Why this ride
An 84 km round trip from Al Muharraq - roughly 1 h 17 in the saddle. On the way it passes Royal Mound 10, Bū Māhir Seashore and back through Royal Mound 10. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hayr Shtayyah and Bū Māhir Seashore
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 84 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 17
- 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: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Siyadi House
Muharraq was Bahrain's capital before Manama took over, and it is still the island's most atmospheric old town, a tangle of narrow lanes, coral-stone houses and wind towers beside a shallow sea. Siyadi House belongs to a group of merchant houses built when pearls made Bahrain rich, and it stands in the middle of the Pearling Path, a UNESCO-listed route through the old town that traces the pearl trade from the oyster beds to the merchants' counting rooms. Carved wooden doors, plaster work and a tall wind tower that once caught the breeze are the signature of the house.
Read the complete Siyadi House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 0 km into the recorded legs you reach Siyadi House. Next is Royal Mound 10.
2. Royal Mound 10
The mounds at Hayr Shtayyah are part of something that is hard to grasp until you see it from above: the largest ancient burial landscape in the Gulf. Across the island of Bahrain, tens of thousands of low, rounded mounds, made of stone and sand, are scattered across the desert and in places, they stretch to the horizon. They were built mostly by the Dilmun civilisation, in the third and second millennia BC, when Bahrain was a rich trading hub between Mesopotamia and the Indus valley, and UNESCO has listed a selection of these burial grounds as World Heritage.
Read the complete Royal Mound 10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Royal Mound 10, about halfway. Next is Bū Māhir Seashore.
3. 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 sits at 153 km, about halfway. Next is back through Royal Mound 10.
4. back through Royal Mound 10
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Royal Mound 10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Royal Mound 10 comes up about 65 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Siyadi House.
5. back through Siyadi House
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Siyadi House write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 84 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Siyadi House. Next is back through Hayr Bū ‘Amāmah.
Leg by leg
Siyadi House to Royal Mound 10
Siyadi House → Royal Mound 10 is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Mound 10 to Bū Māhir Seashore
Royal Mound 10 → Bū Māhir Seashore is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bū Māhir Seashore to back through Royal Mound 10
Bū Māhir Seashore → back through Royal Mound 10 is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Royal Mound 10 to back through Siyadi House
back through Royal Mound 10 → back through Siyadi House is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.