Hundreds of buses and cars left Mina and Makkah, packed with pilgrims heading home after completing their journey of faith. Many pilgrims went to Jeddah to catch flights back home or to the holy city of Madinah to offer prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque.

King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah is once again buzzing with activity as pilgrims prepare to leave the Kingdom after performing Haj.

Most passengers reached the airports 8 hours ahead of their departure schedule and about 10,000 buses are being used to transport pilgrims to the airport from Makkah. Besides having spare buses on standby along the Jeddah-Makkah route, the General Syndicate of Transport has also deployed mobile teams of mechanics to carry out maintenance work on the buses in case of a breakdown.

All departing pilgrims are being provided with more 10 liters of Zamzam water at the airport. This is the first time that all departing pilgrims get water at the airport. The move is aimed at reducing luggage hassles for pilgrims at the airport.

GCC pilgrims are the first to leave the Kingdom, followed by pilgrims from other countries. In all, 808,000 foreign pilgrims will be exiting from King Abdulaziz International Airport through 50,000 flights to various destinations across the globe.

Meanwhile, Director of Passport Services for Pilgrims, Maj. Gen. Ayad Al-Harbi has advised all pilgrims to leave the Kingdom according to their schedules and also urged residents not to provide any shelter to pilgrims overstaying their visas.

“I pray to God to give every Muslim a chance to do this. It has been even better than I expected,” said Sudanese pilgrim Mohammed Tahir. Nigerian pilgrim Muhammad Ahmed said: “I thank God. It has been a great religious experience for me. It gets better and better each time.”

“The two million faithful who gather every year at the holy sites for the pilgrimage hope to have the honor of being buried in this sacred soil,” said Libyan pilgrim, Muhammad Al-Haj.

As most pilgrims begin their journeys home, a sense of fulfilment gripped many though others were sad at the thought of departing the holy land.

“I feel that I have been totally purified,” said Haya Al-Alam from Pakistan. “I am so happy that I got the chance to come here in the first place,” she said.

But for Egyptian Ahlam Abdul Ghany the thought of leaving the holy land left him sad. “It is hard to leave the holy land. We have almost finished the stoning and our group will be heading to Makkah to bid farewell to God’s House.” Once back in Makkah, the pilgrims perform the Tawaf Al-Wida of the Holy Kaaba that ends the Haj.