A'ali is not only a graveyard. The village that gives the cemetery its name has for generations been the pottery town of Bahrain, and a few workshops still shape red clay on the wheel and fire it in kilns, much as potters did here centuries ago. The big domed jars and incense burners are not antiques but fresh work, and the craftsmen are usually happy to let visitors watch as they turn a lump of wet clay into a perfect curve. The pottery tradition continues despite the arrival of cheap factory ware, and it provides a pleasant link between the ancient tombs and the present.
Royal Mound 6 stands a short ride from the potteries, in the broad plateau of the royal cemetery. It is one of the group built in the early second millennium BC, a monument of stacked limestone with a chamber at its core, and it has been protected by fences since the Danish excavations of the 1950s and later work by Bahraini and international teams. The UNESCO listing in 2019 recognised the area as a landscape of burial that is one of the largest in the world, with thousands of smaller mounds spread across the island.
For a rider, the landscape is easy. Roads between the mounds and the village are flat and wide, with intermittent sand and the occasional pothole where roadworks have been patched. Take care around the village's narrow lanes, where children play and cars park on both sides. Be ready for long waits at junctions in rush hour, and expect to share the road with large trucks carrying construction material, a constant in a country that is always building.
Madinat Isa and A'ali have plenty of shops, and a few small grocery stores sell cold drinks and snacks until late at night. Petrol stations are easy to find, and there is no problem with range.
Ask a potter for a small clay lamp or cup: the price is modest, and it is a better souvenir than anything in a mall.