Jeddah

We touched down in Jeddah around 7pm. We prayed salaatul Maghrib in the airport terminal and waited for immigration clearance. After about an hour we were done. We exchanged some dollar for Saudi Riyals (373 to 1) and boarded our bus after some confusion allocating our luggage.

Our group of approx 150 were allocated 3 buses and we set out for the Holy City of Makkah al-Mukarramah.

It was night and visibility was limited. The trip from the airport to Makkah took us through some uninhabited areas. The landscapes was very mountainous and dry - very rocky with not a blade of grass in site.

Due to our unscheduled earlier flight we were unable to go to our Hotel as planned - we had to settle for the 5 star Makkah Hilton! Oh darn! We tried not to complain :-)

We checked into our luxurious quarters which comprised of 4 individual beds, a kitchenette with a small refrigerator and a marbled bathroom with a bidet. We freshened up and hurried to Al-Masjid Al-Haram.