Al Diyafa Radisson Blu Hotel, Makkah Mecca

... all the different languages and chants, the sense of being part of a global community.<br><br>Once you finish the Sa'y you have basically finished Umrah, so after filling up on some cool water we left the masjid. By now it was closing on 10 am. We walked around a bit at the shops that are left, and my hubby and fil stopped in a barbershop to get a haircut (the final rite of pilgrimmage). We took a taxi back to where we had left our car and headed back for Jeddah.

... or weaving straw mats and rugs. FABULOUS night, and a fantastic opportunity to soak up traditional Arabic culture. <br><br>We got back to the hotel to crash, then were up early again the next morning to visit some dams built about 3000 years ago (although not doing the intended job due to not a drop of water being in sight! Apparently, Taif is usually rather green, but as we are back home, have been hit rather hard by drought in the last few years.) We did a bit of a city tour, stopped ...

... however, the complete disregard of lanes or lane guides, and the folks who frequently make a left hand turn from the far right lane across four lanes of traffic. But it is loud, and colorful, and if you're not in a hurry to get anywhere can be interesting to watch. We always cause a stir because of our Emirati license plates, with people honking as they pass and/or staring. <br><br>One morning we decided to take the kids to the corniche and ...

This is by far the most tedious part of the drive. Eight hours of virtually nothing but scrubby landscape with the occasional rocky outcrop. There are exits now and then but no cities to speak of. Fortunately the kids were sacked out sleeping, so I plugged my iPod into the car stereo and we listened to a variety of lectures and songs. This is when I am most concerned about my husband -- and only driver -- becoming fatigued and needing to pull ...

... http://www.travelohotel.org/SaudiArabia -Jeddah-Inter-ContinentalHotel-Jeddah.h tm Profile Hotel Hilton Mekkah: Hubungi kami : LAENA UMROH &amp; HAJI, nikmati fasilitasnya, ibadah dengan khusyuk Kantor Pusat : Laena Tours-Travel, Wisam Laena, Jl KH.Abdullah Syafi'i No.7 Casablanca, Jakarta Selatan. Telp : (021) 835-6663, (021) 835-6183, (021) 8379-5616, Fax : (021) 835.6661. Pendaftaran Khusus : 0811-99-0153

... so far on our journey. He spoke utterly no English at all, but that did not deter him from going on and on for the entire trip. With my smattering of Arabic I gleaned that he had kids in college back in Cairo and that he could make much more driving in Saudi than he could doing anything else in Egypt. At prayer times we always pulled over to a gas station to make our 'salat' in the local mosque, usually in the back, and then have a hot cup of turkish coffee that is ...

Amazing to be here! This is the first and original mosque to have ever been built. We believe it to have been ordered of Abraham to be built at this location by God. This is the culmination of a lot of anticipation in every Muslim´s life!

... are a newly wed at that time (we were married on April 2006, and this voyage start on June 2006), because if either me or my husband getting romantic it could undo our niyat, and we have to go back to Bir Ali to do the preparation all over again. The journey was as exciting as it was exhausting.

... budak-budak kat bilik lain lah ;-) ) . Budak-budak kecik walau lain bangsa tapi bila sama2 berkongsi pengalaman besar macam ni, dorang memang click cepat. Paling saya kagum bila dorang dok bincang2 pasal perbezaan mazhab (kami syafi'iyyah dan dorang hanafiyyah) dan cuba banding2 apa yang sama dan apa yang berbeza dlm ibadat harian. Rehat kejap, kami ke Makkah buat Tawaf Qudum dan buat umrah sekali. Masa tu makin terasa berdebar menunggu masa nak tunaikan fardhu haji nanti.

Pertama kalinya aq ke luar negeri... n pertama kalinya aq naek pesawat besar! seperti yang ditipi-tipi.. wah, pokoknya kayak orang ndeso banget.. Saat naik pesawat, WOW!!! besar banget ya! dua tingkat. Digiring ke tingkat atas, sesuai urutan, duduk paling belakang, dekat dengan tangga ke tingkat dasar. Pramugarinya cuantik-cantik n guanteng-ganteng.. :) bersih, rapi, n cas cis cus pake bahasa Inggris. Beda ...