Every living and practicing Muslim dreams of visiting Mecca and Madinah, the two holiest cities in the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is at these places that faith holders around the world would gather, regardless of class or creed, to perform century-old religious rituals.

Umrah is the Arabic word for 'short visit,' and there are fewer rituals required to be done during Umrah than during the full-fledged Hajj pilgrimage. While Hajj is one of the 5 pillars of Islam (thus becomes compulsory) and has to be done during a specific time, Umrah is a visitation that is not mandatory and can be made any time of the year.

In May 2007, I finally had the opportunity to visit Mecca and Madinah for umrah with my parents.

To remember my time in Saudi Arabia and to commemorate this year's Ramadan month of fasting and to welcome in the Hari Raya Aidilfitri month of Syawal, I would like to share with you a collection of photos that I snapped during my 8-day stay in the faraway country. I sincerely hope you will enjoy the gallery.

The Saudi Arabia photo gallery starts here.

Farah 'Fairy' Mahdzan
21 September 2007

Have you been to Saudi Arabia?

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Say what?

#28	Fairy - Website	28-Apr-2008, 20:16 MYT
IMAN: Yes, I bet it is near impossible to filter pilgrims during Haji time for hidden cameras, there are literally MILLIONS of people in Mecca at that time!

#25	Fairy	29-Dec-2007, 11:35 MYT
Salam RINN, tell your friend I said thank you for the recommendation. I am glad you enjoyed visiting this site. Yes, insyaallah I too hope I may once again visit the great kingdom. God bless you too!

#24	rinn	28-Dec-2007, 19:33 MYT
Hello! A friend of mine recommended this website to me...and I truly enjoy your shoots...absolutely lovely! been to Saudi Arabia too and it is really a spritual journey! Will definitely go there again! Insya-Allah! May Allah Bless You!

#23	Fairy	11-Dec-2007, 10:38 MYT
Terima kasih Patrick, terutama buat resensi tentang MyIndo di blog anda.

#22	Patrick AMP Manurung - Website	11-Nov-2007, 23:54 MYT
Wauw, foto-fotonya bagus banget. Sering dengar cerita teman yang kesana dan lihat foto-foto mereka, tapi belum pernah lihat yang seperti disini. Trims, ya.

#21	Fairy	4-Nov-2007, 17:29 MYT
WIBOWO WAHYU: Pake Nikon Coolpix apa gitu, pokoknya point&shoot deh, not DSLR. Hi ADLIN, thanks very much for your interpretation of the word 'haram', it is certainly enlightening and definitely makes sense.

#20	Adlin - Website	4-Nov-2007, 16:26 MYT
Fairy, Mecca is called Haraam which means "sacred" or suci not the other Haram which means forbidden. Haram(sacred) - حرا ;م( Ha Ra' Alif Mim) Haram(forbidden) - حرم ; (Ha Ra' Mim) So Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām (ال  5;سج 83; الح ;را  5 is actually the sacred masjid instead of the forbidden one . Answer to your question: Yes, been there twice for umrah.

#19	wibowo wahyu - Website	1-Nov-2007, 18:24 MYT
nice pic! pake kamera apa tuh fairy?

#18	BASRI - Website	26-Oct-2007, 16:42 MYT
Wow! Bertuahnya dapat pergi Mekah masa usia masih muda belia. Gambar-gambar sangat-sangat menarik.

#17	Fairy	22-Oct-2007, 23:05 MYT
CIREBONESE: You're welcome, glad you enjoyed the photos.

#15	Fairy	12-Oct-2007, 10:03 MYT
RIGA: I can just imagine how packed Mekah would be during Haji season, you're so lucky to have been there for that! I would have rather taken care of the compulsory requirement first, although the Umrah was a great insight in setting my expectations for Haji. TIBAN: Jejak Farah lah.

#13	riga	9-Oct-2007, 09:54 MYT
Great pics, Sis! It's good that you go for umrah first, so you can visit more places, such as the Islamic museum. It seems to be such a nice place to visit. I hope I can go there someday. My only time in Saudi so far was for Hajj. You can imagine how packed it was

#12	Fairy	8-Oct-2007, 10:58 MYT
AQI: Yes I risked my sanity to get that photo of the Kaabah, you had no idea what a wreck I was hehe. But it was my pleasure to share these shots from Saudi.

#10	Fairy	8-Oct-2007, 09:24 MYT
BAGAS: Oh masa? I've always thought the official spelling for camel in Indonesia is onta, I've not heard any Indonesians referring to it as "unta." Maybe I have a lot of Sundanese friends.

#9	bagas - Website	8-Oct-2007, 00:23 MYT
as far as I know fai, EYDnya (correct Bahasa Indonesia) memang 'unta'. tapi beberapa daerah, for example basa sunda, as I am Sundanese, memang 'onta'

#8	Fairy	7-Oct-2007, 23:47 MYT
LAUNG: No lah, smuggling for the sake of personal keepsake. It's not often I go to Mekah. It's the Kaabah man, the Kaabah...

#7	Laung	7-Oct-2007, 23:40 MYT
No. 19 Smuggling for the sake of readers eh Fai?

#6	Fairy	7-Oct-2007, 18:07 MYT
NELLIE SAID: I actually used my dad's point & shoot Nikon Coolpix (forgot the model number), I couldn't bring my Canon DSLR - it was a pain to smuggle in a small camera into the mosques, let alone a monster one. Plus for practicality purposes, the P&S was much more travel-friendly. Frankly, I think the photographer maketh the picture, not necessarily the tool. But thanks kindly for your comments. Have a happy hari raya too!

#5	Nellie Said	7-Oct-2007, 07:52 MYT
Your pics are fantastic. I've been there twice only the last visit (haj) I did took some photos but not as good as yours. What type of camera did you use. Anyway have a safe journey home and a wonderful hari raya.......

#4	Fairy - Website	6-Oct-2007, 13:49 MYT
Thanks Nuli, Adek. I hope you have a safe and wonderful Hari Raya with your family.

#3	nuli - Website	6-Oct-2007, 07:28 MYT
excellent image pretty impressive!

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