These two would appear to be members of the religious police, keeping an eye on the crowd. It was quite surprising that they didn’t seem to be telling foreign women to wear headscarves; maybe things are easing up a bit. Actually, I got a long and impassioned lecture from a Jordanian who works at the hospital the other day, telling me that while I must wear an abaya, a scarf is optional. That could be true according to the law, but in practice it hasn’t been, plus in the end, it’s best to just not attract attention here (so I usually wear one).

Typical house of Makkah, posted earlier.