Why this ride
On the way it passes Bū Māhir Seashore, Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field, Core zone 2 and back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field. It crosses from Qatar into Bahrain - carry ID and check the toll rules.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site and Core zone 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 1042 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 17 h 56
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Al Zubarah Archaeological Site
Out on the north-west coast of Qatar, where the desert slides into a shallow turquoise sea, stand the low ruins of Al Zubarah, once one of the busiest pearling and trading towns in the Gulf. In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the town thrived on pearls dived from the oyster beds offshore, traded on to India, Persia and beyond. Then it declined, was abandoned in the early twentieth century, and the sand covered it. Archaeologists have since uncovered streets, houses, a souk, mosques and a long town wall running in an arc around the old harbour. UNESCO inscribed the site in 2013.
Read the complete Al Zubarah Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site is where the day begins. Next is Bū Māhir Seashore.
2. Bū Māhir Seashore
Bahrain was once a pearl island, and its fortune depended on a harvest that took place under water. For centuries before oil, the men of Muharraq sailed out into the Gulf in the summer months to dive for oysters, going down on a single breath with a nose clip and a stone to carry them to the bottom, and bringing up baskets of shells in the hope of finding a pearl. The Bahraini pearls were famous, and their trade supported merchants, boat owners and whole districts. In the 1930s the Japanese invented cultured pearls, and the market collapsed, which is partly why Bahrain was so ready for oil.
Read the complete Bū Māhir Seashore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bū Māhir Seashore comes up about 292 km into the recorded legs. Next is Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field.
3. Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field
Bahrain was once covered with burial mounds. Over thousands of years, between roughly 2200 BC and the early centuries AD, the people of Dilmun, an ancient civilisation that controlled trade in the Gulf between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley, built tens of thousands of tombs across the northern part of the island. Many have been lost to modern development, but some fields survive, and in 2019 a selection of them, including the Madinat Hamad mound fields, was inscribed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Dilmun Burial Mounds.
Read the complete Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 415 km into the recorded legs you reach Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field. Next is Core zone 2.
4. Core zone 2
Bahrain's pearl-diving history is the reason this scrap of coast matters. For centuries, before oil, the island's wealth came from the oyster beds in the shallow waters, and divers went out for months each summer, working with a nose clip, a stone weight and a basket. Pearls from these waters were prized from India to Europe. Then in the 1930s cultured pearls from Japan collapsed the market, and oil, struck in 1932, took over. The Pearling Path, a UNESCO listing since 2012, preserves buildings and sea sites connected with that older economy, including Fakhro House and the offshore oyster beds called Hayr Shtayyah.
Read the complete Core zone 2 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Core zone 2, about halfway. Next is back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field.
5. back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field sits at 695 km, about halfway. Next is back through Bū Māhir Seashore.
6. back through Bū Māhir Seashore
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bū Māhir Seashore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Bū Māhir Seashore comes up about 750 km into the recorded legs. Next is Al Zubarah Archaeological Site.
7. Al Zubarah Archaeological Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Al Zubarah Archaeological Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site closes the day.
Leg by leg
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site to Bū Māhir Seashore
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site → Bū Māhir Seashore is 292 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Bū Māhir Seashore to Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field
Bū Māhir Seashore → Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field is 123 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field to Core zone 2
Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field → Core zone 2 is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Core zone 2 to back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field
Core zone 2 → back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field is 106 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field to back through Bū Māhir Seashore
back through Madinat Hamad 3 Burial Mound Field → back through Bū Māhir Seashore is 123 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Bū Māhir Seashore to Al Zubarah Archaeological Site
back through Bū Māhir Seashore → Al Zubarah Archaeological Site is 292 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.