ROUTE OF FORTS AND ANCIENT TOWERS

In anticipation of the dream day when historians and marketing people will make common cause to facilitate the visibility of built heritage, we propose the following route. This preamble is necessary to ensure that the traveller is understanding and tolerant of any inaccuracies: Liwa's dozen or so historic sites are like a treasure hunt, sometimes without a trail, and generally without signposts.

We therefore "reconstituted" a route on the basis of numerous maps and academic documents, geographically coherent since it runs from east to west (i.e. with the sun at our backs) if not historically coherent. The route was then surveyed from end to end, with all kilometers recorded by GPS. The final result is a first for all books and guides combined, which is more of a handicap than a source of pride. These often modest-looking forts are in relatively good condition, having been recently restored by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which has put in the resources to ensure that the result lives up to expectations. This route of forts and ancient towers bears witness to the genius of the oasis' ancient populations, who were always keen to protect themselves from possible attacks and to keep an eye on their agricultural riches. Of course, you can make do with just one or two stops along the way, as all the buildings have an unfortunate tendency to resemble one another. This emptiness is maintained by a post-modern new-rich-country tropism of creating hotels and malls in unexpected places, in enchanting traditional settings. However beautiful they may be, like the magnificent Qasr Al Sarab, they cannot replace a place of history, a tower where men have fought. The difficulty of access to the sites that follow testifies to the temptation of the theme park as an immediate response to more exotic aspirations. We recommend departing in the late morning and combining this tour with Tel Moreb in the mid-afternoon. Lunch is available at the Liwa Hotel. Make sure you've filled up with petrol, bring an extra cell phone charger, plenty of water and change.

Starting point, meter at zero: Adnoc gas station in Hamim. We'll also include the mileage from Mezaira'a for those who'd be doing the route in a west-east direction. We've also added all the GPS points to help you.

Fort Jabbanah. GPS: 23.062543, 54.071549. At km 28, in the Jarrah area, a row of bouibouis on the right. Just before you reach it, take a short track that slips behind to reach this beautiful fortress with three cylindrical towers topped with battlements, close to a dune. Visible from the tarmac. Free admission. 36 km from Mezaira'a.

Fort Attab. GPS: 23.141189, 53.896512. At km 54, i.e. 26 km further on towards Mezaira'a, an identical but smaller structure, surely older. Some sources date its construction to the time of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Shakhbout Bin Dhiab, between 1816 and 1818. Attab, also known as Al Meel, is set back from the tarmac on the right, visible from the road. You'll see it before the sign for Mahdhar Attab. Turn right following the Mahdhar Attab sign and park in the parking lot. 17.7 km from Mezaira'a.

Second starting point, counter at zero: Mezaira'a central traffic circle, in front of the mosque.

Stay on the E90

Fort Mezaira'a. GPS: 23.139048, 53.780449. At km 1.2, turn right off the main tarmac and in a few hundred metres you'll reach the parking lot in front of this vast fort, topped by three ritual towers. The backdrop is the vegetated dune atop which stands the area's presidential palace. As in the previous buildings, note the carved wooden doors.

Al Hamily fortified house. GPS: 23.126567, 53.754558. At km 4.5, i.e. 3.3 km further on from the return to the main tarmac, stop on the side of the road to discover the only fortified house still standing in the oasis. Also known as Dhafeer Fort, this is a two-storey fortress set behind a courtyard surrounded by crenellated walls. You can enter and climb the upper floors, admiring the restoration work that reflects the living environment of a wealthy family, from the ceilings supported by date-tree stipes to the elaborate openings.

Along the way, admire the vegetated hills that follow the ochre dunes! A surreal spectacle. In the distance, palaces, the homes of sheikhs who return to the dunes of the fathers of the nation, for Liwa is indeed the cradle of the Bani Yas family, ancestors of the Al Nahyan.

Fort and Qutuf Mosque. GPS: 23.110811, 53.730127 . At km 8.2, 3.7 km further on, a slight climb before reaching the Mahdhar/Qutuf sign. Take the right-hand drop-off on the right-hand preselection, a narrow lane that descends and then curves to the right towards the dunes. At the far end, the fort is there, modest in size with its single tower, next to a small mosque buried in the palms. In March 1948, British explorer Wilfred Thesiger passed through here, starving after three days without food. "We passed through the villages of Qutuf and Dhaufir. Palm trees had been planted along the salt plains, at the foot of high, steep-sided dunes and in depressions in the middle of the sands. The plantations were surrounded by fences; others had been erected at the top of the dunes in an attempt to contain the movements of the sands which, in various places, had partially buried the trees. These were carefully spaced and obviously well maintained. There were no other crops, probably because of the salt film covering the soil. Water was abundant at depths of between two and six metres."

Fort Mariah Al Gharbiya. This is the most difficult fort to find, so follow the signs carefully. GPS: 23.103694, 53.584068. At km 22, i.e. 16.4 km ahead, turn right, still on tarmac, towards Khanoor, continue straight on to the first traffic circle (approx. 1.7 km), take the second exit, i.e. left. At the second traffic circle, continue straight ahead and a few hundred metres from the Al Mariah sign, turn left onto the tarmac road. You'll see the fort below.

Al Hayla Tower. GPS: 23.109984, 53.615328. Without initial directions, it took us an hour to find it! From Fort Mariah, retrace your steps at the first traffic circle and take the road opposite, passing stalls where you can buy water and a few provisions. After 1,000 m, turn left onto the track through the palm grove. After 500 m, it's on the right, hidden by vegetation. Al Haya is a modest testimony to the defensive needs of the ^19th century, when Dubai's cousins were making rezzous (from gazwa, raid). Its 8-metre-high walls are made of sarouj, a local mixture of clay, gypsum and sand. By GPS, we are 29.6 km from the start of Mezaira'a.

Umm Hosn. GPS: 23.007625, 53.423917. Back on the main oasis road, 0 km on the clock. At km 27.9 heading west, i.e. 50.5 km from Mezaira'a, at the traffic circle take the first right onto the E15, just after which you should see the ruins on the right. Our last stop is the least impressive, as it's just a pile of stones. Also known as Fort Arrada, after the nearby village, this 200-year-old site was the scene of a Qatari attack in 1880, the last known massive assault on Liwa. To protect what remains, after local residents plundered the stones to solidify their homes, a fence keeps you away from what was once a unique tower fort. The oldest built heritage of the Bedouin era is right in front of you. Access 400 m by 4x4 only, leaving the tarmac to the right through the palm grove, then crossing a fairly free-flowing sand bowl. Turn around to return in the opposite direction.