A Trip to al-haramain as sharifain
I have been dreaming again. The ones that would wake you up in the middle of the night and made your eyes open until you hear the rooster making noises in the far distance. And in that moment you feel so wasted for losing a good sleep but at the same time remember a call from an Ustaz to wake up for qiamullail. I pushed a good stretch and stared into the darkness ;weighing the good and the evil. I guess a good pee will resolve the uncertainty. The many nights of sleeplessness always preceded my long journey. Although this is not my first long trip, the anxiety still provokes my peaceful mind. For the next ten days I will numb myself from fears and worries. Whatever will be, will be!
The preparation for the trip is almost complete. I could see myself queueing in Jeddah without my underwear just two pieces of white towels wrapped around me; dragging a handful of luggage.This time no one will be waiting at the door to greet us just ugly faces of taxi scammers or bag pushers that will heat up my anger and frustration. But people said things have been different and many alternative services for the tourists have been made available. I am skeptical, nevertheless. The hustles in making your way in and out of the airport are inevitable, wherever you go things will go ugly. I won’t dwell into that too much as it will ruin my precious journey. The secret of making a long journey bearable is to cut it into small distances and manage them separately. Make decisions as planned and sort the regrets (if any) after the journey. And that’s how I manage my anxiety as well. Ten days from now I will be going to the airport which is 15 minutes away; that’s all. I could do that just fine as I have been to the airport many times. Its’s like a movie clip that you click and it will play for a few minutes. I have my journey clips stored quietly at the back of my mind; hoping they will match the real journey.
My journey clips :
- Drive to the airport. <<done>>
- Check-in & milling around until boarding. <<done>>
- The 8-hour flight on Saudia. << done – been on it>>
- Change into Ihram clothes. << no idea>>
- Jeddah airport. << done – been there>>
- Passport and Customs Checks << no idea–should be okay>>
- Boarding a bus to Mecca. << no idea>>
- Finding our hotel. <<no idea– googled>>
- Umrah. << done that>>
- End of Day 1/40 <<done>>
<<done>> means I have pretty good idea on how this will play out
<<no idea >> builds up anxiety
Anyway, to ease the pain of facing the unforeseen circumstances we made a checklist. A good planner, like my wife, keen to keep a checklist. I prefer a get-up-and-go way to start a journey as a list will put a mental burden on me way before the journey has even started. A journey of this magnitude, however, demands preparations well before hand. I agree even though the next ten days will brew a painful anxiety deep in my stomach.
Checklist :
- Hotels
- Hotel 1 : Booked
- Hotel 2 : Paid (Ramadhan 1-30)
- Hotel 3 : Madinah (Booked)
- Flight tickets (Confirmed)
- Immunizations (2 shots)
- e-Visa (Approved)
- Download app (Nusuk) .Done
- Money. Ready. Buy some SAR next week.
- Bullet Train to Madinah. Done.
- Clothes (Ihram).Done
- Ready food. (Some)
- Medicines. (Appt next week)
- Luggage. Ready.
Well you get the idea. My head is spinning already!
