Medinah, Saudi Arabia

Phew!  A mammoth day -- 15 hours from door to door.  I'm exhausted, so this will be very brief, because we have to turn around tomorrow morning and leave the ship at 6:30 a.m. for a flight to Al Ula.

This is a picture of a view of the Prophet's Mosque in Medinah.  I thought this view was especially appropriate, as (a) "Infidels" (such as we) are not allowed to enter the complex, and (b) you can see the green dome next to one of the minarets, which is where the prophet Mohammed is buried, so obviously a very holy place indeed.

All women had to wear abayas and cover their heads at all holy places in Medinah.  Here's an extra of yours truly, positively BROILING in the 102F heat, swathed from head to toe in black.  Surely I will go to heaven now?

We took the bullet train from Jeddah to Medinah -- amazing!  It traveled at 300 kph (180 mph) so quietly you could hardly believe you were moving at all!

I have to get to bed -- it's almost 11:00 p.m. and we've just settled back into our cabin with a very early start again in the morning!