Day 18: A camel came to the mosque today

6 nights to go now and then I'm back in the real world. Prayers will continue of course just not in the same manner. For a start they won't last nearly as long and they won't be conducted in such grand surroundings nor with thousands and thousands of people from all over the world.

We never did move to that other hotel. Their lift wasn't quite as reliable as one would like and our current hotel manager agreed to lower the price per night to match the other one.

Prices for all hotels had gone up in July because of the new season - schools broke up this month and expectations were high that there would be a huge influx of people. That never materialised in quite the way it had been hoped. People did come but briefly and left after a day or two.

I'm useless at guessing numbers but I would be willing to say that there are at least a lot of people here. Some of my photos will show you the numbers.

I'll be doing a farewell Twaf and Shai later this week. After the completion of this, you're not supposed to see the Ka'aba again. I don't know the reasoning behind this so will have to find out.

A camel came to the mosque today dressed in blue with a massive bundle of goods on his back.

[Category saudi arabia][tags saudi arabia, umrah, pilgrim, photography, photo, al-haram, ka'aba, mecca, medina, people, mosque, religion, hotel, bathroom, camel, islam]