Mum now has a little band of merry women who she goes round with.

She tells me not to worry about her. A huge weight off my mind.

My uncle is going to meet us after Fajr. We eat together.
Even though food provided as part of our Hajj package we like eating out. It’s another thing that makes me chuckle seeing as mum has never ever wanted to eat out when we back home.
We do some shopping and it’s quite funny how me and uncle both compete to keep my mum happy.

We come back to the hotel so mum can give her brother the huge bag of clothes she has brought over for him and other bits.
It’s amazing to see how he views things. No look at labels or price. Just happy with practicality.
A beautiful thing.

All the umbrellas open! Wow they have been busy! Umbrellas everywhere and good thing too as I’ve never seen so many people in Medina!
I was worried about the crowds in Mecca but this place is heaving!
I’ve never seen women pray outside the designated areas before but there are tons of them so the guards have their hands full ensuring the segregation is to the level we expect in Medina.

Man in my room old enough to be my grandfather. Really nice man truly he is but he keeps calling me ‘Bhai’ which means brother.
Either he is reliving his youth or I’m suffering without my Oil of Olay twice a day.

Think I’ll have my afternoon siesta outside under an umbrella.

I provide a cup of water for a person and he is very grateful yet Allah provides for all of these hundreds of thousands of people each day of their lives.

I don’t see a single sad face. Everyone is smiling and happy. I wonder if there is another place like this in the world.

I am enticed into entering a designer fragrance shop but a salesman quoting me £53 for something that costs me £40 back in England.
He couldn’t work out why I wouldn’t buy it so when I asked him for a reason as to why I should he said ‘More baraka in Medina one!’
He looked puzzled as I laughed and laughed my way out the shop.

A man stopped me and asked for a spare set of clothes but didn’t ask me for money. Maybe I am a style icon after all.

More relatives come to see us. Didn’t know we had so many here.

I love seeing people that look like people I know. That way I remember the person I know and make du’a for them.

I bought my uncle a watch. Got a master plan. Buying him a present will increase the love between us. Then on top mum will be very happy with me and then Allah is pleased because my mum is happy with me.
A watch is a small price to pay for that.

I got a surprise for mum also. Hope I can pull it off.

I’m not a big fan of shopping before Hajj. I hate thinking about it until I’ve done the Hajj but due to the fact we going back to England a couple of days after Hajj complete I don’t have much choice.

That night me and a brother couldn’t sleep so we grabbed a taxi and went to an area called Sultania. They have a Next, Dominos Pizza, KFC, McDonalds here and lots more. We have midnight burgers and swear each other to secrecy from the other lot in the group. No mention is to be made of this dastardly deed.

Amazing how you can get two hours sleep and still make it to the masjid for salah.