abtravels

Masjid al-Haram – The Grand Mosque

I had a bit of a nap which wasn’t the best thing after breakfast due to the effect on my sugar levels. I decided late morning/early afternoon just before afternoon prayers to go outside and walk towards the grand mosque (Masjid Al-Haram). It was literally a straight walk down to the Abdul-Aziz Gate. 

The way that the grand mosque is organised is that there are multiple gates or entry points into the Ka’bah area. Abdul-Aziz was one of them and it was the closest to me. It was just at the bottom of Ajyad Street. Google Maps will  tell you that it’s a 12 minute walk from Emaar Elite Hotel to the Grand Mosque but in reality as the roads, traffic and surfaces are not smooth and not to mention how busy it actually is with people, it normally takes about half an hour in reality. This was the case for any directions in Makkah I would come to realise – that the real time to get anywhere by walking in Makkah is typically 3 times longer than the estimated time presented on Google Maps. 

Also one other thing to be really careful about is that a lot of the directions used in Google Maps are not walkable for pedestrians. There are no side walks or crossings for that matter so unless you walk with the cars, you won’t be able to follow the directions, which obviously is not practical or safe. 

A lot of the time, I walked wherever others walked on the side of the roads whilst the cars were just besides you. As there was so much traffic it was impossible for a car to go past 4 / 5 mph without needing to stop-start. Also the whole time I was there I don’t remember ever pressing or seeing a crossing at traffic lights. You know the ones with the green man telling you it’s safe to walk. 

Makkah is also a mountainous city. The Haram area has been widely developed and is walkable but the outer parts of Makkah are mountainous with granite hills. So depending on which hotel you book and what side of Al-Haram it is, you might be walking downhill, en-route to the grand mosque and then uphill on the way back. Something to keep in mind if you book a hotel outside the clock towers complex in the Haram area.

Prayer Times

As I was walking Ajyad street approaching the grand mosque it got more and more busy. Pretty soon I came to a full stop unable to go any further as I was just blocked by a group of people on the road. You couldn’t move forward. I checked my phone and realised that it had gone past 12 so this was now the first of the afternoon prayers. 

So despite initially thinking that this was an incident or perhaps something had happened, I came to find out and realise that people had stopped in the middle of the road, blocked the road so no cars or transport could pass, in order to pray. And it wasn’t 1 or 2 people. It was literally everyone who lined up to pray together facing the grand mosque. There were still people trying to use whatever side spaces they could find to move around in order to get to a better position. 

I found a small enough space on the right hand side of the road that I could use to join the prayers. I’m not a big guy so I could fit into that space. I removed my shoes and got into the prayer position to join the prayers. This was during the Azan – call to prayer – that was being blared through the Grand Mosque loudspeakers. Wherever you were in Makkah, you can hear the Azan being called at the applicable time.

After 5-10 minutes when the prayer was over, the crowds began to scatter in all directions. There was a man that was handing out Ajwa dates to worshippers which is quite typical in Makkah/Madinah. You’ll normally find a person sharing dates randomly on the streets. 

Ajwa dates are smaller dates typically from Madinah. They can be a bit more dry but still nice and nutritious. My personal favourites are Medjool dates which up until 2 years ago, the most popular ones were from Palestine but these have since become quite expensive. 

Medjool dates are larger, sweeter and more moist, generally perfect as a desert. As I was very close to the grand mosque, it was only a few minutes walk until I reached a clear visibility of Abdul Aziz gate and the two large minarets. It was a stunning architectural site. 

Just in front of the gate and the courtyard which is an immensely large area, the floor/ground is marble as this is still technically the “mosque”. On the exit of Ajyad street coming towards the gate on the left side are the Makkah clock towers complex. These are large skyscrapers with multi floor shopping malls on the ground floors. Between them are the streets commonly containing smaller shops and street vendors otherwise referred to as Souks. 

At the end of Ajyad street there is an emergency hospital. And passing around the corner to the next street I came across the first Souk or street market. There were a variety of vendors selling small items. Things for mainly consumption, not as a souvenir.

Jabal Omar Souk

A lot of the grand hotels around the Grand Mosque are like the ones in Singapore. The actual hotel and rooms would be on the upper floors and the first few floors would be the hotel’s shopping mall. 

So as well as guests for the hotel going into the building, they are commonly a shopping destination for tourists and pilgrims. 

My first such souk was Jumeira Jabal Omar souk. This was multiple floors with a range of shops and outlets. I didn’t really buy anything at that point beyond just looking around. Whilst there are a variety of shops around the Haram, these are geared towards pilgrims/visitors and in my opinion they all sell the same kind of things. You can go into any shop and find pretty much the same sort of things, so it’s just a question of getting the best price out of the vendors. 

I decided to grab an iced latte from Starbucks as by this point I was in need of a rest and a break given the heat. And as I posted on SnapChat, I’ll repeat here – Starbucks 4 lyfe! It was really refreshing and much needed and delicious too. At 9SAR, it comes to about £2.49 so similar prices if not better value for money because of the strong exchange rate throughout my trip. 

The branch was insanely busy, and I couldn’t find a seat at first. It was only when two women in veils departed that I decided to take up one of the chairs, and given by this point I had walked through rough terrain and a highly busy/crowded area I was grateful for being able to sit to have my drink rather than standing. 

An elderly gentleman who I recognised spoke French quickly took up the other chair and we both sat there for about 15 minutes. The man was on his phone whilst I was just taking it all in. The scene, the noise, just the whole busyness of the area and the monumental mosque in front of me which kind of reminded me of The Colosseum in Rome. It was huge, and iconic. I’d seen pictures obviously growing up and for the first time it just dawned on me that wow I’m here, I’ve been blessed to visit God’s home. 

After finishing the iced latte I decided to return to the hotel. It was 24-25 C so not overly hot but not exactly warm. Away from any shadows it is quite exhausting walking under the sun for 20 minutes or more, well for me anyway. It was now late afternoon I think and I remember earlier in the day having agreed a time with the Umrah guide to perform the Umrah at 12 midnight. So now was a time to get back to the hotel, have a rest, get dinner, and start mentally/physically preparing. I didn’t want to go back to the hotel and then be in any sort of a rush, and also I did need a bit of a rest or a small nap to be honest.

Hotel Street Vendors

As I approached the hotel, the side road off Ajyad street was now getting busy with street vendors. There were already a couple of street stalls. One including a variety and collection of nuts that were being sold from the back of a pickup truck. Another vendor was selling some general items like toothpaste, vaseline, sunglasses as well as some dates. The markets were very interesting to see and there’s not too many places around Europe which have the same street markets that people can just set up without needing a permit of some sort I think. I think these types of markets are more commonly found in developing countries. 

There was also a mini supermarket that was open which was just opposite the hotel that I would come to use/visit frequently. It sold a lot of the items you’d find in any convenience store in the UK such as pringles, soft drinks, milk, bakery and personal care items. 

As I had Umrah in a few hours I decided against having a big dinner and settled for a small snack instead. I bought two chocolate sponge cakes and a small carton of whole milk. You know the ones they’d serve in primary school? This was fine for me, I wasn’t very hungry and this would keep my sugar levels up. Besides the supermarket there were some restaurants/takeaways that were south asian themed so bangladeshi/pakistani. I never really tried these to be honest but I think i should’ve at some point on reflection.

In my hotel room I switched on the TV and decided to make myself a small tea with the kettle in my room and the milk I had just bought. I sat down on the sofa listening to the Quran recitation whilst sipping on my tea. I decided to pray sunset (Maghrib) prayers soon after this before I would nap for 15/20 minutes and take a shower.