It was loads of fun — from sunup to sundown — as hundreds of participants on 4X4 vehicles of various colours and sizes conquered the seemingly endless sand dunes of Tilal Swaihan today for the 40th edition of Gulf News Overnighter Fun Drive - ‘Tilal Swaihan Experience’, with Nissan as the automotive sponsors.
Read the full story here:
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Read the full story here:
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello everyone, it's 6.42am and rather chilly.
00:20Where are we?
00:21We're here at the 40th Gulf News Fun Drive.
00:24It's the Tilal Swehan Experience and behind me are the early arrivals.
00:30People have started arriving into the campsite in order to register their names and that
00:36of their families.
00:38So we're here to kickstart this massive major event which is always such a thrilling adventure
00:46for a lot of people.
00:47It's exhilarating just to see everyone here.
00:52After two years, we've all been cooped up and just to actually breathe the lovely fresh
01:00air and see all these crowds, my god, it's a wonderful feeling.
01:06We are one of the proud sponsors for this year's Gulf News Fun Drive.
01:10It's a great moment for us to be associated again this year.
01:14What better opportunity to associate with our customers than the Fun Drive, which is
01:19the most sought-after outdoor event which everyone looks forward to.
01:24People have travelled, some of them I know from outside Dubai, just to be a part of this
01:28event again this year.
01:30It's a great opportunity to be out and about after a few years of being locked down so
01:34everyone is looking forward to it.
01:47We are proud to join all these many people here in this event.
01:56This truck is a military truck.
01:58We bought it surplus, only we paid $20,000 and we have this body from the ram, we put
02:07it over it.
02:10We used the chassis of this truck in another project.
02:15So we used this body over the military truck.
02:18I'm happy, alhamdulillah, after COVID, you know, everything open now.
02:45Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah,
03:13Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah,
03:42Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah,
04:10Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah.
04:22So we are back to the campsite after seven hours of amazing dune bashing.
04:28It was spectacular.
04:30The whole journey from morning till early afternoon was just so thrilling and adventurous.
04:38And now we are back here at the campsite where a number of games have been lined up
04:43for the participants.
04:46We are also going to have a cake cutting later in the evening.
04:52Dinner will be laid out for all the participants.
04:55And well, it's a second round of celebrations for everyone here.
05:25We are here on the 40th fun drive that happens around the UAE over in Al Ain.
05:52And I can assure you that this event is as fun as they come.
05:55We've got a lot of great people.
05:57We've got a lot of great ventures that actually happen here.
06:00Pretty damn good music and everywhere in between.
06:03I want to tell you to get yourself here.
06:05If you didn't this year, make sure that you do the next year.
06:07Hi, we're the Safiyas and we've been coming here for the past 15 years and I've been doing
06:12this since I was two.
06:13And it's a very fun trip and we've missed it so much.
06:16It was a really fun drive.
06:17The marshals and all were very good.
06:19They supported us throughout.
06:21I would like to thank Gulf News and the whole organizing committee for getting us over here.
06:25I have come with my family, my two sons and my wife.
06:29And we enjoyed.
06:30The drive was great.
06:32The marshal was cooperating.
06:34Everywhere we found marshals.
06:36So it was a comfortable drive.
06:38She's the one who told me about this fun drive.
06:41And by luck, I just go to their webpage on the same day when the registration was open.
06:49And then I registered myself.
06:51And it is really an amazing experience.
06:54I was telling to my wife a few minutes before that it is like a lifetime experience here.
07:01The atmosphere here is really electric.
07:04The carnival, what you see, especially after two years of Corona and the pandemic.
07:10This is something very, very exciting, what we see happening all around.
07:15I want to say that I had so much fun through the whole experience.
07:18It was something that you have to experience.
07:21If you live in Dubai, if you live in UAE or if you're going to travel here.
07:25I really recommend you guys to come here and have fun.
07:27This was my first time at Fun Drive Gulf News.
07:31Even though we couldn't complete the circuit fully.
07:34But this was an extremely good learning experience.
07:38As I got to drive and do the whole dune bashing thing.
07:42It was risky, it was scary.
07:45But I would definitely say it was one of a lifetime experience.
07:48And definitely a lot of fun.
07:50Another edition of the Gulf News Fun Drive has come to an end.
07:53All in all, it's been a great thrilling experience.
07:56We spoke to the participants who unanimously said they have been waiting for this event to happen.
08:01Remember, the Gulf News Fun Drive is happening after a two-year gap.
08:04And participants said they have been waiting for it.
08:08Because they wanted to have a fun-filled experience with their family and friends.
08:12And that's what they did yesterday.
08:14It's a wrap for us.
08:16And everybody here at Dalal Swehan.
08:19This is Anjana Kumar for Gulf News.