The Hili tombs sit in the oasis landscape where Oman meets the United Arab Emirates, and the border here is a line on a map rather than a barrier on the ground. The Omani town of Buraimi and the Emirati city of Al Ain run into each other, with palms, fields and low sandy hills, and these stone tombs are among the oldest standing monuments in the region. They are circular towers of carefully cut limestone, built around 2500 BC in what archaeologists call the Umm an-Nar period, and they were used as communal graves.
The people who built them were farmers and traders. They mined copper in the nearby mountains and exported it by sea to Mesopotamia, and they developed irrigation channels known as falaj, underground tunnels that bring water from the hills to the oasis by gravity. The falaj system still waters date palms here and is part of the reason the cultural sites of Al Ain were listed by UNESCO in 2011. Carvings of human figures and animals survive on some of the stones, and they feel remarkably alive after four and a half thousand years.
Riding here is oasis riding: flat tarmac, roundabouts, date plantations behind mud-brick walls, and sudden stretches of desert. Summer is brutally hot, with temperatures above forty-five degrees, so ride in the early morning, or choose the cooler months from November to March. Be careful of sand drifting onto the road, and watch for speed cameras, which are common. Crossing the border between Oman and the UAE requires proper paperwork, visas and vehicle documents, so check what applies to your passport and vehicle before arriving.
Buraimi, about six kilometres away, has fuel, shops and cafes, and Al Ain, on the other side of the border, has a wide range of services. Visit the old fort in Buraimi for a sense of the region's later history. Carry plenty of water, wear sunscreen and respect the site by not climbing on the stones. Dates and strong cardamom coffee are the traditional welcome, and a handful of fresh dates is a fine reward.