oh yeah i also like shawarma etc :p so khboar corniche will be good for that? thanks again.
do u know if i will have visa problem? i m us citizen. is it better to get sponsorship or by itself?
what I know is that NO One in the world is given a visa on arrival in Saudi Arabia be it a US Citizen. But now the rules have actually eased up quite a lot. But still some one have to sponsor you the Saudi Arabia for a Visit Visa.
About Shawarma, there are tons of places on Khobar Corniche it self, just ask any one of Baba Habbas or Abu Nawas and you will one of the best shawarma and kabab in town. Try their fruit juice as well :)...
Copper Chandni is good at times only. Yes it is very elegant and delicious, but I have found their food to be pretty crappy at times. But its worth a try. Also there is a good Chinese Restaurent just in front of Copper Chandni on the other side of the road, that was excellent. You can fill all your appetite for chinese food there :)…
what I know is that NO One in the world is given a visa on arrival in Saudi Arabia be it a US Citizen. But now the rules have actually eased up quite a lot. But still some one have to sponsor you the Saudi Arabia for a Visit Visa.
About Shawarma, there are tons of places on Khobar Corniche it self, just ask any one of Baba Habbas or Abu Nawas and you will one of the best shawarma and kabab in town. Try their fruit juice as well :)...
:( oh i hope i get the visa through sponsor. i also was reading at state website that if i m goin to umrah i can go outside the mecca medina, but not during hajj time. that has to doen through travel agent. i don't know how true is that.
We got back from Umrah about 2 weeks ago. Getting the visa was interesting but in the end, y husband got his visa from the US (pak passport). A relative of mine takes people for umrah and hajj tours so he was able to guide us effectively. We applied for umrah visa for myself and my daughter at the Saudi embassy in Bahrain where we were for a wedding. Our trip was 5 nights long. We spent 3 nights in Makkah at the Niazi hotel and 2 nights in medina at Mawaddat ul Noor. Both were decent, clean and very basic hotels but served our purpose. They were very near the masajids except that the Niazi hotel was on a hill and it was really tiring to go back up every time but Alhamdulillah the trip was worth any and every hassle we encountered.
For our 16 month old, we took the Baby Bjorn and Alhamd she was a good baby throughout the trip. She happily stayed in the carrier during umrah, tawaf and saii etc at all times of the night and day.
For those planning on going, i suggest do take a musalla with you and a pocket quran (Afshi suggested this but i forgot). Even though there are plenty of qurans in the masjid but sometimes you are in an area where you cant find one. Also make sure you take an alarm clock with you. We didnt and paid big time since the front desk either never made wake up calls to us or we never heard the phone.
We also did our first umrah at tahajjud time and it was the best time to be able to get close to the hateem, maqam-e-ibrahim, multazim etc. During the day it wasnt that bad either in terms of the rush since it was so hot, people prefer after maghrib or isha. But i wouldnt take kids during the day time for tawaf.