As a devoted 21 year old Muslim, Ibn Battuta began his pilgrimage to Mecca. On his way he made a few rest stops to places like Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Medina.

The Pilgrimage!

Ibn Battuta made his first stop in Cairo for one whole month. He observed the Nile and it's flooding patterns. He found that it usually floods in June. As he ventured across Egypt, he lodged in scholars and judges homes.

First Stop:

Cairo

Wow it's crowded here..

Jerusalem, Damascus, to Medina

Ibn Battuta passed through during Ramadan so he was exposed to the people fasting and worshipping. He stayed in the mosque's dormitory, sitting beneath the marble columns and listening to lecturers and Koranic readers. During this time he studied and learned from them.

Mecca is Here!

Ibn's hajj had finally come to its peak, he made it to the holy city of Mecca after a year and a half of travel. He got to see the Kaaba, a holy shine where people on the Hajj go to worship at the Mount of Mercy at Arafat. It looks like a big black box, but it's filled with words from the ancient Koran.

Before going home and pursuing a career as a judge or scholar, Ibn Battuta decided he was going to travel some more since he liked adventuring so much.

Wow this is fun!

Ibn Battuta made his way to Persia and Iraq where he saw the suffering and devastation of cities as a result of the Mongol’s harsh reign on their society. When he went to the Mosque of Basra, he found out that no one knew proper grammar, the information had been taken from by the Mongols. The trip wasn't a total bummer because he got to meet the King himself.

On his way to East Africa Ibn found himself doing a lot of sea travel. This included a lot of sea sickness, especially due to the unforgiving monsoons that shook the boat. Being a Muslim scholar he was welcomed when he got to Africa by many different cultures of Africans. Although slavery was still an unfortunate reality, Ibn bought and sold some himself. He decided he wanted to go back to Mecca for a third time.

Ibn was unsuccessful in finding someone to take him to Mecca so he instead continued his travels and went to Turkey. While in Turkey, called Anatolia at the time, Battuta was greeted with hospitality and allowed to stay in their most prized Mosque. He was given food and a good time until they passed.