RIYADH, 25 October 2005 — More than 100 tour buses started up their engines and hit the highway yesterday to shuttle thousands of Umrah pilgrims from Riyadh to Makkah and Madinah on five-day excursions.
As the end of the holy month of Ramadan nears, pilgrim traffic to the two holy cities increases, and hundreds of travel agents and tour operators offer pilgrimage packages at attractive prices for individuals and families.
A five-day, Monday-to-Friday package to Makkah and Madinah, which includes travel and accommodation, costs a pilgrim SR350. The offer includes a two-day stay in a three-star hotel in Madinah and three days’ lodging in hotel in Makkah. Pilgrims can upgrade to five-star accommodations for an additional fee. Visitors leave the holy city of Makkah after Friday prayer so they return to Riyadh around midnight.
A weekend, Wednesday-to-Friday package to Makkah and Madinah is offered for SR300. Those wishing to go only to Makkah will be charged SR30 less.
“Around 100,000 pilgrims will leave for Makkah from Riyadh during the last 10 days of Ramadan,” tour operator Abdullah Hadi Muhammad Haqawi told Arab News. He said single men seem to prefer the weekend packages while families opt for the five-day packages because of the coming school vacation.
Families get a large room while bachelors share accommodations, he said.
There are more than 100 Umrah travel operators spread out in the capital, with a large concentration of them in downtown Batha. “People come to the city center for their travel reservations since most of the travel operators are centrally located,” said Abdul Aziz, a Batha travel agent. He added package costs are uniform at all travel offices and profit margins are very low. Trips are usually pleasant as the passengers are all pilgrims.
“In case of unexpected breakdowns or accidents, the passengers cooperate with the drivers,” he said. However, pilgrims do tend to get angry if their accommodations aren’t close to the holy mosques as promised in their tour agreements. The buses that take off from Batha and Wazarah District go through the Central Bus Terminal at Aziziyah so that the authorities could keep a tally of who goes on the pilgrimage. Traffic police at the checkpoints do not allow pilgrim coaches that bypass the Central Bus Terminal.
During the journey, coaches stop over at three points for breakfast, suhoor and to allow pilgrims to change into ihram. Pilgrims are given half an hour to don their ihrams (two pieces of seamless cloth) at the Meeqat points.
Mosques, large enough to accommodate massive congregations, food outlets catering to busloads of pilgrims and boutiques selling ihrams and other needs are available at all rest stops.
