More than two million Muslims from around the world begin the hajj pilgrimage at Islam's holiest sites, a religious duty and a multi-stage spiritual journey. Wearing the simple garb of the pilgrim, the faithful waited at dawn with their suitcases for buses to take them to Mina five kilometres to the east; there, hundreds of thousands were gathering before they set off at dawn to climb Mount Arafat, the pinnacle of the hajj.