Part 3: Jeddah & Madinah Al Munawwarah

We reached Jeddah in the afternoon / evening. The immigration process went smoothly by the airport officers, unlike the treatment given by Jordanians. Some people say these Arabs are arrogant. Maybe la kot during Hajj seasons, but not this time of year. Tapi terkejut la jugak I tengok airport dia. KLIA / Suvarnabhumi adalah berganda2 canggih dari Jeddah Airport ni. Biar betul, how do they receive so many people during Hajj?? Tak crowded ke?? But later when I stepped out from the building baru la I nampak about 1 km away from the airport ada macam umbrella tents macam kenduri kahwin tu. I mean the rooftop macam umbrella tents! Kat situ la terminal for Hajj pilgrims. It's so huge!! By the way, after dah settled semua at the airport, solat, collected our baggage, met our mutawwif, barula we all bergerak ke bas. Oh, our mutawwif is a very nice chap from Indonesia. He's only 22 years old, a student at a sekolah pondok in Makkah. Dah la cute...cheh, sempat lagi tu...

Oh before I forget, masa kat dalam flight from Amman, ada few passengers who were already in their ihram. I mean the guys la cos they were wearing kain ihram, the two pieces of while cloth. At one point the pilot announced that in 5 minutes time the flight would be crossing this one place (I couldn't figure out the place's name from his accent. Arab accent), tempat miqat la so he warned those in ihram to berniat umrah. Those passengers would be going straight to Makkah for umrah from Jeddah airport. For us, my group tak payah cos we were going to Madinah first. Tapi macam seronok la tengok those people. Hehe...

Ok, back to the story at the airport. Masa nak boarded the bus, I quickly booked the front seats for me & hubby (kiasu betolll) cos your view of the scenery later on is wider if you sit at the front, right? Kalau kat back seats, u can only manage to see on your side je, either left or right. Tak best la camtu... The journey to Madinah took about 5 hours.

This is the view from the bus
Kat highway on the way to Madinah
Rumah2 kat Saudi Arabia ni mostly in box shapes

We stopped later for our dinner at one of the sort of R&Rs at about 7pm. Dah malam la, dah nak masuk Al Isya (cheh, sebut pun nak style Arab). The mutawwif told us to jama' our maghrib prayer. It's better to perform Maghrib & Isyak once we reach Madinah cos pahala dia lagi banyak. Kat situ we all makan nasi Arab. Huish... best giler. The rice was served in a big tray which can feed about 8 people. We were told that 1 tray would be shared by 5 people. Atas nasi tu ada 1 big chicken and 2 fish. Ada lada hijau jugak, cam ulam dia la & takde kuah. They gave polistyrene plates & spoons jugak but since ayam dia roasted & fish dia digoreng garing, how can you eat with polistyrene spoon??? Luckily ada tempat air basuh tangan, dapat la makan dengan tangan. The taste is yummehh!! I was too tired to snap any pictures plus too shy to ambik gambar makanan pun in front of the group members. nanti diorang cakap poyo la pulak minah ni, gambar makanan pun nak ambik. Oh, me & hubby adalah the youngest couple in our group. Yang lain2 tu macam dah 40-60 ++ dah umur diorang...

After about 1 hour plus at the R&R, we resumed our journey. I refrained myself from drinking after the meal cos takut nak terkencing. We were warned that there would be no stopping after this cos dah takde public toilets dah. Since the outside view was so dark and boring, I just dozed off je throughout the journey. The mutawwif told us to just rest and sleep and he would later wake us up once we reach Madinah.

After about 2 hours plus, hubby gerakkan I and I could see in front of me a city full of lights (we all kan duduk paling depan...). Masa tu rasa syahdu la jugak cos tak percaya that in a short while I would be stepping on Madinah's soil. Tanah berkat tuuuu!! I could see a signboard of "Al Haram" and baru la I tau Madinah ni Tanah Haram. Ingatkan Makkah je... So kena la berhati-hati dalam percakapan dan juga apa yang terdetik di hati... Mutawwif pun started to wake us up (through microphone) and told that we were about to cross Al Haram. He recited a doa for Al Haram and we followed suit. I still remember that he said something like this "Di sini tidak perlu memakai masker kerna udara di Madinah adalah obat, penduduk2 di sini adalah obat...bla bla bla". I was like, really?? Bagus betul... Oh, I pulak terus rasa syahdu je especially bila mutawwif kata di Madinah ni la tempat bersemadinya jasad Rasulullah. Oh, syahdu betul. We all were advised to perbanyakkan zikir di sepanjang perjalanan. Ye la, kata nak pergi melawat tempat Rasulullah kan...

When we almost reached the hotel, I looked to my right side and Subhanallah! Such a beautiful view! Masjid Nabawi berada di depan mata & terang benderang. At that point of time terus rasa syahdu lagi... of course all this while selalu dengar je orang cerita... Sekarang dah sampai pun kat tempat ni.. We stayed at Al Fayrouz Hotel, just about 100 metres from the masjid, to be exact 100 metres from the Gate to women entrance. Senang la untuk we all yg pompuan ni... All the buildings surrounding Masjid Nabawi look alike and you can get confused easily. So you have to be extra alert on what's on your right, left, the landmark and so on.. This is especially when you want to make a visit to nearby shops, jalan2 ke apa ke...

This is our room
We paid for 2-bedded room (Double)

On the left is our hotel
Can you see the Masjid??
Cantikkan umbrella-shaped roof tu??


Clearer view from the Masjid


Siap ada burung2 lagi...


See? The surrounding buildings / hotels which are look alike

The weather in Madinah is cool in the morning and at night. Tapi during the day tu panas la jugak but udara dia sejuk. We spent most of the times in the Masjid. I managed to go to Raudhah 3 times during the time that women are allowed in. Of course we can't see the actual makam Rasulullah cos there's a really big and tall divider that separates women and men sections. We only know that we are in Raudhah beacuse of the green carpets and signboards. I was told that last time women were allowed in tapi sekarang dah tak boleh dah. In a day, there are 3 times that Raudhah are open to women. About 2-3 hours je la for each slot. After Subuh, after Zohor and after Isyak. So memang berebut2 la wanita2 ni termasuk la I. Dah la Turkish people are big size, suka tolak2 pulak tu. Nak solat sunat kat atas green carpet tu pun tak aman cos sambil tgh solat tu pun boleh ditolak2. Alhamdulillah I managed to berdoa di Raudhah. Hope that everything that I asked for will be granted. Amin! Oh, friends & families, doa2 anda pun I sempat mintak di Raudhah juga...

We just finished performing solat Zohor & I quickly snapped this pic
Manusia berduyun2 keluar dari Masjid

Actually kat Masjid Nabawi ni tak boleh bawak masuk camera. Nak masuk pintu masjid mesti ada spot check. Since there are so many people going in and out from the masjid, their people can't afford to check everyone thoroughly. I always carried my handphone and camera in a small pocket inside my slingbag provided by the travel agent. And yet diorang tak pernah pun belek that pocket cos so many people berasak2 nak masuk dalam Masjid ni... Nevertheless I never dared to take picture once inside the mosque cos I was worried that I would be caught red-handed. But hubby selamba jer ambik gambar guna camera phone cos dia cakap ramai jemaah lelaki main selamba je click sana click sini. Dah balik Malaysia baru I tau... Kalau I tau awal2, dah lama I snap pictures of masjid nabawi dari dalam. Oh, the interior and architecture are sooooo breathtakingly beautiful! memang cantik and sejuk je kat dalam ni... Quran memang berlambak-lambak and even tong-tong air zam-zam are everywhere. Unlimited supply of air zam-zam! I siap bawak empty mineral water bottle untuk refill air zam-zam lagi...