urShadow's Blog: Understanding Categories and Allocation of Camps in Mina and Arafat during Hajj

Hajj services advertise themselves with categories, that they are in Category A or B or H etc. Usually, it is considered that Category A is the best and then B and so on. Let me explain what does these categories actually mean: The Camps in Mina are geographically divided into blocks. The columns are divided into A, B, C …. and the rows are divided into 1, 2, 3… Plz note that all blocks do not contain camps.

Jamaraat is present in A1, A2, B1 and B2. So if your camp is in these blocks or near these blocks then you are nearest to Jamaraat and that would mean ease in doing rami. Also, ease in going to haram because you are nearest to Haram in Mina. This area is most expensive.

When there were no trains then these locations were extremely important because people from farther side of Mina had to walk or had to travel by Bus to reach Jamaraat and it use to take hours and hours. Now due to trains, the blocks which are near to the train stations are also considered Hotspots.

· Mina 3 Train Station is in A3
· Mina 3 Train Station is in F5
· Mina 1 Train Station is in H6

If you are near these blocks then you can use train relatively easily to reach Jamaraat and also to reach Arafat and Muzdalifah.

(Download and Zoom In the following Image with your favorite Image Viewer)

Another important point is that the allocation of camps in Mina is according to Nationalities. i.e. different countries are given different locations so if you are coming from a country outside KSA, it might not be possible to get a camp near Jamaraat. Below snapshot shows allocation of different countries in Mina with the help of colors: