – I won the
competition for the stinkiest person ever! *YES!* I showered and headed to umm
AR’s room and told her all about the story of the bus and the stinkiest prize
goes to yours truly!
She said you’re so lucky you went on buses at least you’re on
comfortable seats and you’re not carrying your luggage around everywhere! The
people traffic on the way to Makkah was worse! One friend told me of her
recount of walking back to Makkah and I was really shocked! She lost her
husband, punched a guy by reflex because he accidently elbowed her side, got
dragged by the crowd elsewhere, fainted and was revived on the side of a road
and eventually found her husband again! Crazy! Crazy! Crazy! So yeah I can deal
with missing an exit three times!
Even if it’s Makkah!
Alhamdulilah!
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