Day 43: It’s time to go home

Last day here. I didn’t pray in the mosque due to waking up late.  If it’s okay. I did however went to the Prophet tomb to say my farewell. After that we just wait and had lunch before it is time to go. The bus arrived at 1230 and once we boarded and they read and given our passports we just waited for another 1 hour and 30 mins. By 2 we left to the waiting area. It’s basically a tent where you wait before you go to the terminal. The organisers saw me carrying the wheelchair in and gave my wife priority where we get to ride a buggy to the terminal since it was a long 5 min walk. While waiting to be called we took some pictures and just chatted with everyone since this is going to be the last time we are all in a group together. After a while we made our way through the airport and past security and there began the long 3+ hour wait. While we wait we just had some food. I got some rice with beef and my aunts family got Burger King. We boarded at 6 ish but due to the fact we are sharing this flight with Hajj pilgrims that took the more expensive package. Our seats were way at the back. Another problem we faced is that the plane has been on the tarmac too long in the hot 44c (111F) weather. So it’s basically a hot box. They couldn’t seem to get the inside of the plane to cool down so the whole flight it was a stuffy 27c and a lot of people felt a bit uneasy (wife included). I couldn’t get much sleep due to the heat so I spend the 8 hours watching 3 movies. The airline food was good but they repeated the same food for breakfast so that we we a bummer. We arrived close to 9:00am local time and the plane landed in the domestic terminal bypassing the immigration station at the international terminal. The immigration process went smooth and we were among the last to arrive at the baggage claim. We got our stuff and two 5 litre bottles of zamzam water. We were greeted by my dad in law and mom in law. She brought the kids to say hi. We all headed back home where my mom cooked a big feast for us. The day was spent unpacking and recovering from jet lag. So there you have it a 43 day adventure. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. What I discover is that 

• things happen for a reason  

• Never plan for things 

• Always be patient 

• the littlest thing can bring you such joy 

As for Saudi Arabia as a country 

• wish I could see the beautiful places instead of the dessert 

• The food is great but just dry 

• Love the mango juice 

• The people are not friendly but there will be a small number that will make you fell welcome 

• It’s hot but not sticky. So that awesome 

So that’s it. Regular post will resume back. Lots of things to blog about. To whomever is reading this I’m going to say thank you. If you would be so kind and just drop me a Hello (if you don’t mind) at my Twitter @ssbm04. I just want to say hello. If you prefer anonymity, I respect that.