My hotel in Madinah was the Zaha-Al-Munawwarah hotel on As-salam road which was about a half an hour drive away from the train station, if that. On the drive, I just remember looking around and with the beautiful weather it just seemed like a beautiful day and Madinah roads are so much more organised in my opinion with well controlled traffic. Definitely a lot less horns beeping every second! So first impressions, Madinah is way more peaceful than Makkah!
We arrived at a small-medium complex with shops on the right hand side and a small bridge on the left. There was a mini supermarket on the right, with Riyadh Bank just beside this and two hotels on either side of these outlets, both of which were named Zaha. The uber driver parked next to the first Zaha next to the bank and advised in fluent English that there are two Zaha hotels so I might need to walk up ahead to the second one.
I did enter the first one and the receptionist quickly advised it was the other Zaha after I showed my booking voucher. Initially I thought that this Zaha was across the street to which I would have to cross over. It was only when I exited the hotel that a guy who may have been working for both hotels approached me and I think asked if I needed assistance. He didn’t speak any English and I initially tried to ask how I got to the hotel. But once I showed him my hotel booking voucher he quickly jumped and indicated to follow him. We walked down the polished sidewalk of the complex for about a minute before I came across two automatic doors with “Zaha” on the doors.
Walking through the doors of the hotel you had a cafe – a small one just on your left and the elevators right in front of you. The hotel reception was on the right to which I proceeded to check in.
This was almost half 3 now in the afternoon. Saudi hospitality can be a bit mixed depending on who you speak to. Saudi men can seem unfriendly at first but I don’t for a second think this is deliberate, it’s just that I travel a lot and stay in hostels that have very welcoming atmospheres. They actually remind me of Romania and one of the key lessons on my trip to Romania is that small acts of kindness go a long way. Saudi women I’ve found can be very welcoming if I can see their faces. Not that I’m in any way offended by the veil as such but you can’t tell their impressions of you on meeting you that’s all.
My room was on the second floor. This was above the restaurant and mezzanine floors which were just below. Breakfast again I was told was from 6-10AM and the only disadvantage with this hotel was that there was no prayer room. I suppose not a big deal considering Masjid-an-Nabawi (more on this later) was a 15 minute walk away straight down As Salam road.
The coffee shop on the ground floor had a dispenser for free Saudi coffee and some dates which was a nice touch. I went up to my hotel room which was larger than I was expecting with an ample room. It had a king size double bed and a TV/desk.
What was great was that in the bathroom all the small amenities like toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, comb were included and provided in pre packaged boxes. So very good first impressions and as a 3-4 star hotel met my expectations.
Once I had a shower and refreshed myself, I decided to make my first journey to Masjid-an-Nabawi – the prophet’s mosque (PBUH). This is the second largest mosque in the world and can accommodate 1M worshippers.
I would soon come to notice and appreciate how spectacular it is. Whilst the mosque has been very expanded it was also the prophets mosque in his time in Madinah although of course much smaller.
On the way to the mosque, the road was very polished and clean. It actually reminds me of the streets in Canary Wharf in London. It’s very clean, organised and tidy. Some roads are not for transport vehicles so they are completely pedestrian walkways. Again as I was walking to the mosque the shops on both sides of the street were full of small vendors and souvenir shops. Similarly to Canary Wharf they all had the same style of shop headers so it looked very organised in that sense and there isn’t like one shop that tries to grab your attention with a flashy sign or shop name.
It was now evening prayers. I entered the mosque and as I learnt in Makkah it is advisable to carry a drawstring bag with you to store or carry your footwear. I made sure that I brought this with me so I could take off my shoes as I entered the mosque which was already quite busy.
Housekeepers had already started closing off some areas by putting up ribbons to ensure no more worshippers could jump in. It was a large prayer hall and I walked for about 10 minutes into the hall before finding an area that still had some space but was quickly filling up. I made sure to sit down for the prayers before they started.
I took a moment to look around the mosque, I was seated inside. It was a really large open area with lovely arches creating corridors. I had thought that the ceiling of the mosque was of gold but this was not the case.
I remember someone said this to me once, hence I was expecting to see it but not at all. Just a really lovely internal area. When prayers finish there’s normally quite a large exodus of people and it can get busy quite quickly. However as there’s quite an open area especially the court yards of the mosque which are used as prayer spaces, it doesn’t create any bottlenecks as seen in many other mosques everywhere else.
As I walked back to the hotel, it began to darken. I quickly explored the surrounding area of the mosque and the side roads from my hotel. It was fairly typical to be honest, a bank, a pharmacy, a mini supermarket, some small eateries and some stores which sell small household/souvenir items.
I remember a TamTam restaurant/cafe which had touch screen terminals for ordering and I ordered a karak chai again. The staff that were there were all veiled women which made it a bit difficult for me to ask any questions.
Oh, I also saw the green dome of masjid-an-Nabawi for the first time. I think underneath this area is where the prophets grave is (PBUH). It’s a very famous dome in Islam and I have seen pictures/images and small crafts depicting the green dome since I was really young. Seeing it for the first time was pretty amazing and I stood there taking a few photos as were others.
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