Ibn Fadlan’s last stopping place, described before he arrived in Bulghar, was Jurjanya. He and his caravan stayed here for quite some time due to the weather. They were trapped in this “country,” as he describes it. Jurjanya is near the Jayhun River, which he needed to pass in order to reach Bulghar. Upon his arrival in Jurjanya, the Jayhun river froze, which wasn’t necessarily what precluded them from continuing as “ horses, mules, donkeys, and carts slid over the ice” (8). It was the sheer cold that prevented them from continuing. They initially intended to stay here for a few days, but ended up staying for a little over three months. They had to have arrived in late November, as he states they leave in the middle of February, (this also lines up with the months the river would have been frozen). He also details the practicalities of his departure from Jurjanya: “ We bought Turkish camels and had boats made out of camel skin… We laid in three months’ supply of bread, millet, and dried and salted meat”(9). Fadlan describes the people as hospitable; a man invites him into his home to warm up by the fire, and he describes this custom as “it is a rule among them that beggars do not wait at the door but come into the house and sit for an hour by the fire to warm up”(8). Fadlan gives details about where he slept (more details than usual). He was provided a house to stay in. This house was “inside, which was another, inside which was a Turkish felt tent” (9). He also gives great detail of his clothing that he wore while attempting to stay warm. He said he was “wrapped in clothes and fur” while inside his house to keep warm (9). He also has an entire section describing the clothes they wore in Jurjanya.

            Fadlan heavily focuses on the weather and how these people survive the cold. He touches a bit on the customs of these people, yet those customs are still related to the weather. He describes the clothes that the “local people with whom we were on friendly terms” wore; they warned Fadlan about the importance of keeping warm (9). They wore “a tunic and over that a caftan, on top a cloak of sheepskin, and over that a felt outer garment, with a head covering…plain trousers, and another padded pair, socks. Horse hide boots… other boots” (9-10). This is the most description we get of anything from this culture… their clothes. In this section, Fadlan uses very specific and vibrant language to describe the weather. He is sure to get his point across about how cold it is.

            In other locations, Fadlan typically passes judgment on the people he is interacting with. These judgments typically reflect the culture that he comes from. In Jurijanya, his observations reflect a different aspect of his Islamic culture. He is very focused on the cold and describes the cold as “ a gate to the cold of hell” (8). Hell in Islam is imagined as cold and icy rather than hot and burning. They also believe the farther towards the poles they go, the stranger the people who inhabit these places are. Using this view of the world, it is clear why he was so focused on the cold: he may have believed he was on the cusp of hell. His reactions and focus on the weather also show the climate he is used to. He has never before experienced such weather in Baghdad. Instead of telling stories that show cultural practices, he tells stories of people who have died of the cold. He also recounts personal experiences with the cold, such as “returning to the house, I looked at my beard. It was a block of ice,” and “I saw the earth split and great crevasses form from the intense cold” (9). Remembering that he is writing his stories for the Calif can help discern why he focuses so much on the cold. He is trying to convey to people who have never experienced this cold before what it is like. This description of the cold sheds light on the climate and geographical “culture” he comes from.