Adil FahimImportant Points –
1. People having Indian passport with EU Residence permit is allowed for e-Visa but better to take E-Visa to avoid any last minute issue as if you are flying with Turkish Airlines via SAW(Sabiha Gokcen Airport), they will not allow you to board the flight without E-Visa in hand.
2. At Mecca, all Top hotels provide frequent shuttle service but be aware
2.1. Peak times during prayers its crowded
2.2 Due to expansion the Shuttle leaves us at about 10 mins walk from Haram, be prepared to walk a bit.
2.3 Example of Al-Kiswah towers – Budget friendly hotel, the service was good except the above two challenges
3. Shopping at Madinah is cheaper than at Mecca. The street from Madinah to Quba masjid has good shops. You need to bargain a lot.
4. You get mineral water at hotel and restaurants, you can also buy t 5L water can for 5 Riyals and fill it up with zamzam water both at Mecca (at entrance) and Madinah (near gate 309). So as long as you stay there you can drink zamzam.
5. Revolut card is accepted most at 80%, except Taxi and few shops where they asked for cash. You can add your Revolt card to Android/Iphone wallet and good to go.
6. You get Safety pins everywhere that can be used along with ihram, but because of crowd I always had bad experiences. Best is to buy Child safety pin, that is quite safe. I learnt it hard way.
7. As of Oct 2023, for Umrah pre-booking at Nusuk app is not required. For Rawdah, yes pre booking is still necessary.
7.1 At Mecca – for Umrah, you need to enter through King Fahad gate 79.
7.2 For Rawdah, be at WC next to Al Baqi Cemetery about 30 mins before appointment time, they don’t adhere well to appointment time.
8. Plan for Jiyarat after Fajr at both Mecca and Madinah.
8.1 Mecca – It took 3.5 hours and private taxi charged me 130 riyals. Prefer Pakistani/ Indian/ Bangladeshi driver who can explain in your language. Covered Ghare Hira, Ghare Thaur, Masjid al Jinn, Mina, Muzdalifa, Arafat, Three saitans
8.2 Madina – Shared taxi charged 15 riyals per person
9. Remember At Madina – there is hadees, one who does wudu at Madinah munawara and pray 2 rakat nafil at Quba Masjid gets sawab of umrah. Its good this to do every day as long as you are at Madinah. Madinah to Quba Masjid is about 3km, we can walk one direction and return can be through Golf car, they charge 10 riyal per adult or shared taxi for same price.
10. At Mecca, Hatim –> semi-circular wall opposite, but not connected to, the north-west wall of the Kaaba. The space between the Hatīm and the Kaaba was originally part of the Kaaba, and is thus not entered during the tawaf. After Isha prayer around 9pm people start queuing up at Hatim, after waiting for an hour or two we get privileges’ to pray 2 rakat at the space between Hatim and Kaaba which is like praying inside Kaaba. Its an experience can’t be explained. (Time subjected to change as per authorities)
11. Easy travelling from AMS to Jeddah via Aegean Air and wear his Ehraam on Athens Airport need to Gate. There are multiple other people as well with Ehraam and you can also read 2 rakat Umrah Nafil there.
12. Travelling from Medina to Jeddah Airport via HHR train and it took less then 3 hours to complete overall journey including on boarding and off boarding however there are some points need to consider –
A. Train management is very restrict for luggage dimensions and if you are carrying more then defined dimensions then there will be a delay receiving luggage post off boarding because they put the luggage on other compartment.
P.S. Note – If you are travelling to Jeddah Airport directly then showing your ticket will save you on this hassle and they will approve to keep your luggage with you irrespective of dimensions.
B. HHR Tickets are with dynamic pricing so better to take as soon as you planned.
13. Riyaz UL Jannah(Rawdah) inside video during Asar Namaz – click here
