Muslim pilgrims from around the world began boarding their flights, ships, and buses this week for Hajj 1427 AH (after hijra), a hajj following years of tragedies that culminated with last year's stampede at the jamarat bridge (killing nearly 350) and the collapse of a hostel housing pilgrims (killing 76). Both issues have weighed heavily on the minds of the Saudi government and aspiring pilgrims, so it's no surprise that big changes are in store for the current crop of visitors.

Immediately after last year's hajj, the old bridge was demolished and work began on a new 4-level bridge, with 2 of the levels opening last week, along with two new tunnels. In addition, helicopters will be used to monitor movement, along with renewed emphasis on crowd management (to supplement the mutaween).

Like the Saudis or not, the hajj is one of the world's most profound logistical challenges, with well over 2 million pilgrims expected this year, due in part to the increasing affordability of the trip to Muslims worldwide. As such, the hajj quota has increased in several countries, with an estimated 25,000 Muslim pilgrims from Britain, many of whom are taking advantage of this year's corellation with the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

With more pilgrims comes concerns about disease, and there are new calls to make flu shots mandatory, as polio and meningitis ones currently are. And as before, the continued incorporation of technology has both helped pilgrims (e-sacrifices, podcasts, and viewing the entire site in Google Earth's high resolution) and hurt them (mobile phone ringtones at the kaaba?).

As for accommodations, more travellers are demanding luxury in addition to safety. This year, the 80-story Abraj Al Bait, shopping and residential complex can now be seen just south of the haram, part of the vast construction in the area spurred by the recent liberalisation of foreign ownership of residences. Though many of these building projects are highly controversial, with much of the 1km radius of the haram razed this century, the demand for improving the housing stock from pilgrims continues unabated.

Expect changes such as these to continue in the near future, along with ones you may not have expected. Amidst the sudden resignation of Saudi ambassador to the US Prince Turki al-Faisal after 15 months on the job, there are new concerns that Saudi Arabia could join the war next door if the US pulls out of Iraq. If so, some Muslims may have to put their future hajj dreams on hold.

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The Hajj is now basically a tourist vacation. You get in a Boeing 747, land right in Saudi Arabia in an international airport, get whisked to a 5-Star hotel and after going here and there in air conditioned cars, you are out in 7-10 days and back home. Two weeks, in and out.

You do not have to form any meaningful relationships in your journey to Hajj. As long as you have a Mastercard, its in and out, swipe, swipe, swipe. Thanks to modern civilization, Hajj, like all other spiritual pursuits, is now basically a totally spiritually meaningless exercise. Its really a two-week, weight reduction and exercise program, a little hot sun, walking for a few hours, nothing like some good exercise to shed those extra few pounds quickly.

For a real Hajj, whereby you suffer and find yourself totally at the mercy of your Lord, while you travel by land and sea for several weeks, dependent not on Bank America, but total strangers and local Muslim warlords and bandits all along the route, one should read 'One Thousand Roads to Mecca' by Micheal Wolfe.

Pilgrims began streaming in for Hajj in November, this year, and they can stay until the end of January. If some people choose not to take advantage of up to two full months in or near Makkah, that hardly makes the whole thing a 'tourist vacation' for everyone.

For a real Hajj, whereby you suffer and ...

Hajj does not require suffering. Islam is not Judaism.

what about the worlds largest shopping mall to be built in mecca? This is not in anyway going to help hajj or the spirit of mecca.

I also do not trust the saudis to be having all the hajjis forcibly given shots. They are well known to be allied with the USA and even have a treaty with Isreal. What a joke Custodians of the two Holy Mosque should go clean up the bathrooms. Tell the princes to grab a mop.

The saudis are also responsible for demoloshing many of the shahabahs graves, many important sites of revalation and many ancient scholars homes madrasas and shahabis homes. They beleived this would help people from committing shirk.

Its interesting to see this portion of Identity Islam: people want sahabi's homes preserved because they are symbols of Muslim identity. People want to visit these places the way they visit Madina while on Hajj (which I think is a bid'ah, personally: hajj is to Makka and not madina...). It connects them to the past and reinforces thier Identity Islam. But, I think this is all bunk; Islam does not depend on the ruins of what people think are sahabi's houses or "places of revelation". The places are completely irrelevant I think; its only the revelations themselves that are important. Attaching importance to the places instead does smack of the hindu ideas of some geographic locations having some sort of baraka or sacredness.

Alhumdullillah, Hajj was safe this year compared to years past and several new processes and improvements, particularly at Jamarat and in Mina, put in place to help in the future. May Allah accept from all those who are trying to make the situation better and accept from those who make the Hajj sincerely for Him, regardless of circumstance.