We took off on our mopeds and in 30 minutes we were there. It was so quick compared to the struggle that would take place the next morning. There we were at midnight on Sunday looking out on the plains of Arafat and what a surprise! We were not alone. Busloads of pilgrims were arriving and it was apparent that thousands had already come much earlier in the evening. To avoid the congestion, many groups had set out early. For the pilgrims coming from abroad there are tents and basic sanitary facilities at Arafat, making an overnight there more convenient than being caught up in traffic for hours the next day.
* * *
We went off to rest for a few hours and were up again for Fajr prayers. The atmosphere was already more intense. Buses were streaming into the area and pilgrims were swarming Jabal Al-Rahma. In a few hours the hill would be wrapped in white. The cool breeze of the night was gone and it was unpleasantly warm. We made our way to the train station, specifically Mount Arafat Station No. 2. Each of the major areas served by the new Mashair Railway has three stations. When we asked how we could buy tickets, we were told that it was impossible. All the tickets for this Haj season had already been pre-sold to specific Haj agencies. With the train operating at just 30 percent of its eventual capacity, a decision had been made to make the train available only to a select group of pilgrims this year.* * *When we arrived at the train station, it was nearly empty. One of the trains had left some minutes before and the pilgrims arriving on it dispersed quickly. Pakistani and Chinese technicians were checking some of the equipment. Then a familiar voice came over the public address system announcing the next train. We were shocked to hear the voice of our colleague Roger Harrison advising us that the next train would arrive in two hours. We were puzzled. But soon the mystery was solved. One of the guys explained to us later that this indeed was Harrison's voice and he had pre-recorded all the station announcements in his precise English tones.
* * *
At the train station, we met Station Manager Hasmadi Mumiandi bin Abdullah who is from Malaysia. We pressed him for an interview, but he said that he was not authorized to speak on behalf of the railway. However, he did provide us with some interesting facts. By morning, the trains had made 22 trips to Arafat Station No. 2 from Mina. Each train has 12 coaches with engines at both ends. The trains carry 3,000 people per trip. All drivers on the trains are Chinese. Other reports had mentioned that the trains were driverless, but Hasmadi advised that for the next two years, until the railway is complete and has been tested in all conditions, drivers will be manning the trains. While there is considerable interest surrounding the trains, it is easy to see that some pilgrims are better off coming to Arafat by bus. Of necessity, the train stations are on the outskirts of Arafat. One pilgrim told us that it took him 90 minutes to walk from the station to his tent. That is too far for elderly pilgrims to walk, especially in the heat.
* * *
Doing the math, yesterday morning the Mashair Railway had brought 70,000 pilgrims to Arafat. About 3 million pilgrims need to make the trip. It might seem like the train isn’t having an impact on the traffic coming to Arafat, but that is not true. Seventy thousand pilgrims would have used 1,000 buses. Getting those buses off the road certainly provided some relief in the jam-packed conditions. Next year will be even better. Ahmed Al-Mansour, a Saudi journalist who has been covering Haj for many years, spoke enthusiastically about the train, “I never imagined that I would ride a train to Arafat. It was incredible. Very quiet and smooth. This is a major development in the generous services that Saudi Arabia is providing to pilgrims.”
* * *
Another of the important infrastructure services at Arafat is the system that mists water over the pilgrims throughout the day. As is usually the case, the weather was very hot on Monday. The pilgrims were sweating profusely as they walked toward Al-Namira Mosque. It is delightful to watch the moment a pilgrim is gently sprayed with water from the misting system. His face breaks into a smile and he stops, just to relax for a moment, and then says, “Alhamdulillah,” before setting off again. Arafat is becoming greener as well. This is due to the planting of neem trees more than two decades ago. Known for their profuse shade, the neem trees at Arafat were brought from Africa and have been carefully tended. The shade of the neem trees is heavenly in this otherwise rocky, barren plain. South Asian and African pilgrims are familiar with neem trees and they gather under their branches.
* * *
To be honest, every tiny bit of shade is in demand at Arafat. While the pilgrims coming from abroad have the sanctuary of their tents to rest, pilgrims coming from Makkah and even Jeddah, often have no shelter. Many of these pilgrims consider the Standing at Arafat to be what Haj is all about, and they travel directly from their homes to Arafat. Where there is shade in Arafat, there are people. People rest under the buses and beside them, too. By noon, the plain was a sea of umbrellas. There were multi-colored ones provided by STC, competing with Mobily’s blue umbrellas and Zain had green ones. Rajhi Steel had plain white umbrellas. We didn’t have an umbrella, so we found shade in the shadow cast by an electric pole off Masjid Al-Namira Street. We sat on a piece of a cardboard carton we had found nearby and purchased water from a street vendor.
* * *
The casual vendors are very important at Arafat. Walking among the crowds, they sell fruit, water and juice. Some also sell souvenirs. We saw Abdul Jabbar, a vendor from Burma who had settled in Makkah. He was selling copies of the Holy Qur'an and posters of Islam's holy sites from a small pushcart. He said that he hoped to make SR1,000 this Haj from the sale of such items. It will not be easy to earn. It took him five hours walking to reach Arafat from Makkah on Sunday night.
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Our rest was brief as we were soon approached by a pilgrim who needed assistance. As journalists we were wearing neon green jackets, emblazoned with our newspaper’s names. All the pilgrims think we are Haj officials and are constantly approaching us for help, especially when they get lost. When pilgrims are lost they become very nervous and upset and there is not a lot we can do for them. Most Haj groups carry poles, with various items mounted on the ends. We saw empty cola cans, water bottles, slippers, colored plastic bags -- all sorts of colorful paraphernalia were tied to the ends of poles held high in the air. The best one this year belonged to a group of 25 Pakistani pilgrims whose leader had tied a colorful ceramic pot to the top of his pole. He explained that he had had the pot made in Pakistan specifically for this purpose. He thought it was so different that it would be easy for anyone who got lost to ask, “Did you see the pole with the clay pot on top?" and get pointed back toward the group.” It was actually quite ingenious.
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Despite every effort though, pilgrims do get lost and finding any one in Arafat is difficult. Take the situation of Mohammad Haroon who was looking for his 65-year-old grandmother Zakira Khatoon. Immediately after arriving in Saudi Arabia from Moradabad, India, Khatoon telephoned Haroon and told him to come immediately to help her. The problem was that Haroon is working in Al-Qassim -- 1,000 km away. Nevertheless, he managed to reach Arafat, but despite much searching, still hadn’t been able to locate his grandmother. He was getting desperate. Haroon’s story is not unusual and the suggestion was made that the pilgrims need to be better advised on how to use the GPS functionality found in many mobile phones -- which they all have in hand. Technology is being used to improve transportation and cool the crowds. Why not use technology to help people find each other, and take some of the fear out of the Haj experience?
