Thankful Slave: Hajj Step 11: Tawaf Al Wadaa & return trip

And this is it...you have reached the last step before departing: Tawaf al Wadaa (Farewell Tawaf). It is the last thing to do before departing from Mekkah.
Our group advised that the departure to Jeddah Airport would be at 08:00 AM. As such, they took us to perform the Tawaf Al Wadaa at 02:00, to give us ample time.
I have been in another Hajj previous to this one where the crowd was such that we could not make the Tawaf Al Wadaa and had to pay blood money in Mekkah. This time, al hamdulil'Allah, most of the crowd had gone in the hours after Maghrib, so as we reached Mekkah at 02:00 AM, it was relatively easy to perform it.

The Tawaf was done on the ground level with relative ease, there was not many people, but the crowd came in around Fejr time. We were all done by that time. We took a Taxi for 100SR.
We returned to the Hotel to pack and waited for the buses to depart to Jeddah.

Note: many shops were closed, and many had little merchandise left on their shelves. I struggled to find small Quran in English as I thought to make this last minute shopping prior to start the tawaf, al hamdulil'Allah, I managed to get what I wanted, but that was a lesson learnt, most of the shops will close on the last day.

On the way out after finishing Tawaf, still many people were doing the Saee.

Towards Safah door

Need to walk towards Marwa door and exit the Haram.

Many people were coming in the early hours of the day, i.e. before fejr. For our group, the 2AM tawaf looked to be the best one as it was easy to accomplish, al hamdulil'Allah for this.

Last moments in Hotel:

Buses outside the Hotel, getting ready to depart

The excitement of departure is at its height. Everybody is waiting for the buses to get arranged, people get their boarding passes organised. The lifts were a bit of a headache, as people and luggage had to fit in a limited number of lifts. People are just very tired at this point of time.

More luggage getting piled up in the hall

One last look to our Hotel, we are on the way to Jeddah.

On the way to Jeddah:

All aboard...moving out...

The journey back to Jeddah lasts about 2 hours. The streets of Mekkah were getting very empty, Pilgrims were either returning home, or moving to Medinah. Many shops were closing too.
Inside the bus, many people just fell asleep. As you leave Mekkah, you start feeling all the tiredness of the trip falling back on you, but it is a nice tiredness, with the feeling of having accomplished something extremely important in your life.

Many shops were closing, Mekkah was getting empty

People falling asleep from tiredness in the bus as soon as we started moving

This place was so crowdy just 24 hours earlier

Jeddah Airport:

Approaching Jeddah Airport, Hajj Terminal

Jeddah Airport (Hajj Terminal) has all the facilities, however, it will be easier for you to plan on having your lunch in one of the restaurants that are outside the airport, not inside. The restaurants inside the airport are located at the gates halls, so it all depends when you will reach that point, they also do not offer as much choice as the restaurants that are outside the airport.

Hajj Terminal - The buses would park here, luggage will be unloaded using those side stairs

Hajj Terminal

Your group leader should take care of the heavy luggage from that point on, you should not worry about checking in, they should do it for you.

Flight is delayed:

Inside Hajj Terminal, having some food and refreshment as the flight is delayed

We got the news once in the airport that our flight will get delayed by a couple of hours. We anticipated this, so one must stay patient once more. It is worth to mention that there are not many chairs for people to sit inside the departure hall, so plan on keeping the "Muzdalifah mat" close by. Also to note that the A/C are extremely cold, the floor is very cold, if you have elderly people with you, plan on keeping some kind of jacket/ thin blanket handy, you do not want to get sick on your last day of the trip. The good news was that the plane would be ready within 2 hours.

Jeddah Airport - Departure hall

Waiting at the gate

Waiting for the flight

Keep a mat handy, not many chairs available. People were just sitting on the floor.

Flight is delayed, sit and wait

Our Plane

Doors opened, let's just go back home now..

Once inside the plane, just sit where you can, the cabin crew was very friendly, good food was served, the return trip was very pleasant and relaxing. When we landed in Muscat, there was rain, it added to the happiness of people, as rain is such a great blessing from Allah.

Back Home:
Getting home finally, kids jumping from happiness, it's just great to be back home among the family for sure.