Ibn Fadlan recounts his journey to Bulghar and describes the people and the culture he observes. He writes about their cleanliness, or lack thereof. He claims, “[The Rus] are the filthiest of God’s creatures” (Fadlan 46) because they remain unwashed after they have sex, use the bathroom, or after they eat. He goes on to mention how they use a basin of water that multiple people share, to use for their washing and grooming needs, as well as spitting and blowing their nose in the same basin of water. Fadlan also focuses on the cultural practices of the Rus, specifically their burial practices. He denotes that there are different protocols for different classes of people. The burial ritual for a poor man is vastly different from that of a wealthy man. The poor man will be placed in a boat and set on fire. If the man were wealthy, then his assets would be divided into three parts: one part given to his family, the other for burial clothes, and the last to make the drink that drugs the slave girl who sacrifices herself for her master, the man who died. 

Ibn Fadlan arrived on May 12, 922, and met the king whom his caliph had sent him to meet. This journey took seventy days for Fadlan and his traveling companions to complete. Fadlan describes various rivers they needed to cross to reach this kingdom. They fashioned boats out of camel skin to get them and all of their belongings across these rivers. For Ibn Fadlan and his caravan to pass through different places, they needed to give something in exchange to gain access to the route, like a toll. They gave bread to a Turkish man who stopped them, and bread, walnuts, a caftan, and other various items to a king who would not let them pass through. Ibn Fadlan’s narrative does not include his exact duration of time spent in Bulghar, but it is assumed that his journey lasted about 18 months in total. 

The way in which Ibn Fadlan describes the people with whom he comes into contact – their dress, customs, religion, and so on – comes off as much more subjective and, at most times, judgmental, alluding to his sense that he knows better than they do. The caliph sent him to educate the Bulghars about the Islamic faith. This mission gives him a sense of superiority, even to the king. He corrects the king and his subjects on the ways of practicing the Islamic faith, including the correct way to recite the iqama, or the prayer that is said aloud. Ibn Fadlan is adamant that the iqama is only said once, but the king orders the muezzin to say the prayer twice. Fadlan hears the prayer said incorrectly and is angered: “When I heard this repetition of the phrases, I ordered the muezzin to stop doing it and shouted at him” (Fadlan 30). Ibn Fadlan feels entitled to yell at the king because of his position as the religious envoy. His superiority turns into snobbishness as he describes the different facets of life he witnesses and finds offensive. He dislikes their cooking methods, where they use fish oil and he claims, “…everything they make with it smells bad” (Fadlan 35). He compares their use of fish oil with his own culture’s method of cooking with olive oil or sesame oil. He believes that this is the proper way to cook food, and their way is wrong. His rejection of their customs continues when it comes to his disagreement with the women not veiling themselves. He tries to enforce this concept on women, but does not succeed. Instead of observing and accepting the customs of the place he has travelled to, he negates their practices and attempts to force his own onto them. His narrative reflects that his purpose for travelling to Bulghar was not to explore the land and its people, but to try to teach them the ways of Baghdad so they can assimilate.