Abu Dhabi long day · Al Qattara Oasis

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Abu Dhabi

   Abu Dhabi sits on an island, joined to the mainland by bridges, and the flat green and white city that spreads across it grew from a fishing village with a fort. Qasr Al Hosn, the old white coral-and-sea-stone fort dating from the eighteenth century, still stands among the high-rises as the oldest building in the city, and it was the home of the ruling family before the oil era. Oil was found offshore in the late 1950s and exports began in the early 1960s, and when Sheikh Zayed became ruler he put much of the money into trees, roads and schools. In 1971, he became the first president of the United Arab Emirates.

   Read the complete Abu Dhabi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Abu Dhabi is where the day begins. Next is Bidaa Bint Saud.

2. 2. Bidaa Bint Saud

   Jebel Hafit rises out of the flat gravel desert near Al Ain like a lizard's back, a bare, folded limestone ridge about twelve hundred metres high that marks the border between the United Arab Emirates and Oman. It is the best-known landmark in the area, and the scatter of ancient sites around it tells the story of the people who lived here. On the lower slopes are about five thousand years old beehive-shaped stone tombs, the first examples of a type of grave that is now named after the mountain, and the Hafit period is a recognised phase of Bronze Age archaeology in south-east Arabia.

   Read the complete Bidaa Bint Saud write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bidaa Bint Saud comes up about 151 km into the recorded legs. Next is Al Muwaiji Oasis.

3. 3. Al Muwaiji Oasis

   Al Ain is called the Garden City, and the Al Muwaiji area gives you the reason. Inside a ring of mud-brick walls, date palms grow thick and tall, shading small plots of vegetables, citrus trees and fodder, watered by the old irrigation channels called aflaj. These are underground and open channels that bring water from the hills, some of them used for around three thousand years, and the system is still in use. UNESCO included the oases of Al Ain in its 2011 listing of the area's cultural sites, alongside the Bronze Age tombs of Hafit and Hili.

   Read the complete Al Muwaiji Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least about 176 km into the recorded legs you reach Al Muwaiji Oasis. Next is Al Jimi Oasis.

4. 4. Al Jimi Oasis

   Al Jimi is one of those places where the desert simply stops being the main character. The oasis sits in the old part of Al Ain, a city the Emiratis call the Garden City, and a few kilometres on the other side of the line lies Al Buraymi in Oman. The two towns grew up around the same underground water and the same date gardens, and for most of history nobody drew a border through them.

   Read the complete Al Jimi Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Al Jimi Oasis, about halfway. Next is Al Qattara Oasis.

5. 5. Al Qattara Oasis

   Qattara is one of the old oases of Al Ain, a cluster of palm gardens that once fed a handful of mudbrick houses and towers. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years, and the whole group of oases is recognised by UNESCO for the way people have managed water in a place where it hardly rains. At Qattara you can still see the old layout: shaded lanes between walls, small farm plots under the palms, and a fort that was built to protect the wells and the people who relied on them.

   Read the complete Al Qattara Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Al Qattara Oasis sits at 213 km, about halfway. Next is back through Al Jimi Oasis.

6. 6. back through Al Jimi Oasis

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Al Jimi Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Al Jimi Oasis comes up about 187 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Al Muwaiji Oasis.

7. 7. back through Al Muwaiji Oasis

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Al Muwaiji Oasis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 192 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Al Muwaiji Oasis. Next is back through Bidaa Bint Saud.

8. 8. back through Bidaa Bint Saud

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bidaa Bint Saud write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Bidaa Bint Saud, late in the day. Next is Abu Dhabi.

9. 9. Abu Dhabi

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Abu Dhabi write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 370 km.