The gods are so techie

[onager]

8. Your hotel room in the Middle East will also have a qibla...

Usually a sticker in the shape of an arrow, pointing toward Mecca. Sometimes it's inside a drawer, other times it's stuck to the top of the desk or somewhere similar.

I lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which is only about 50 miles from Mecca. Sometimes on the weekend we would drive down the Jeddah-Mecca highway. There was lots of interesting stuff on that road, including a huge used camel dealer. (No, I'm not making that up. Well, I guess he sold new camels too...)

As infidels we were not allowed to enter Mecca, and there was a police checkpoint at the city limits to enforce that and turn us back. Only residents or pilgrims are allowed in Mecca. Pilgrims must have a special pilgrimage visa issued by the Saudi govt.

Most pilgrims came in via the huge "Pilgrim's Airport" in Jeddah. Just by coincidence, I was in the country when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait etc. Because of its size, the Pilgrim's Airport was temporarily turned into an airbase for all the military aircraft coming in - mostly American. That was a VERY sensitive subject and nobody in officialdom wanted to talk about it. The hypocrisy was hilarious. As usual!