Mecca After 12 Years....

My first visit to Mecca was 12 years ago i.e. In 2002, for umrah. I brought along my mother and my wife,....ooopppsss. ...actually Ikhlas was with us in my wife's womb. The trip was only for two weeks. Our journey was managed by a private agency, Mawar travel owned by a chinese muallaf. Should we call him muallaf whereby he can converse fluent arabic and learning islamic study in Mecca? He can be called as an alim.

Our hotel was very near, just outside the boundary of Masjidil Haram. You can still prepare your wudu even the azan was calling. And once you enter the area, there were bazar selling gold, tapestaries and many more. I would said quite a distraction on the way for prayer.

There were also many food stalls and restaurants selling all sort of food. Normally after prayer I would go for teh tarik and capati with kima. The price was quite cheap and affordable.

That was 12 years ago. Now what I have seen is very much different.....oooopppssss totally different. No more food stalls and restaurants. No more rickety hotels. Everything seems to be brand new and elegant. The Masjidil Haram has been extended for the increasing of people. The facilities were upgraded with modern systems. The Saei were upgraded until 3 levels with escalators. There are entries provided with escalators up tobthe roof top.

There are many new five star hotels surrounding the area with wonderful architecture. And you can see the Clock tower As Sawwah that shows the green light through the night for correct navigation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog