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.
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