We visited MEDINA as Non Muslims (Converting to ISLAM?) السياح في المدينة المنورة
today we are leaving the city traveling around either going to Medina or to Mecca and here it is saudi's answer to and we have made it incredible I think it's definitely just as beautiful in the daytime good afternoon and welcome to the ultra futuristic Jeddah train station today we are leaving the city and heading to the second most holiest site in all of Islam and that is Medina we're actually getting the brand new bullet train to the city which we are very lucky to be going to up until a few years ago it was very difficult for non-muslims to visit and unlike Mecca non-muslims can now visit the city of Medina so that is what we're going to do we're going to explore we're going to learn let's go to Medina I booked our tickets directly on the Saudi Railways website for the haramaine express train it was 32 pounds each they did just try and charge us a little bit extra for our luggage but I think because Matt's wearing the Saudi t-shirt we got away with it but there are a lot of pilgrims behind us and traveling around either going to Medina or to Mecca I know I can't believe it either Medina let's do this and that was a pretty seamless process getting down to the platform your ticket actually comes to your email and you have a QR code of course it's Audi everything is electronic and now we have about 10 minutes before the train is about to come I didn't know what she was gonna say no idea what to say here it is saudi's answer to the bullet train apparently if you drive from Jeddah to Medina it takes around four hours but this takes less than two we just need to find our Carriage this is crazy everyone else here is our pilgrims and then there's just me and Molly heading to Medina this is pretty surreal I'm waiting for it to change Carriage number nine at least we know this is ours foreign this is nice we've got nice comfortable seats loads of leg room place to charge your phone we're apparently doing 173 kilometers per hour less than two hours and we're in 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Nomad esim really will change the way that you travel so click the link in the description to set up today and don't forget to use our code for three dollars off foreign the train actually came from Mecca passing through Jeddah and then arriving here at Medina so a lot of the pilgrims on the train would have already been to Mecca and now we'll include Medina on their trip it actually only took an hour and a half the train got up to 300 oh sorry someone's picture the train got up to 300 kilometers an hour we now just need to find a taxi to go to our hotel because we've actually decided to stay the night so we get the full experience of the city you have us and then you have hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims all right foreign s and hundreds of people leaving the train with us for a lot of these people this will be a trip of a lifetime it might be their first time abroad you've got people from all over the world from Indonesia from Pakistan from Afghanistan and then you've got us here being able to take in this moment it is incredibly surreal and it really is a privilege hello my friend what is your name nice to meet you you from Medina yes ah Medina it's good our first time very very nice it's very nice thank you my friend very much well if that's anything to go by the people of Medina are going to be extremely friendly we're just walking to get the taxi and the kid wanted to come up he wanted to say hello he was like picture picture a video video Welcome to Medina the owl McCann Hotel let's hope they let us check in together hello checking in thank you thank you very much as we are unmarried and two whether we would actually be able to stay the night we've made it we have made it and [Applause] this is what 20 odd pounds a night yeah you put the lights on 30 30 pounds a night tonight a very big room a TV and a fridge and we can we can spend the night together in Medina for 30 pounds a night I cannot complain with this let me check out the bathroom this is what sort of bathroom you get for 30 pounds a night this is a little bit creepy but um it isn't too bad and like I said we weren't sure whether this would be possible for us to stay in Medina overnight we were told it'd be okay but we've heard rumors of things where non-muslims just aren't able to stay they can visit in the day but then they have to head back to Jeddah or onto their next location we did therefore book a hotel that is around two to three kilometers away from the profits mosque because we wanted to be sort of as far away as possible so we didn't draw too much attention to ourselves foreign plan is to check out the square and the profits mosque I'm not 100 sure on the rules but I believe that I have to wear and a buyer hence why I have mine with me and I also think I have to have my hair covered I'm not sure whether they're going to say anything about the fridge we shall see now we're not allowed to actually um in the mosque or near it I believe I think we're allowed on the Square right uh so I'm going to check that out have our dinner um and then we can see it tomorrow in the daylight so I think we've got around a two kilometer walk to the main square and the prophets mosque I've also put on something long sleeve because I wasn't sure how it would be for me with my tattoos obviously the city itself is open to non-muslims and has been for a few years now but I just don't know how it would be having my tattoos out I'm walking these are the local streets of Medina you can see so much construction so many new hotels going up the influx of new pilgrims coming year on year [Music] I think we can slightly see it in the distance as you get closer there's all the five-star big very expensive hotels there's lots of people stay at um as this is like a once in a lifetime trip we feel very lucky to be able to come and visit it there's so many people there are so many people it's quite late as well it's 20 past nine but you have to remember starting time the road leading to the main square and can you put this mosque and there is a sort of Market just on the outside there's people selling all sorts from gold different types of souvenirs and it said that people really respect and want anything that is bought in the home city of Medina so it's like the most thoughtful of gifts if you buy someone something from here and take it back for them there is literally everything here in Molly you buying me anything they're selling everything from beads to Suites like the smell but I smell around nowadays it's pretty much everything like literally everything you could ever want some of the best suits now now you can probably see it with the green minarets next to me is I think that's the Crown Plaza and you've got Dunkin Donuts like all these different chains but uh we're definitely getting more hooks the closer you get the more people are like what are they doing we are so close right now we're by one of the mini Gates surrounding the profits mosque and honestly it is so busy there's so many different areas where people are surrounding the mosque and then obviously you can go into the square which looks like an ant's Nest it's absolutely I'm not sure how we're going to get on with we can go in this square or not we're going to try we're gonna try and see who tells us yes and who tells us no you can see behind me how much money has gone into the area so many five-star hotels high-end restaurants like Molly said this is for some a trip of a lifetime that we are now gonna attempt to go inside wow the main square is stunning this is pretty incredible I'm not sure how close we can actually go but just to be surrounded by everyone to see what they're doing and to be in front of the profitable is absolutely stunning and so so this square is huge it's hard to fit into us because this is such a unique experience for us to be able to to witness and as you can see there are a lot of groups that have come here as well it's just nice to be able to join in and to do part of what they're doing wow this is absolutely incredible to be just outside one of only two mosques in the world that can hold up to one million people and it has the iconic sun shades all the way around 10 minarets I believe 22 domes the second most holiest place in all of Islam it really is a privilege to be here to be taking it all in especially on a Friday at night when it's just full thousands and thousands of pilgrims I have never seen so many people before it is pretty crazy also I'm trying to count the Dome how many did you say 22 I think one two three we're gonna have to walk the whole way around this really is a gathering of people from all over the world people from their food place it really is quite magical [Music] how many girlfriends I'm so pleased we decided to stay the night so we've literally witnessed what it's like in the evening which is for pretty incred ible I'm a little bit confused we've just exited the grounds the square that we were just in and the area that I'm seeing now is the area that I've seen a lot of people have been able to access so I presume the rules have changed in some way because we spoke to security and they said it was fine for us to be within the grounds of the mosque but this looks very much like the square that I've seen before so I don't know if recently maybe rules have changed and you can go further in and closer to the to the outside of the mosque I love this the hotel all lit up green but I'm still a little bit confused I think the rules must have changed or maybe because it's a Friday I don't know the security said it's fine so [Music] it's half ten at night this is actually open 24 hours so you could go at any time but I'm absolutely starving absolutely done in one last look hopefully we get time tomorrow to check it out properly again in the daytime but I'm not sure much we'll top this a non-alcoholic beer on the streets of Medina who would have thought it Barbara can we actually had these a lot that's not a good pomegranate flavor in the Maldives on the local Islands but I think we've decided tonight being that it's so late it's gonna have to be Outback I am starving it is definitely dinner time one of the biggest outbreaks I've ever seen the busiest fast food place I have ever seen an interesting thing that was ridiculous that was the busiest fast food place I have ever seen but this is how you should end any night in Medina with saudi's answer to KFC Albert my friend from Afghanistan they've just found this shop and he is give you're giving me a gift my friend the hospitality so it just goes you can do it okay I was literally just about to jump in the taxi but my friend ran out and this is the hospitality of Medina he moved here from Afghanistan wow it looks good ah brother I can't I can't accept are you sure shukran Habibi masalama thank you my friend your name is Ahmed and this is your shop and Ahmed sells everything you sell all traditional clothing you sell a buyers everything so if you come to Medina come to your shop my friend shakran masalama [Music] bird afternoon from the Arabia Ahmed was an absolute Legend I have got a gift that I will keep for the rest of my life everyone in Medina has actually been so so friendly we weren't sure what the reception would be like obviously being non-muslim but everyone is so intrigued and they're actually so pleased that we're here learning and embracing the culture but we have a couple more hours until we leave the city and head to our Ula on the bus this evening so we're going to go and check out the prophets mosque once more in the daytime and we just grab the coffee in this what's this area [Music] Cuba up front it's just full of nice tiny little quaint coffee shops restaurants lounges and apparently it's the oldest and longest road I think in all of Medina it goes for almost two kilometers [Music] what even is that I need I need to have a go on this like the Harry Potter skinny bus you remember like when the bus goes from Big to really small it's so cool I think it's just traffic it looks completely different in the daytime you can see it just behind me I think we actually found out that what we were in yesterday was the complex of the mosque possibly because of the way that we are dressed nobody really questioned it or said anything I mean we were told it was okay anyway but we do think that because of the way from a dress so hopefully we can go back in again completely today feels like very calm and it's not hard yesterday but I feel like it was the evening and it's not quite as busy it's not quite sure I can't believe we got back in fact I think it's definitely just as beautiful in the daytime as it is at night and it really is such a privilege to be able to come in here and witness this um obviously being a non-muslim it's um it's good to learn that's what we want to do we're here to learn about the culture every country we go to we like to immerse ourselves in the culture and by doing this we're definitely throwing ourselves in the deep end [Music] in the daytime the sun Shields definitely do their job fun fact that I didn't actually think I thought it was just decoration but not only do they look pretty they have a good job as well you can really appreciate the sheer size of this place the sun Shields are almost like a mirage in the distance as they go so far and then you can see the 10 iconic I'm in a rats and the area for women up here to pray [Music] and we are back outside you can see the gate that goes all the way around the prophet's mosque behind me I really don't know how it works um it could be the way we address but then when we spoke to security yesterday they said it's fine for us to be in there maybe the presumed were Muslims I'm I'm really not too sure but it was a special a special experience either way and if you were coming to Saudi Arabia I'd highly recommend adding Medina to your list of places to visit now that it is open to non-muslims because just to to be here and embrace it and take it all in it's fascinating [Music] for me this has been such a unique experience honestly everybody has been so hospiceable and even had some comments about my affair because people have really liked it so I'm very pleased that I chose this one and obviously being covered up in the heat is difficult for me my body's not used to the heat anyway but covering my hair and covering my whole body is a different one but it is as I said a very unique experience I feel like you need to experience it if you come here and obviously you know we're here respecting the culture we're here to learn and the perfect place to do it wow this is our first time here in the call to prayer and you can see behind me just thousands of people heading for the profits the mosque this is pretty incredible the only thing we have really witnessed here is of course in Western we've had a lot of people staring at us and we have had a few people near the hotel past us are we Muslim we sort of divert from the question because even though we know that we're allowed to be here a response will be let's just listen incredible look at this these sheer amount of people head into the mosque pray wow thousands it just seems to be another ending line of pilgrims going back for as far wow that's the eye can see [Music] for almost 24 hours has pretty much come to an end we've got to get some food and then get the bus at 5 30 to alula like Molly said it has been a real eye-opening experience and a privilege to have been able to come here like I said highly recommend it if you're coming to Saudi do it even if you just come for a couple of hours that was our original plan to get the bus spend two three hours and then head to alula but we thought to fully Embrace ourselves dive in into the culture would be to spend the night and experience both sides of Medina but I'm gonna get some food get on the bus and then we'll see you in the desert of alula thank you
2023-07-08 16:52
