I had seen a Saudi artist’s rendering of this sign a while ago and had been wanting to photograph it myself, so this is the reason we drove to Makkah and back one afternoon. Although non-Muslims are not permitted to enter the holy city of Makkah -- which is a pity because I think it would be not only a fascinating but a humbling experience -- the trip itself was interesting and a chance to see a totally unexpected kind of landscape (quite mountainous) in Saudi Arabia. For more information and photographs of the city, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecca

There were two such signs (a bit different), in case you missed the first one. I am posting both because it was a long trip just to photograph them.