Umrah 2012, Day Thirteen: The End

We were actually on time for Fajr this morning. This is surprising seeing how difficult it was to wake up, our collective zealousness clearly running out on this final morning.

I'm not clear if it's as essential during Umrah as it is on Hajj, but I did my farewell tawaf before Zhur jamaat. I was blessed with a cool breeze that pretty amazingly changed into a brief spell of rain - something I've only been lucky enough to have witnessed once before a long time ago. This rain turned into an all out shower during the congregation itself and it was a sight to see.

The final item to pack was the slipper bag that had become a natural extension of me over the last two weeks, and that was pretty much it for my time in Makkah.

We left early for the airport, my family and I. They were to stay an extra night, so they didn't really have to come except we decided to spend some time in Jeddah too. We briefly toured the sea front and corniche, taking in and enjoying the lovely windy weather.

But the time finally came and we headed to the airport proper. After checking in and saying my goodbyes I settled into the journey home, only to be told that all flights were delayed due to a sandstorm. This only delayed me for an hour though (others had been there all day) so I did manage to get on the way home eventually. I went as I came, alone, with the memories of the past two weeks already starting to fade. I guess that's just another excuse to visit again some day.