Umrah -- First Stop: Medinah

Alhamdulillah our umrah was rewarding and fulfilling. Our Umrah trip was a 12 day package. We left on March 29 and returned safely home on April 9. Technically it is a 10 day trip as travelling time is included in the 12 day package. We arrived in Jeddah about 8pm and went directly on the bus for a 5 hour bus ride to Medinah.


Checking in at the airport. We went with Andalusia. A very big and reputable travel agency but in my humble opinion, the next time we go (insyaallah) we would opt for a different agency!

The kids were really tired as it was night in Malaysia. We were all jet lagged too so we slept all the way. We couldn't even see much of Jeddah as it was night. We stopped to pray maghrib and isyak then we ate dinner on the bus and fell asleep.

Next thing we knew we were in Medinah and it was time to go for subuh. The first sight of the Nabawi Mosque is indeeda sight to behold! Only after the subuh prayers could I really take a good look at Medinah city and it is beautiful. I don't remember it at all from my trip there some many moons ago.

It is clean, organised, modern and very elegant I must say. The buildings are tall and sprawling. They have a lot of space so I figured that is why they have the luxury of being able to build that way. It reminds me a lot of Putrajaya.


The hotel we stayed at was a five to ten minute walk to the mosque. We can also see the Hilton from there. We stayed at there for three nights and did some sightseeing as well. It was also our first opportunity to shop in Saudi Arabia. The gold and jewellery shops will surely catch your eye even after subuh prayers they are already open and flickering in the morning light.

This is us preparing to leave Medinah and head to Mekah. We had to adorn our "ihram" here. The children were really excited about seeing Mekah. I don't think they completely knew what to expect the Kaabah to be like as they have only watched on TV and seen in books.

This was taken before one of the prayer times at Medinah. Oh ya! The weather was really nice too. Not too hot although sunny. Infact a bit chilly at times. During subuh it gets a little to the bone. Even the crowd was not very big so we didn't always have to fight for space like in Mekah.

We brought the maid too and she wanted as many pictures as I could take as kenangan. I think she was the happiest of all. Hahaha...