17th October 2010

• Arrived in Madinah at around 9am, Saudi Arabia time. Upon arrival we waited in the airport area, prior to going through the customary customs check. had our passports checked, including having our thumbprints and fingers scanned, and also had our hajj healthbook checked by doctors who were waiting and they wore face masks.

• After leaving the airport area, each of us pilgrim received several stuffs from Arabs that were Hajj introductary items.
  We then boarded a bus to our hotel. The bus driver was a Palestinian.

• On the way to the hotel, we went past Jabal Uhud as well as the grave of Sayidina Hamzah, uncle of the Prophet. 

• We arrived at our hotel, the Dyar International amidst some traffic jam around the area there. The bus parked in front of the hotel, and on board came the main representative of UTAS who will be handling our Hajj stay and traveling, Ustaz Tarmizi. He greeted us and briefly briefed us on our stay in Madinah.

• After getting our room keys and keeping our bags and luggage in our respective hotel rooms, we went to the Nabawi mosque for the Zuhur prayer that came shortly after 12pm.

• Later on in the day, we changed some our Malaysian Ringgits to the Saudi Arabian currency, the Saudi Riyals.

• On another note, our Utas group shared the hotel with another Malaysian Hajj travel tour company, Yaskin.