Most of these were taken from inside a moving bus ... especially the ones around Mina and Arafat .... plus I had to shrink them in order to post so the quality of the pics has gone down.
Still to come ... pics of Madina, Gulf region and Karachi. :)
Since I had to decrease the size of the original photos, you can't really zoom in and see the background properly. There are people hiding underneath the trucks, in its wheels and trying to climb it.
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My bro took a lot more but they came out super blurry. These two photos were taken once they reached higher ground. Where they originally stood, there was water up to their waist.
Thanks..:-)
Ghar-e-hira looks like a very rocky hill…I had imagined it differently for some reason..did you get a chance to go there?
What are the white tents?
How does stoning the devil work…is it two levels? Ppl must be going crazy there
Sorry so many questions :-p
Flood doesn’t look to bad from the two pictures above…Floods like this happen in Pakistan all the time during monsoon season…maybe the pics are not doing justice to the enormity of it.
Great pics indeed and let me tell you the more the time will pass u will start missing those place like anything. and then u will turn to these memories which will make things even more painful.
The ones my brother took are up on higher ground. Trust me, it was a lot worse.
AQ, I don’t know what road we travelled on from Mecca to Madina. It was the middle of the night … and there’s a story to go along with that. I’ll have to post soon. I took loads of photos in Madina too … will post soon.
Mindless, the place that we stayed at was about a 10 minute walk down the street from the Haram in Mecca.
In Madina, we stayed in what was considered the "old section" which apparently is the only section where they have old buildings. I really liked it here. It felt so good ... very calm, safe and spiritual. I didn't have the same feeling in Mecca. Anyway, the place where we stayed in Madina, that whole section is going to be bulldozed and new luxury hotels will be built in its place. I'll took lots of photos here .... will post them soon.
There is literally a world of difference between Mecca and Madina. Sorry to have to say this, but I could not wait to leave Mecca. Never in my life have I seen a place so disrespected as what I saw in Mecca.
Before we all left for Madina, the maulvi specifically told us that the crap which was being tolerated in Mecca will not fly in Madina. If you do any of the things that were happening in Mecca, the police and officials in Madina will grab you. For the life of me, I don't understand why it was even being tolerated in Mecca. I think it's only like this during Hajj ... I have a very hard time believing that area of Mecca is like that all year round.
Fayz, the stoning is crazy .... seriously. I went the first two days and third day I said stuff it, I'm not going. My dad and bro went instead to do it for us but that was the same day of the flooding and stampede.
It's really scary. I've been skydiving and I wasn't as scared then as I was during the stoning.
I don't even know where to begin. I have to tell you about Arafat, Muzdalifah and then the stoning. Plus the drama of Mina where my nani ammi decided to do a disappearing act.
The whole experience sounds quite fascinating Mehnaz. yea tell us more..u r the one typing not me :-p I haven’t grasped what really happens at the stoning..it is quite interesting though
Nani was with you too? Now that is an Amazing Hajj for sure…that’aweome..It must have been tough for her considering all the Mecca details that you have told me.
I see a couple of Hajis in the thread…do you guys have anything to add to what goes on in Macca and Madina and how they are different. I’m sure it would be very educational for the rest of us.
I saw the flood pictures…looks terrible really. I’m glad you guys made it. An emergency in a foreign country is not an ideal situation for anyone.
