Day 1 – Madinah al Munawwaraah
Okay, so we are in Madinah and feeling great Alhamdulillah. If you come from countries where the maximum temperature is only 15 degrees at the moment or lower, very soon you start feeling uncomfortable, tired, etc. (see picture for weather forecast below)
The 10 trips a day to the Haram motivation you had at home seems to be wearing off.
It’s normal, don’t worry! For many of us the environment is a big change and we need to first get ourselves comfortable before setting out to do all the things we want to do inshaAllah. (For this reason, it’s a good idea to pick a Hajj package that allows you to spend as much time as possible before the actual days of Hajj so you can acclimatize yourself and get into a daily rhythm that is comfortable for you!)
Here are a few tips to get comfortable as you will be doing a lot of walking around and to and from the Haram
Get a light weight back pack or string bag
These bags are extremely useful to carry your essentials daily and not have to worry about leaving your shoes outside the Masjid or in random locations that seem to evade your mind! The photo above is what happens to your slippers if you leave them outside and the cleaners decide they want to clean that section so chances are you’ll never see them again.
The bag just needs to be big enough to carry a thin light weight prayer mat (you can buy them in Madinah if your group doesn’t provide one) and to keep your slippers (take comfortable slippers as you do a lot of walking). String bags work well so you can fold them and keep them in your bag / pocket when not required. You can buy these from the shops in Madinah if needed and cost only 10 to 15 riyals.
Don’t worry too much about carrying water as there is plenty of drinking water and Zam Zam available in and outside the Masjid.
Look for chairs you can take with you if needing to rest from time to time
Alhamdulillah, they have many chairs available for you to use inside the Masjid. Just look out for areas such as the ones above so you can pick up and keep with you.
Washing clothes
Yes it’s hot. Yes you sweat a lot. And yes your clothes get dirty a lot quicker than you hope they would. If you would like to save time, a simple way to keep your clothes clean is to get some strong shopping bags such as below, and soak your clothes in the bag after filling it with some water and washing powder before you leave.
When you’re back, simply rinse and spread out in your room. They dry pretty quick.
Do you need sunscreen?
I recommend you take some as it does get very hot and having some cream with sun block is handy. It can also get addictive!
That’s it from me for now. Do share with your friends & family as many will find this information useful I hope.
As always, I’d love to hear from you regarding your own experiences and tips so do let me know in comments below!