The Tabung Haji Travels team has planned the trip very well. We were briefed what to do before leaving Mecca. One of the things that we must do before leaving Mecca is we must perform Tawaf Wida' or Farewell Tawaf.
We were told to perform our Tawaf Wida' earlier, especially for old folks and to those who were slow or sick, as the bus would come and take us at 2pm. My husband and me did our Tawaf Wida' earlier around 10.15am because of my back pain and hmm…slow. Since it was post Hajj, the Masjidil Haram was not crowded compared to during the peak Hajj period, but it was still not advisable to do our Tawaf on the same floor as Kaabah. We did our tawaf on the second floor.
We completed our tawaf and all the prayers that we have to do by 11am. We were told during the briefing that we have to leave the Masjidil Haram quickly once our tawaf is done and to wait in the hotel lobby. There should be no taking picture, no lingering around to admire the Masjidil Haram, and no shopping. With all those restriction, we hurried to go back to the hotel, and after a short rest, we checked out from the room, and waited at the lobby for our bus. It was quite a long wait before we were called to board our bus, Bus #10.
In the bus before we left for Madinah, we were given a pack of food and a bottle of water. Well actually by the time we reached Madinah, we have about 3 packs of food and waters. The trip to Madinah was a long one. It was about 447KM, and we reached Madinah at night around 10pm.
During the trip to Madinah, we stopped twice. The first stop was at a small place. We stopped just to perform our prayer before we continued our journey. The second stop was for our dinner and to pray. We could combine our Maghrib and Isyak prayer together or know as Jamak Taqhir. That's the beauty of Islam where if we travel for more than 90KM, we are allowed to combine our prayer.
Before we reach our hotel, the bus stopped and picked our guide. He is a Malaysian student who studied in Madinah. He shared with us on the history of Madinah and told us to be careful with our belongings.
In Madinah, we stayed at Hotel Movenpick, which is only about 50meters from Masjid Nabawi. I was happy, as I don't have to walk that far to reach the Masjid. The mosque is big, and there are special entranced for women, and the space is limited. Most of the time, I ended praying outside at the compound together with Yam Turkieye. Yam Turkieye was my faithful companion. She would walk with me to the masjid. I miss her, my dear little sister. In fact, I miss all my roommates, Mar, Fara and Yam. Their kindness and concerns have made my short stay in Madinah much easier.
Okay, I'll stop here first and will continue to my next post about my outing at Madinah and my visit to Raudhah.
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