Hili 2 and Cultural Sites of Al Ain

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hili 2

   Jebel Hafit rises out of the flat desert like a wall of grey limestone, and at its foot lie some of the oldest tombs in the Arabian Peninsula. Hili 2 is part of the archaeological park on the edge of Al Ain, in Abu Dhabi emirate, where beehive-shaped stone tombs were built around five thousand years ago, in what archaeologists call the Umm an-Nar period. The round towers of neatly cut stone, some with carved animals and human figures on the doorways, held collective burials, and the place is also home to remains of a Bronze Age settlement and ancient irrigation channels called falaj. The tombs, together with the oases and the hill, are part of the UNESCO listing of the cultural sites of Al Ain, inscribed in 2011.

   Read the complete Hili 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hili 2 is where the day begins. Next is Jebel Hafit Desert Park.

2. 2. Jebel Hafit Desert Park

   For riders in the Gulf, there is a road that people talk about with real affection. Jebel Hafit, a long, rocky ridge that rises out of the flat gravel plain on the border between the United Arab Emirates and Oman, is about 1,240 metres high, and a smooth tarmac road snakes up its eastern flank in a long series of hairpins and bends to the top, a distance of about eleven kilometres. At the summit, a hotel and a viewing terrace look out over the oasis city of Al Ain, with the desert stretching away to the horizon, and at dusk the lights come on below like a field of stars. Motorcyclists and cyclists come here in the cooler months, usually early in the morning or at sunset, and the road is one of the best in the country.

   Read the complete Jebel Hafit Desert Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Jebel Hafit Desert Park comes up about 33 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

   about 66 km into the recorded legs you reach Al Muwaiji Oasis. Next is Cultural Sites of Al Ain.

4. 4. Cultural Sites of Al Ain

   Al Ain is called the Garden City, and the name is earned. It is a large, spread-out oasis town at the foot of Jebel Hafit, close to the border with Oman, and its green roundabouts, date plantations and tree-lined avenues look like a deliberate argument against the desert. The UNESCO cultural sites here bundle together a handful of places: the Hafit tombs, the Hili archaeological park, the Bidaa bint Saud area, and the oases of the town itself. The theme is human life in a dry land, over a very long time.

   Read the complete Cultural Sites of Al Ain write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Cultural Sites of Al Ain, about halfway. Next is back through Al Muwaiji Oasis.

5. 5. 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

   back through Al Muwaiji Oasis sits at 115 km, about halfway. Next is back through Jebel Hafit Desert Park.

6. 6. back through Jebel Hafit Desert Park

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jebel Hafit Desert Park write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Jebel Hafit Desert Park comes up about 159 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hili 2.

7. 7. Hili 2

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hili 2 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hili 2 closes the day.