DAY 1
We arrived in Medina close to midnight on Friday 22nd May 2009. The hotel was Al Fayroz, only 50 metres from Masjid Nabawi. Check-in process was very slow. After about half and hour I got a room and quickly with my wife we settled down.
The room was ok and quite spacious but the water heater wasn't functioning. Imagine after hours of travelling I was looking forward very much to a hot shower but..... Ujiaaannn.
We slept for a couple of hours coz waktu Subuh masuk pukul 4 pagi (lebih kurang).
Bila azan pertama (untuk kejut orang bangun tidur) we went down to the lobby and off to the mosque. My goodness..... I have never seen in my entire life orang berjemaah Subuh punyalah ramai. The locals also bergegas ke masjid.
Selesai sembahyang, balik hotel for breakfast. Around 7 am we had to gather at the lobby for the visit to Maqam Rasulullah S.A.W and Baqik. Since it was still early (around 5am and hari pun dah terang) my wife and I decided to explore the surrounding area.
We went for window shopping. We knew then where the most talk about shopping complex (by Malaysians of course), Bin Dawood, was. We explored the streets and shops and by 7 am we were back at the hotel lobby.
Kalau dah kata orang Melayu tu Melayu jugak lah. Janji pukul 7 tapi 7.30 baru semua ada. Mutawwif pun lambat. Ujiaaannn.....
7.45am - ziarah bermula. I was speechless when I suddenly realized I was standing right in front of Maqam Rasulullah S.A.W. The feelings.... only God knows. Then buat sembahyang sunat di Raudhah. Raudhah ni tempat makbul doa. Masa ni jemaah wanita dalam group lain, tak boleh campur dengan lelaki.
Around 9am ziarah pun selesai. I met my wife at the lobby and we then decided to hit the streets again. So..... we went. Beli sikit-sikit buah tangan untuk di bawa balik. "Halal", "Haram", these are the two famous words used when shopping.
1230pm - Zuhur. Berduyun-duyun orang ke masjid. Seronok tengok. Yang berniaga terus tutup kedai bila dengar azan. Peniaga kaki lima cuma selimutkan barang niaga dengan kain. Tak bimbang kena curi. Itulah rahmat hukum Allah dilaksanakan.
Although food was provided at the hotel, I and my wife decided to venture the food on sale. MasyaAllah...... sedapnya. You name them... kebab, nasi beriani, kari daging, etc. Even kari kambing dia pun tak de bau hanyir. Berkat tanah haram agaknya. My wife suka sangat fruit juice but I don't because it's too thick to my liking.
After Asar we continued to explore the streets nearby. Lepas maghrib and isya' we went back to our room and retired.
DAY 2
Our tour agency had arranged for a trip around Madinah . We went to historical places like Masjid Quba', Masjid Qiblatain, kilang mencetak Al-Quran, kebun kurma dan pasar kurma. You can view the photos below.
In the afternoon, there was another tour arranged but this was optional. Those who wanted to go, had to pay extras. I and wife decided not to join as we had our own agenda which included the visit to Maqam Rasulullah S.A.W and Raudhah. We wanted to take this opportunity again since early the following day we would leave for Makkah.
DAY 3
After Subuh, we peformed 'Ziarah Wida' and then got on my ihram. Mula-mula tu rasa janggal gak. Then around 7.45am we left Madinah for Makkah Al Mukarramah. We stopped by at Masjid Bir Ali for miqat. At this point, perasaan tu memang tak tentu rasa. Takut, sedih, seronok, macam-macam. Satu persoalan yang timbul, "Boleh ke aku nampak Kaabah nanti?". The journey took approximately 5 hours (plus lunch stop). Most members felt asleep along the way.
1245pm - we arrived at our hotel in Makkah, Royal Sultan (about 300 meters from Masjidil Haram).
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