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I wish I could get a detailed information about statistic of  the Hajj pilgrims in 2008, the country list with the number of people from each. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia appoints the number of pilgrims from each country should not exceed 0.1% of the country population, though I am not too sure if it’s 0.1% of the whole population or 0.1% of Muslims population in each country. But from newspapers I read Malaysia sent 27,000 people so I assume it right to be 0.1% of the country population. Significant major pilgrims groups are from Turkey, China, Iran, Nigeria, India, Indonesia, Pakistan.. just to name a few, besides local Arabs in Saudi and nearby countries. It’s real AMAZING to see people from the whole wide world gathering in one place, and they are all around you! I couldn’t help being so excited to identify every single person I met in the mosque, in the streets, in the shops, the yard.. of which country they belong to. Generally they were wearing traditional dress or uniforms, or certain labels on the shirt/scarf/bags written on it the country name, or the country flags as their identification. Since you can never know when you may get lost in the crowd of 5 million people, or lose your group, so it’s important to let people know visually which country you come from.

It was getting more intriguing when I met peeople from countries I really didn’t know where on earth they’re located, like Cote D Ivoire, Togo, Sychelles.. I was like, “Oh, there are people in those coutries!”. LOL.  Same goes for the countries having Muslims as minority, like Italy, USA, Australia and South Africa, Russia.. I have met a number of people from there. If there’s a chance, I would greet them and see if they could speak English. I would take their pictures, a few of which I asked politely, while thre rest are good candid photos haha. I wish my phone camera was 24-7 ready for that purpose so photos of people from EVERY country could be captured. But I wasn’t very lucky and didn’t have much time. Anyways. Below are some of the photos  I’d like to share.

Iran

Malaysia

Russia

Bangladesh

Nigeria

Bosnia-Herzegovina

China

Okay, and photos of many other countries can be found in this Flickr set :)

See you.

Jabal Rahmah

Jabal Rahmah or “Mount of mercy” in Arafat, about 20km from Makkah, is believed to be the place where the first man created by God, Prophet Adam, met again his spouse, Hawa (or the Westerners refer as Eve) after hundreds years being separated after they were expelled from Heaven and sent to earth as a punishment of eating the forbidden fruit. Adam is believed to have landed in some place which is now India, and Hawa in the Arabian peninsula. Well, at least that’s what I’ve been told, though this wikipedia says (under Islamic tradition) they were sent to Safa and Marwah mountain peaks, respectively. Nevermind that, but for their reunion, everyone seems to agree that it was in Arafat. In Jabal Rahmah to be precise, and maybe that’s why there’s been that white monument on top of the peak as long as I can remember, and millions of people are visiting this peak every year. Plus, they traditionally believe that this is a sacred place where someone’s prayers – specifically with intention to meet a soulmate – will be granted. Or for their marriage to be forever blessed and strong, well, things like that.

Arafat

Imagine that this rocky hill was the place where Adam and Hawa met after having missed each other so much, most probably continued with kissing and making love on the very mountain afterwards. Heh. I didn’t have time or interest to climb up the hill as others did, though. It’s rather high and rocky and my legs weren’t very strong for this purpose I might finally fell down before I can meet my soulmate LOL.

Hawa's grave

And the story about Hawa in Saudi Arabia didn’t end in Arafat only. In another trip session, we went to Jeddah, the port city located near the Red Sea. This is where Hawa is believed to have been resting in peace, somewhere in the middle of the city. Jeddah itself is said to be named after her (Jeddah is Arabic word for grandmother). Hawa’s grave is a quite a huge fenced area and it’s one of the proofs that earliest human being used to be really, really huge. It’s just incredible anyway, to have a look at the resting place of the second human being ever existed on earth. No, make it the FIRST woman ever existed :)

Hawa's grave square entrance(?)

Hi grandmother, you rock! Yeah.

Pigeon

Unhappy mood apart. I have found a little time to finally browse hundreds of photos I took in Saudi, to choose among the neat ones to put here. I can’t help loving these pigeons. In Makkah especially in the yard of the Holy Mosque, pigeons are everywhere.

I am here.

The Kaabah

Yes. I mean I AM here.

ilyani and the Kaabah

Arrived in Jeddah airport 10pm local time on Thursday, and right now I have been in Makkah for almost one week. I can’t write much now coz the internet in this hotel is damn expensive, though I can get online on my mobile via Saudi’s Mobily (it’s much reliable than Celcom broadband, sigh) to check my emails and write on WordPress, I can’t upload pictures with mobile! (or maybe there’s a way, but I have yet to find out). And apart of the glorious Masjidil Haram itself, and the Kaabah, I am endlessly amazed by bunch of people here, we’re getting 2millions or more filling up Makkah by this day and the number is increasing like crazy.. people are still coming from every angle of the world until the Hajj session starts which will be a few days before Eid. Every prayer time those 4 floors are always full and even the mosque yards and on the street are full with people praying, it’s like real HUGE feast and even though you don’t like crowds but THIS crowd is like pure heaven! I am glad I am in the middle of this busy Holy city in this particular time. Alhamdulillah.

I want to write more and put more pictures but I don’t have much time I have to run. See yeh.