Views from the top floor of Masjidil Haram

Continued from The tunnel under the Mecca clock tower.

That night me and wife decided to sleep at the Masjidil Haram, the holy mosque. Around 3.40am or so I woke up and felt like going to the top floor.

With its wide open space you can have a good perspective of what's around.

Time to look at the inner compound.

My wife was still sleeping on the second level seen here...

The tunnel under the Mecca clock tower

Continued from Passing through Mina.

Besides our hotel lies a road tunnel. For certain reasons it was closed with blocks of concrete blocking just outside the entrance.

I was told it is a shortcut to the Masjidil Haram, the holy mosque of Mecca. So I decided to climb across the obstacle while my wife found an easier way in.

So there we were going through the tunnel late afternoon.

Soon we could see light at the end of the tunnel.

Ah. Above lies a group of skyscrapers including the Mecca clock tower.

The walk was continued under the skyscrapers leading to some sort of loading bay. 

From there you could take escalators into the shopping complex underneath the clock tower.

Just outside the shopping complex lies the Masjidil Haram. So the tunnel is indeed a shortcut from our hotel.

Passing through Mina

Continued from Views from the hill called Jabal Rahmah.

The Jabal Rahmah lies within a vast plain called the field of Arafah. From there our bus took us towards a place called Mina.

Here you can see tents almost everywhere.

The tents are for people making the compulsory one night vigil in Mina. This is part of a number of acts that must be done to complete the Muslim pilgrimage act of hajj.

The hajj however could only be done within a certain period of days in a year. Outside its season Mina is practically empty and so does a nearby area where lies the jamrah.

The jamrah are three pillars representing evil within the complex seen here. Hajj pilgrims must throw stones at the pillars as a symbolic act of fighting evil.

Views from the hill called Jabal Rahmah

Monday 8th April 2013. It's to visit places outside of the city of Mecca, among it, the hill called Jabal Rahmah.

Me and wife quickly made a climb up to the summit. Here are some views from up there.

This hill is often frequented because of the story that goes with it.

It is said that this was where Prophet Adam was reunited with his wife Hawa or Eve after being separated for 40 years...

Views from second level of Masjidil Haram

Continued from Views from the inner compound of the Masjidil Haram.

Late afternoon me and wife spent time at the second level of the mosque.

From here one could get a good perspective of the going-ons. It is a good place to see the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of pilgrims circumambulating the holy black building called the Ka'abah, the focal point for Muslims worldwide to face towards to in prayers.

Views from the inner compound of the Masjidil Haram

The article An introductory view of Mecca and its holy mosque made 3 days ago has shown pictures as I walked towards the Masjidil Haram or holy mosque in Mecca at night. Now time to savour some views from the middle or rather, inner compound of the mosque in broad daylight.

Sunday afternoon 7th April 2013. After conducting the Zuhur (afternoon) prayers in congregation me and wife stepped onto the inner compound.

The 650-metres high or so Mecca clock tower looms large outside...

As usual I like to take in views from different angles turning anti-clockwise.

The holy Ka'abah, Muslims' focal point for prayers worldwide. Behind is the long straight segment attached to the holy mosque where lies the place for sa'ie... an act of walking to and fro between the peaks of two ancient hills emulating the action of Siti Hajar (Hagar), wife to Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) when she was looking for water to give to her crying infant son Prophet Ismail (Ishmael).

That is estimated to have happened some 6,000 years ago, when the city of Mecca was still a barren desert. Now just look at the developments going around...