Saudi Arabia Travel Diary pt.1 | Madinah
Hey, amours! I'm sure this mini travel diaries series is an awaited one, and finally, I got around to do it. Honestly, sometimes I just don't feel the motivation to sit and type, but I can't let it get to me right? Let's get into it, this post is purely all about Madinah. It is not in a chronological order, but it's just about the stay in general! On 16th December my family and I flew out to Madinah first. The plane journey overall was beautiful Masha'Allah, took off and landed safely, and the view from the windows always remain stunning Alhumdulillah.
On 17th, early morning, we arrived Madinah, and the feeling of stepping foot in this beautiful city was amazing Masha'Allah, such tranquillity just builds up within you.
It wasn't until the afternoon that we went to Masjid Al Nabawi, we spent our time there praying namaaz, and making dua. It's really hard to explain what you feel when you in Madinah (and Makkah) because you can't compare it to anything. The peace and happiness you received in these two holy cities cannot be fathomed in words.
(Here are some pictures of the beautiful Masjid)
After spending some time in the Masjid, we headed back to the Hotel, Alhumdulillah our hotel wasn't too far from the masjid (less than a 5-minute walk, literally. Okay for the men. As for the ladies 5-10 minutes because the area is different).
The hotel overall was honestly not bad. We had WiFi hehe, and the views we got was pretty Masha'Allah, and one thing I so loved was being able to hear the Adhaan from the windows, it's just so beautiful waking up to it, as well as hearing it during the day. Back home you don't get to have these in your daily life, well you do but you got to either live close to a Masjid or have the facilities for you to be able to hear it from home. Here in Madinah and Makkah, it's there. It IS part of your daily life.
Night. That was the main part of the day where we went out. The reason for that is because of the weather, and also since the majority of the stalls/shops open after Maghrib, besides the food ones. So after Esha Namaaz, our routine would be to go do Ziyaarat to the Prophet (also known as Salaam Pesh - saying salaam to the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W). For women, we have certain timings when we can do that, hence why we can't just do it any time of the day.
After Ziyaarat we (mum, sisters and I), go to stalls/shopping malls around because if you ever want to buy gifts and kajoor, then Madinah is the place since they are not overpriced in comparison to ones in Makkah (if any of you guys who's visited noticed). Plus always keep your mum with you because they can always negotiate better than you hehe. One of the main shopping malls we went to is called Bin Dawood Supermarket which is near Gate 20/21/22 I think. There were shops for clothes, FOOD, gifts, accessories, toys, and MORE FOOD.
In Madinah, other than Hardees I didn't go to many food places because I knew in Makkah (since our stay was going to be longer), there would be a higher chance of trying out a variety because the Zamzam Tower has it all. Hardees' chips were lovely, I honestly love my perfectly cooked chips. The burger was not bad, I really don't remember the name of it nor the price, but nonetheless it was great to have burger and chips after quite some time in Madinah!
Another day consisted of, visiting an area where you could get your Pakistani/Indian food. It is quite a walk, but you get caught up with the views, that you seriously don't mind. I'm such a terrible blogger because I don't know what the area is called, so I might just have to hunt through Google Maps and found out if anyone is interested.
The shop we went to was Fine Sweet and Bakers. Honestly, the beauty of travelling is the food you get to try out, but sometimes it's not all that. The Chaats we had wasn't all that, and unfortunately we couldn't finish it all, but one thing I did quite like was a pistachio mithai, I did buy a box to bring back home, but by the time I got back to the UK I wasn't into that mithai anymore hehe, and thankfully my mum was just able to use it to give it to guests.
(The food at Fine Sweets & Bakers)
After some browsing around the stalls, we headed back to the Masjid, and once again spent some time there. Our stay in Madinah was about 4 days, Masha'Allah it did go fast, seriously didn't realise how time went by. There will always be a regret on doing more because Makkah and Madinah are places where you can never do enough. No matter how many times you stay in the Masjid, or pray, it's just not enough, and that motivates you to do even more when you go back.
We did one last Ziyaarat on our last night. Just talking about Ziyaarat itself, It is hard. It is hard getting a place on the green carpet with women pushing here and there, but Alhumdullilah every time I visited I got a place on the green carpet. Once there was a lady, that offered me a place when she was done, and that was beautiful Masha'Allah, because for some, once they are there, they are literally there, and they stay in that place for such a long time, and I get why they do. I mean who wouldn't. But it just means it's harder for people who come in to get a place.
Once we finished, we went back to the hotel, but on the way there we stopped by a small Masjid, which Masha'Allah looked gorgeous in the night with the lights lit up. There were benches around, so we sat there for a while, and I took some pictures of it because you just never know if that Masjid is turned into something or not.
And that was the end of my Madinah stay. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post. My next Travel Diaries post will be on Ziyaarat of Madinah, meaning sightseeing of Holy places in Madinah which are important historically and now <3
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