Exploring Medina

High Speed Train

Today we leave for Medina (Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah) by train to collect our rental car for a big road trip that will take us at least 2600km over 11 days.  But we will overnight in Medina before starting the road trip in earnest tomorrow.

I had been feeling a bit sweaty the last couple of nights in bed. As I also had had a sore throat and a tiny bit of mucous since Najran, I decided to take a Covid-19 test upon waking up.  I had put it down to dry desert air and inhalation of sandy particles with it. Well, well, well … positive!  I’ve finally caught it officially after nearly four years since the pandemic started.

E was comfortable with me as he had just had Covid-19 recently and with me being largely asymptomatic, I didn’t feel the need to isolate.  I will just wear a mask on public transport, like I have been doing.  I haven’t been in any crowded places at all, which just goes to show that the virus is everywhere.

Our hotel in Jeddah was kind enough to provide our breakfast early at 0630, before their usual time.

I ordered a car to take us to Jeddah’s Haramain train station around 0715, getting there in good time for the 0832 departure.  The station was big and airy, obviously designed with capacity for the future.

The Haramain (literally two haram, forbidden or holy places) railway links the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina.  Even though services commenced about five years ago, some basics hadn’t been ironed out:

• Signage to the individual platforms were not clear.
• There were no markings on the platform floor to match the carriage numbers.

Jeddah’s Haramain Station at Sulaymaniyah.

Getting started in Medina

We got to Medina in just under 2h, reaching a top speed of 300 km/h.  I had booked a car with Budget with pick-up at 1100.

Arriving in Medina.

But first-up, I needed a pit stop.  There was a long queue for the men’s toilet but fortunately E worked out that there was a urinal available which nobody wanted to use, so I was able to jump the queue to relieve myself.  Urinals are rare in Saudi Arabia and where present in more “international” settings like airports and stations, they’re rarely used.

We turned up at the Budget counter at 1045 to start the paperwork for our 1100 pickup.  We had wanted a bigger car for the long 11-day journey but could not secure one online at a reasonable price.  Unfortunately, all they had here was a Toyota Corolla even if we were prepared to pay to upgrade to a larger one.

After about 30 mins, all the paperwork was done and we went to the parking building to start the checks on the car.  With that done, we decided it would be easier to have a light lunch at the station rather than go looking elsewhere.

Back at the station, I had my first taste of Al Baik, Saudi’s fast-food chain.  It was OK, but nothing special, if I may pass judgement based on only one menu item.

We started driving at 1200, which was 1h30 after arrival.  We had lost half a day getting to Medina and collecting the car, so it was a good idea not to have started the road trip today, as we had plans to see some places that would take us a rather long distance.

Exploring Medina

E drove us to from Medina’s Haramain station to near the historic Hejaz railway station, where we parked.  The station was undergoing a big restoration and was inaccessible for any worthwhile photos.

Medina’s old Hejaz Railway Station.

From here, we walked through an underground pedestrian crossing adorned with photos of key mosques in the city.  The most notable one for me was Masjid Qiblatayn, believed to be where Muhammad (pbuh) received the command to change the Qibla (direction of prayer) from Jerusalem to Mecca.

We continued to the centre of the city around 1300 where the Prophet’s Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi) was located.  The surrounding area was largely devoid of any historic buildings apart from several small mosques.  It was mainly high-rise hotels, to accommodate the millions of pilgrims that visit every year.

The streets were filled with pilgrims from all corners of the world, many of whom cross the roads in groups, giving them the power to stop the slow city traffic.

As non-Muslims are not permitted to visit the Prophet’s Mosque, we walked around the perimeter fence.  It was hard to see the actual mosque during the day with the sun-shades deployed. But we could tell that the outside area within the perimeter fence was huge and there were red-carpeted overflow areas outside of the fence.

At a photo-stop, I asked a seemingly Malay or Indonesian woman to help take our photo.  She turned out to be from South Africa; a Cape Malay from Capetown.

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Re-planning

After about 1h30 in the city centre, we walked back to the car to drive out to the W Platinum Hotel for our overnight.

Getting there around 1530, I felt the need to review our plans for our Jeddah stay at the end of this 11-day road trip.  I had noticed that the Jeddah Haramain station and our booked accommodation, while somewhat just opposite the road from each other, involves a circuitous route (perhaps 25 mins) that includes a rather unwalkable route by a busy highway, especially with luggage.

The distance would be too close and no taxi or rideshare would probably want to accept the job.  After some discussion with E, we manage to come to a solution and made the necessary amendments.

Medina by night

After 1930, we headed out by car again to visit Medina’s centre, but this time dressed in our thawb.  The city was really humming by then with traffic being atrocious.

We managed to park illegally around 2000 on the roadside with many other cars, finding safety in numbers.  We would have to be very unlucky to be towed as there were plenty of other cars just as deserving of being towed.

With the sunshades lowered for the night, we had a better view of the Prophet’s Mosque.  A large portion of the building is new but tonight, we could see a green dome from the old portion.

According to Wikipedia, the green dome houses the tomb of the Prophet along with that of two early Caliphs, and that a fourth spot is reserved for Jesus Christ for his return.

Food wasn’t easy to find, probably because we hadn’t been looking in the right places.  After a while, we settled on falafel shawarmas, sitting on bollards by the roadside.

It was a late night out for us and we didn’t get back to the hotel till around 2215.

With the sunshades down at at night, the Prophet’s Mosque is more visible. The green dome is home to the Prophet’s tomb.