Why this ride
A 932 km round trip from Al Muharraq - roughly 16 h 55 in the saddle. It crosses from Bahrain into Qatar - carry ID and check the toll rules. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro and Al Zubarah Archaeological Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 932 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 16 h 55
- 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. Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro
Muharraq, the island where this house stands, is a flat knob of coral and sand just off the north coast of Bahrain, and in the age of pearls it was one of the richest places in the Gulf. The Fakhro family were among the merchants who made money in that trade, and their house, the Amarat Yousif Fakhro, is part of the Pearling Path, a group of buildings in the old town that UNESCO inscribed in 2012 as a testimony to the island economy that depended on pearls for centuries.
Read the complete Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro is where the day begins. Next is Hayr Shtayyah.
2. 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
about 469 km into the recorded legs you reach Al Zubarah Archaeological Site. Next is back through Hayr Shtayyah.
3. Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro to Al Zubarah Archaeological Site
Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro → Al Zubarah Archaeological Site is 469 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site to Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro
Al Zubarah Archaeological Site → Amārat Yousif A.‘Fakhro is 469 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.