abtravels

WhatsApp in Makkah/Madinah

As I returned upstairs to my hotel room I did a bit of research as to why I was not able to make calls with WhatsApp as I had been trying to call my mum since I landed. I very quickly found out that WhatsApp calls are blocked in Makkah and Madinah. I’m not sure if this is the case for the rest of the KSA.

I think the reason being is that firstly they want to protect local telecom providers like Zain and Salam/STC which is reasonable I think. And also, and I know this from historical travelling experience, given the amount of pilgrims/tourists that would potentially be using the connectivity, this would place enormous demand across the networks and infrastructure. I’ve experienced this with other service providers within Europe, especially with the Three network.

You’d be lucky sometimes to ever get a signal depending on where you go. After realising that WhatsApp calls were not usable, I decided to send my mum the picture I had taken of my first sight of the Ka’baah as well as a voice note. It was very short and I just explained that I had completed Umrah and was now back at the hotel about to go down for breakfast. Also that if she would like anything just to let me know by leaving a voice note. By the way, you can still use WhatsApp to send messages, photos and videos. You just can’t call.

The alternatives are to use another app like Imo or Snapchat or my recommendation is to just buy a local sim which has international minutes included for most packages. These are very reliable with a strong signal and brilliant connectivity.

My Sugar Levels

It was early morning and the buffet breakfast was already being served. After praying early morning prayers I decided to make my way down. But this was not before checking my sugar levels which were currently slightly elevated. I hated this as it meant that having a decent breakfast was probably not the best thing to do as it would raise my sugar levels further.

Since I had arrived in the KSA despite me taking my insulin as normal but with more correction doses to counter high sugars, I was still finding that my sugar levels were stubbornly high and losing sensitivity to insulin. This required me injecting twice the average daily dose that I normally take. I have experienced this on multiple occasions when travelling which has become really frustrating.

Ok well for breakfast I guess the only thing I can really do for now is just have a coffee and protein snacks. So stuff like eggs, and scrambled eggs which I’m happy with to be honest – this was a decent enough breakfast for me.  

I figured that if I just eat something small now and just wait for my sugar levels to come down over the next few hours, I could always come back down to the buffet to grab a second breakfast. Which I did at 9:30! So not a lot of time left which was frustrating again. I might have mentioned this already about coffee. But it felt very instant and light – not fresh ground coffee which a lot of hostels across Europe that I stay at serve in the morning. This was the only slightly disappointing part of my breakfast but still decent and value for money

Eating/dining in Makkah

I decided to use my morning and afternoon to explore Ajyad street. As you start making your way down to the Grand Mosque you will see a lot of shops on the right hand side with a small sort of galley for people to sit or stand. Most of the shops are small souvenir shops which sell cheap stuff. I don’t say that in any form of criticism or tackiness but I just mean that they sell low value items that you can find in any corner shop/newsagent. There are often food places/restaurants. 

This was one of the surprising things about my trip. I had expected the eateries around the grand mosque to be a little upmarket that sell decent food and meals. However, and this is just my experience, all of the “restaurants” I went to around the grand mosque area were basically takeaways/fast-food. The food itself, ok yeah it’s edible and will keep you fed, but they’re very dry takeaway type food and a lot of it I reckon is junk food anyway. 

To be fair this makes a lot more sense commercially and practically. The amount of visitors in that location means that the practicality and efficiency of selling proper dining meals is quite limited. You’ve just got to manage it so that you can take an order, serve it, and then the next customer. It needs to be a really quick turnaround given the amount of people there.

If you want more of a dining experience, the best bet is probably to go further out. Maybe even the residential areas and check there. In the Haram area, it is quite difficult. So if you want proper Arabian cuisine, I would suggest going a bit further out.

Another challenge is that vegetarian options for meals are quite limited. Now I don’t usually eat meat but I have done previously. On this trip I made the decision to eat meat if there was no real other viable option. It was served everywhere and sometimes it just became unavoidable if you needed to eat something.

I remember close to the Emaar Hotel about a 12 minute walk towards the Grand Mosque there is a “restaurant” called ZamZam restaurant. I finally walked into here having passed it everyday I had so far been in Makkah. The restaurant was busy and there were no seats. 

Immediately it was quite clear that they were operating like a fast food joint. You place your order at the counter, you pay and the food is given to you in a carrier bag. I can’t exactly remember the name of what I ordered but it was 2 chicken tandoori pieces with 2 roti’s. Literally before they took payment the food had already been served and was ready.

I went back to my hotel to eat a little. Bearing in mind my sugar levels I didn’t eat the full meal but just half of a roti. I don’t mean to sound critical but everything was just so dry and bland. It didn’t really taste of anything. The chicken was hot but dry and to my disappointment so was the roti. It just felt really dry and not fresh. There was some garlic sauce that was included which in my opinion became quite necessary. 

I very rarely throw away food so I packed up the meal in the given bag to maybe try to finish later. Unfortunately I did come to dispose of it later as it was no longer decent enough to eat. I decided to make my way back towards the grand mosque and to again enter the clock tower’s shopping complex.

Makkah Clock Towers

On the 4th floor I think is where all the food courts are with a selection of outlets. I actually settled for McDonalds and just ordered some chicken nuggets as I wasn’t that hungry and just wanted to try McDonalds on a rare occasion! It was actually really nice, tasted fresh, and quite delicious! The great benefit about the KSA is that everything is halal so this was enjoyable! 

As it was a food court, there was a vast seating area a short distance away. I couldn’t find an empty chair/area at first until a woman departed, to which I quickly grabbed a seat. I was joined soon after by two other guys who were wearing uniforms so I assume they were working at the complex and were on a break.

I went down to a small corner shop on the 2nd floor which sold prayer mats with engraving. These looked quite cool and it was something specifically I wanted to buy for my 3 nephews. I did purchase it but I came to find out from a brother I would meet on the train to Madinah that I really overpaid. 

I didn’t think much of it at the time as this was the first engraving type vendor that I ran into and they caught my attention. Also during the short wait I got talking to them. They were very polite and courteous. I think they were Pakistani and they had some relatives back in the UK so they were a little familiar with London so we talked over that. They did try to sell me some prayer beads to take home for my mum but at SAR 50 I knew this was sky high. But I didn’t think about the prayer mats at the time, I was just excited to be able to get some gifts for my nephews.

I didn’t do anything special the remainder of the day. There is the The International Fairs and Museums of the Prophet’s Biography and Islamic Civilization on the second floor of the clock towers which I briefly went into the gift shop this time around. I will return early tomorrow morning for a guided tour. 

That night next to the Emaar Elite Hotel the side road transformed into a small souk and I would spend a bit more time traversing through all the small vendors. There was nothing intrinsically different from the night before but the atmosphere on the road just seemed to be a lot more active and it was much busier. Walking through or down the street you’d have many of the vendors try to grab your attention. I had no idea what they were saying but it just sounded like an auction!

I went into the small supermarket opposite the hotel to buy a cold drink – diet pepsi. Can’s in the KSA I found a bit weird opening. On a normal can I’m used to, the can opening makes a big sort of dent into the top of the can so you can open. In the KSA however a lot of the cans, the can openings are not strong and they feel more like sliders to open the top. 

So when I tried the first time I ripped off the opener where your finger goes through with a small opening at the top. You couldn’t drink from this obviously so I went back to the guy at the till if he could help. Thankfully he had a tool kind like a tweezer that he used to grab onto the remaining open part and pull down. This fully opened the can.

The pepsi was really refreshing and on top of this I decided to buy two pieces of some small chocolate cake that were packaged just for later when my sugar levels go down. This was a good snack at the time as I wasn’t in the mood to have any of the street foods that night.

Stay tuned for my next post where I visited the International Fair and Museum of The Prophets Life Bibliography. This was a an amazing experience where I delved into the history of Makkah and Madinah. Stay tuned to see a construction of the Prophets House! You do not want to miss this!!