RIYADH, 3 March 2007 — Following the Haj season, tour operators have slashed transport and hotel prices to lure people from Riyadh to visit Makkah during weekends for Umrah.
For SR70 pilgrims can now purchase return tickets on a luxury coach from Riyadh to Makkah, plus two nights accommodation in the holy city. For an extra SR10 pilgrims can also visit Madinah en route and for an additional payment of SR20, they can take advantage of four-star accommodation in Makkah.
“During Ramadan and school holidays, we operate more than 100 buses and the charges are as high as SR300 per passenger,” said a spokesman at the Anver Badr Establishment. He added that attractive rates are being offered because few pilgrims visit the holy city at this time of year.
The weekend package to Makkah and Madinah starts at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays and finishes around midnight on Fridays. Accommodation is three-star and can be upgraded for SR20. Families are given large rooms while bachelors are accommodated on a sharing basis with three pilgrims per room. Children under 12 pay half fare. There are over 100 Umrah travel operators across Riyadh with the bulk concentrated in the city center Batha.
“Pilgrims come to the city center to make reservations since most travel operators are centrally located,” said Abdullah, a travel agent in Batha. He added that the package remains uniform in all travel offices since profit margins are very low during the off-peak season.
Buses that leave from the Batha and Wazarah districts of Riyadh have to go through the Central Bus Terminal in Aziziyah for authorities to register passengers who go on pilgrimage. Traffic police at checkpoints will not allow pilgrim coaches that bypass the Central Bus Terminal to proceed.
During the journey, coaches stop for Maghrib and Isha prayers and dinner, and also at the Meeqat near Taif to allow pilgrims to don the ihram. Pilgrims are given half an hour to wear their ihram at the Meeqat and Fajr is performed in Makkah. Mosques that are big enough to accommodate large numbers of people, food outlets and stores selling ihrams are all available at all resting points.
“Although it is off season, we still feel there is a need for more bathrooms at the Meeqat point in Taif,” a schoolteacher in Riyadh told Arab News. He said the coach driver only stops half an hour to let people wear the ihram but it takes much longer due to the lack of facilities. “More than 10 pilgrims wait for a bathroom to perform their obligatory ablutions before wearing ihram,” he said.
An Egyptian pilgrim, who comes with his family at least thrice a year, observed that the facilities at stopover points have greatly improved.
“This has to be appreciated since we travel with families and we like to see good toilet facilities, clean and healthy food served at outlets and neat and tidy places of worship,” he said.
