The invitation

Assalammu'alaikum family, friends, readers and followers of this blog. Well, my entries aren't going in batches of 4 maybe 5 years once, it seems. 

I made a poll on my Instagram, on an experience I had at a popular shop in Madinah during my umrah trip. MasyaAllah,  Alhamdulillah,  Tabarakallah, I get to perform my Umrah last Syawal. 

As mentioned in the story prior to the poll, I shared that my experience is unique like many others who have far more experience  visiting and performing umrah. So mine is no different, my experience is unique in its own category. Let's dive into it. 

The calling/ invitation 

My calling began far back in 2023 when I saw an old friend going and returning a few times to perform her umrah. I slide in her DMs congratulating her and shared the fact that I envy her ability to keep going, and masyaAllah her reply made me hear the calling getting louder for me. It was an invite for me. Her exact words, "Allah sudah gerakkan hati kau tu. Dont overthink. Listen to the heart."

I began researching costs and preparation to undertake, I began asking a lot of questions to those we went, the different weather during different months, other considerations I have to make, additional arrangements I have to make, and many more....

I discussed with my husband back then, we mentioned end 2024. We started making plans, but Allah is the greater of all planners. It was destined that my Husband's cancer cells decide to activate and progressed to stage 4. We seeked advice from the palliative team, and he was mid to high risk. We decided to hold it back and I told him it is okay, if it is decreed for him to leave then I will go perform it on his behalf (badal umrah), he told me to bring my mom and sisters,  to sponsor them if need be. 

Choosing an agency

As news got around, my husband passed in October 2024. After much discussion, I decided to proceed and perform my umrah with my mother and eldest sister sometime in April or May, way after I completed my Iddah. We started scouting for agencies who has a group going during the period we wanted. 

I heard good things about Karva and decided to take them on, the initial date we had booked for was 7th-17th May. Price was reasonable for its close proximity of hotels at both Mekkah and Madinah, I wanted awal Madinah, and it ticked all my preference. 

Challenges right from the start

Yes, ujian. It started right from the booking, so have patience. Our dates get cancelled and changed multiple times after we made payment. Regulations get changed from time to time too. We initially had to have the vaccination, which we took, then it was only recommended and not mandatory. Our dates got changed initially to 16th April - 26th April, but admin said I didn't respond fast enough and we ended with 30th April - 9th May, and then it changed again to 23rd April - 2nd May. My sister blew up a bit as we had to change our Annual Leave application multiple times. Alhamdulillah though, it enabled and kick start us to practice patience at this point.

Courses : Manasik Umrah

We attended our first under Karva, which was introductory level and we find it pretty much on the surface, but we do learn a lot. We then started scouting to attend more that is available from other agencies. We love the one conducted by Halijah travel the most as it was very detailed and conducted over 2 days, so there was no overload of information. We attended two more during Ramadhan, one conducted by Hulm Hijrah and another one was our briefing-manasik by Karva. The briefing overrun, we were rather running thin on our patience that day because it was running too close to iftar, and we had to order our food, we had to travel home, etc. We expected a bit more as Hulm Hijrah provided a sandwich and packet drink to bring home although it ended before 6pm, surely they took into account that some of us may take more time travelling home. Karva didn't provide a packet drink or a piece of date even to take on the way home in case iftar came before we reached home. Anyways... Alhamdulillah still.. we didn't starve that night.

I just wish the manasik, especially the briefing was made mandatory and to have a child minding service so everyone can focus and pay attention. 

Packing list

The recommended packing list for women was really little, like 4 sets of clothes for a 10-days stay. Due to my sister's and my anxiety and fear of not having enough, we ended up packing 7 sets of clothes. And I am glad I did. 

I would say it depends on the individual preference, I packed 7 sets of everything I wear and I packed them in a set: 1 jubah,  1 legging/pants, 1 pair of handsocks (where necessary), 1 pair of socks, 1 inner top (where necessary), 1 inner tudung & 1 khimar. I packed these in a ziplock bag as a full set, so that's 7 such bags. It is easy for me this way, I don't need to check anymore and am confident that 1 bag is a full outfit on its own. I know other individuals who are more flexible and often travel light, and if you are one, you can definitely survive with 4 and do lots of mix and match. Also, we were often told that we can always buy if we need more (but if you are like me, you know you won't be shopping, then just bring what is enough for you and disregard people who keep saying 4 set is more than enough).

I packed some foldable hangers and about 2m of rafia string in case I need to do my own laundry (we do end up doing our own laundry for our undergarments), my sister packed her laundry pods and a small foldable bucket. 

Medications: I packed panadols - cold and flu, extend, regular & extra. I packed Alleve, flu meds, lozenges (of various brands), medication oil (25 - 50ml), hot cream (to ease cramps, body aches), and of course mom's daily dose of medication (we brought approx for 12-15days just in case). My sister brought cough syrup, migraine pills, her regular daily dose of medications.  All these in hand carry, except cough syrup as it was more than 100ml, that one we put in our checked in baggage. 

Money: My sister and I had our youtrip cards so we didn't hold much cash in hand, we probably had about SAR1000 each, my mother had more approximately SAR3000-4000, as we had to put aside SAR350 for each wheelchair service for tawaf & sa'i. If it is just tawaf, it is about SAR 150-200 each time. Do have small change for tips (if you like, it is not mandatory, but it was a form of charity for my mom). I have no intention to shop though, so these are plenty for us.

Awal Makkah

We were headed to Makkah first, so we need to be in our ihram and do our niat on flight. Our group was small, just 12 of us, 8 of which are female, and 4 are male. We only had a male official with us through the flight. Alhamdulillah everything runs smooth, we met our Mutawwif upon landing, and up until we arrive to our hotel at Makkah, where we had dinner and some time to rest a little before performing our first umrah was smooth sailing, Alhamdulillah. We will be staying in Makkah for 6 days.

First umrah

Now, with just 12 jemaah, I somewhat expected us to be solid united. However, during our 1st umrah itself, I come to realise a number is just a number. The Mutawwif explained the formation, we were to walk in such formation for the safety and unison. Well we tried, but somehow everyone broke apart from the formation. My sister and I were just mesmerised by the sight of Kaabah, the surreal feeling that this is happening for real. With the broken formation, we ended up just keeping close to the official like making sure he is within sight so we know we are still somewhat together. We completed 7 rounds and were gathered to the back to proceed and pray sunat tawaf. 

After solat sunat tawaf, we went on to drink some zam zam water. Right after, we proceeded to do our Sa'i. Here, formation is nothing like anything almost from the walk from Safa to Marwa. We ended up sticking right behind our Mutawwif to the end. And then alhamdulillah, we did our Tahallul and completed our umrah. Alhamdulillah,MasyaAllah,  Tabarakallah. 

On our own (free and easy)

Upon returning to our hotel, official advice us to rest up and perform our subuh in our hotels if we need to as we ended our first umrah close to 4am, and subuh there is around 4.30am. He told us to have our breakfast which will be served from 6 to 10.30am. We were to gather and meet for Zohor later at 11.30am. Just to get us familiarised before we gain confidence to go on our own on other free and easy days. 

As I had a wheelchair to push, we walked at a slower pace and I had to scan ahead for stairs or if there are ramps available. Guess what? Right after the Mutawwif if not within sight, we were just the 3 of us, the rest were further ahead. Its okay. We managed. The 3 of us stayed from Zohor to Asr, we did a lot of solat qada' and were just staring at the Kaabah making silent do'a with all our heart.

We met again for maghrib that day because the Muttawif wants to bring us up to rooftop. This time, I decided to befriend this makcik and helped her with her slippers, waited for her, constantly checking and offering assistance such as helping her top up her bottle with zam zam water, and what not. I even took her selfie for her, she is such gentle being and so lovable!

At this point I started wondering about laundry because well, anxiety is begining to speak. So the following breakfast,  i told my sister lets just ask around the non-first-timers, oh how helpful they are, "laundry? Antar je kat Safwa. Price kena recee sendiri uh".

Helpful right? So, I asked the official privately to ask, and he said he will be making arrangements. I am just expecting the non-first-timers to not key in their room numbers, i mean "antar je la kat Safwa tuuu", but they did.

It was Friday, ada solat Jumaat. And we met again, this time makcik was already tagging behind us and even asked if we can walk with her to which we said "boleh je, cuma kita jalan slow² lah". Makcik pun tak boleh lari, so we all slow² je jalan.

It was after solat Jumaat that I learnt, she was left behind right from the 1st free and easy day period. Which is why she decided that she have to stick with us, we are the safest bet because mom is on wheelchair. That day,  we saw pakcik smile for the first time eh the moment he saw his wife walking with us safety and at ease. Everyone else was back in the hotel already at that time, I mean they can fly (run), we can't. It's okay slow² je, sampai juga...

We did Syabil after Asr that day. Alhamdulillah. During the Syabil, we were informed that our Taif tour had to be cancelled, and that it is now only Jabal Nur or Museum. At this point, someone, "eh duluuu, kena bayar tau pergi Jabal Nur, so kena bayar you eh?" to the official, which I find it super rude, he is the official, he would know better and who knows the additional cost was absorbed by the agency. Anyways, official steady je. Someone had to ask him, so sekarang free & easy kan? (Official nodded).ok guys! Sekarang free & easy!" Ni kakak aku pun, "siapa pegawai sekarang?". We had wanted to ask the official something and this someone made us forget then gave the feels like he is chasing us off. 

During our free and easy periods, my sister and I managed to do tawaf sunat. It was after that when I had my menses, so I bought Primolut. Took me 3 days to come clean again.

We did ziarah before we were to perform our 2nd umrah, so many stories of our Prophet, and people... please listen when others are telling a story. Save yourself some face from asking something that was just explained and told prior. 

We visited Jabal Tsur, Arafah, Jabal Rahmah, Muzdalifah, Mina then to Miqat to make our niat for 2nd umrah. So, for the 2nd umrah, majority decided to try perform it using the buggy service, cost SAR100 per pax... Due to my period, I was unable to perform my second umrah.

Duyufurrahman... attend manasik or read up at the very least. Someone asked my sister where I am, to which my sister said I can't as I am on my period. And she asked, "huh? Uzur tak boleh buat umrah ek?"

Anyways,  we didn't end up going for the Jabal Nur or the museum because we were a little under the weather. Due to this, official also didn't follow and stayed behind. It was funny how some people thought the official is staying back just for them, they were unaware we were also staying back because we informed him privately. Anyways.... somehow we missed out flu meds and the official offered his to us.

I got clean right in time to perform Tawaf Wada. We were to check out of Makkah and head to Madinah after.

We headed down to perform subuh, again separated almost immediately. So 4 of us (my mother,  eldest sister, me and the makcik we adopted), just make our way around slowly,regather again to perform our Tawaf Wada. 

6days here flew by so quickly.

Weather

We went as the heat is picking up, highest temperature was 41°C i think. It was hot, but not humid. No sweating, just felt like we are BBQing on the front row sort of feels. I keep having sips of zam zam water which is constantly refilled in my cute little 150ml bottle. Opt for room temperature instead of cold, we Asians are not used to this heat, having extreme temperatures going through our body may take its toll. And don't gulp, take sips. I didn't frequent the toilet by taking sips throughout.

Also the lozenges I brought probably helped as well, I got the Himalaya Salt Vajomba Actiwhoosh. 

(The struggle to get back used to the humidity of Spore is just as wow!)

Food & Water

Many may wonder why I brought such a cute little bottle instead of a full 500-600ml bottle. I am glad I brought a small one, it is easy to do refill whilst there and I don't need to carry heavily, and I don't end up hogging the refill line too.

And food... With Karva, it is true that you don't need to worry about food, we had half board for our stay in Makkah, meaning we had breakfast and dinner provided by the hotel restaurant. The spread is good, for us at the least. Do note that the three of us are not very big eaters, the biggest eater is me. And the smallest would be my mom, the waiter and manager had to constantly ask my mom if she is okay and if she wants more.As for lunch, it is an easy find at the food court at Makkah towers itself. I love the sharwarma there! Most days we can go without lunch.

For Madinah,  we had full board, so no worries for food at all. Food is nicer here, people are kinder here too. And there are more Asian food options, outside of the hotel's. 

Luggage size

All 3 of us only had our cabin sized luggage, we ended buying 2 bigger luggages at Makkah because carrying a 6kg backpack is tiring! 😅

We bought our luggage at Pandamart in Makkah Towers, and it's pretty reasonably priced. So if you already have a big ass luggage, bring that along, put your empty cabin sized luggage in it. We really don't have a huge luggage to begin with so we only brought the cabin sized ones. 

Gift buying

My sister shopped perfumes at Makkah, and we bought some clothes for our relatives here, which also explains why we needed to get the luggage. For clarity,  we shopped on Day 3 or 4, well after we did our first umrah and our sunat tawaf.

Madinah

We were so used to having loud voices being used on us at Makkah, so when we arrived at Madinah and entered Masjid Nabawi, MasyaAllah... we find everyone so kind and more patient with us here.

Due to the period being near to the Hajj period, they usually stop umrah guest in the last week of Syawal. The place is pretty peaceful, not much crowd until our last day there when a surge of Hajj jemaah arrive.  So we did see a few and made du'a for each other, us praying for things to be made easy for them with good health and strength to pull through and complete their Hajj with ease, and them praying for us to be invited in the near future in best of health. 

Shopping

Plenty of shopping are usually done here, we (more of my mom and sister la) bought dates, raisins, chocolates, nuts. We also got the atar version of perfumes, we love the scent of Raudhah the most! Maqam Ibrahim & Zam Zam also smell so nice, my sister and mom love the Rose scent. I bought the spray oud. Love the woody base. Also bought koka beads tasbih for my great uncle (he praised the quality and said it is 100% genuine), so we know this shop is very reliable.

The famous Mumtaz Mat Kilau shop, I wasn't prepared for. I think no introvert would or can ever be prepared for it.

I was dragging myself the moment he saw us and started the extra praise like oh we look like Mariam Mas'od la, we look like Neelofa la, look like Dato' Siti Nurhaliza la, tak payah over sangat la. We know we look nothing like them. I was just chanting "get 1 jubah each and get out" through and through. 

Then he started doing the flirtatious joke, I know it is just a joke but it drains me so much, he started calling and referring to my mom as his mother in law, started making prayer that I will get a chance to visit Madinah more often (implying jodoh here), then he offered to push my mom. Okay fine, I don't mind because slopes and I am tired already.  We had to alter our jubah,  and we were to collect the next day. 

We came back with our official, and he said it isn't ready yet, we need to check out at 2pm, have our luggage out by 12noon. And again he couldn't stop joking, I am absolutely exhausted at this point, there was no more fuel in my social battery, it was running really low, if not already empty. He started playing and pushing my mom in the wheelchair swirling, and I tried so hard to keep calm but doing it twice after both official and us expressed that we are tired and wants to rest in our rooms, I lost it and raised my voice. The walk back pushing my mom myself was filled with regret. He was nice, but he should learn to read the room (our facial and verbal expressions) a bit more. I ended begging my official to help us collect our purchase because ain't no way am I going to charge my social battery only to drain it again.

I slept 2hrs right after! The drained feeling, it was super exhausting!

I would still recommend his shop though because his price was competitive cheap, just go with a fair warning for all the introverts ok...

There is another Mat Kilau shop that we accidentally went to prior, and I think that one would be more calmer, but then again the culture there is just as such,I think. A few other shops we passed by were also referring my mother as their mother in law and started praising us, so I dunno.

If I do go again, I would just refrain from doing any shopping altogether except to buy the perfume and oud. I would get clothes at Makkah if I need to, the people there are more chill and dont do hard selling as much as people here do. Rather pay more than to pay cheap and face this social battery drainage. 

Summary/Tips

• Challenges can come in many forms, practice keeping silent and istighfar, or make silent prayer. 
• Pack light if you can, but you do you. If packing an outfit each day helps eliminate your excessive thinking or worrying if it is enough, then pack enough.
• Bring all your medication, if you are healthy throughout, others may need it and yours would be so useful for them.
• Pack lots of lozenges!
• Perform as many ibadah especially solat qada' and making lots of silent prayers, have some listed down so you can refer to and read them from time to time.
• Best to go with someone you know (preferably of the same gender) if you are going for the first time. I am glad I had my mom and sisters with me.
• Help others like how you would like others to help and assist you.
• Highly recommend the Awal-Makkah option.

I guess that's all for now, I pray that all my Muslim readers would be invited one day. May we get a chance to be together amongst the crowd for Umrah or Hajj, insyaAllah, Aamiin!

UntiI pen my thoughts and blog again,

Jun

Wassalam.