Mecca (Saudi Arabia) > Reviews > an experience of a life time

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
Family Friendly

Advantages:	everything about the way of life there
Disadvantages:	the moody arab men

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

unfortunatley not everyone can go thru the same experience as i have.
mecca is a holy city for muslims and non-muslims are not allowed up to a certain point.

when you first enter mecca you really dont know what to expect. the first sight i saw was the shops. there was a whole street full of places to eat. they all looked pretty clean and sanitary. then you see one of the most beautiful buildings you have ever seen. the mosque has great big minarets and all made out of marble. it is absolutley gorgeous.
when going inside the mosque it is absolutlely breathtaking. going there for a pilgramage you go there with a sense of peace and humility which is a great feeling after all the stress i had with my Alevels.

i was there for a pilgrimage for 7 days in mecca and 7 in al madina.

i stayed in a hotel called THE OASIS my first impressions were that it was a bit of a dump but the room was really quite nice. not the Hilton mind you....but hey..

the bathroom was a bit of a dissapointment but i guess the prices i was paying which was 18 pounds a night 4 2 double rooms it was pretty amazing..lol
the bell hops in the hotels are very nice they do allsorts of jobs for you , even running accross the road to buy you a freshly squeezed lemon juice (which i strongly reccomend)

but the reception service is terrible......(but i have herd that is common around all hotels in saudi arabia unless they are 5 star)

i also stayed in the jabal omar hotel which is a 4 star hotel which was great. the service is great and also the rooms were alot more spacey and the view was good.

SHOPPING

the shopping in mecca is not all that brilliant but i guess your not really there to do shopping. the best place to leave your shopping to is when you go to al medina

the best shops are the 1 riyal shops. these shops are the eqivelent in the english pound to 15p shops which are great. you can buy alsorts of cool stuff from them...

FOOD

the food in saudi is not all so great. they have all the major fast food chains ( KFC, Pizza Hut...etc) but the rest of the places are not so great. but in the heat you will only manage to eat 1 meal a day.

anyway if you are lucky enough to go on this trip then you will have a great time. i guarantee it...
if your not so lucky then sorry u'll have to miss out but you can always read on peoples experiences...

xxx