Highlights of the Gulf News Fun Drive 2020

Gulf News

The Gulf News Overnighter Fun Drive is back for its 39th edition and is being held at Tilal Swaihan, Al Ain, in an all new format. This year’s Drive will be a ‘Loop’, which means that it will start and end at the same location and the event is titled Gulf News Overnighter Fun Drive - Tilal Swaihan Experience.  Full Article here: https://gn24.ae/9452cbbf6ba3000 See more at https://gulfnews.com/1.1579232319656

Transcript

00:00Hello everyone, this is Anjana Kumar from Gulf News and I'm here in Tilal Swehan in

00:09the Al Ain region where the 39th edition of the Gulf News Fund Drive is being held.

00:17It is the first time we're having an overnighter in the Al Ain region and trust me, there is

00:31going to be a lot of fun and adventure.

00:34It's a good route, quite technical, it's not too long and the sand's good.

00:39It's very hard after the rain.

00:42So I think a lot of people will have a lot of fun today.

00:44I'm really excited, I'm expecting a lot of adventure.

00:47I've been doing the Fund Drive since I was 5 and I'm 22 now but I've missed it the past

00:52couple of years so I'm actually very, very excited to do it this time.

00:55We came here with our dad and yeah, we're ready to go, dune bashing.

01:00The Fund Drive was flagged off by Rajiv Khanna, Commercial Director, Gulf News with Ali Khalifa

01:05Al-Khamzi and Humaid Matar Al-Dahiri.

01:07The region's biggest off-roading event kicked off amidst much fanfare and more importantly,

01:13clear skies.

01:14Gulf News spoke to Sheikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan who was present at the starting

01:19point of the Fund Drive.

01:20First of all, good morning and we are really happy with all these people here and we do

01:26it every year and the most important is we know many people here and we know each other.

02:14Almost 180 marshals were on duty to rescue drivers whose vehicles were stuck in the sand

02:19and they lent them all the necessary support.

02:23This was a difficult spot because it was vertical and the car had to be winched and as you could

02:29see we couldn't even climb so winch was the most, you could say the safest option.

02:45As you can see behind me people are making their way back into the camp.

02:50Remember we did a loop today so that means that we are back to where we started from.

02:55There's a host of entertainment and activities lined up.

02:58It was fantastic, just the right amount of challenge, a little bit dodgy in the middle

03:15but mainly just good fun and really safe.

03:17I guess the rains were a blessing in disguise because the ride was pretty good.

03:22Well we're on the second day today, people are enjoying some breakfast.

03:25They are going to be enjoying a sumptuous breakfast and then making their way back home.

03:39I felt everything was very well organized.

03:42Dunes were amazing yesterday, we could cross all the dunes by 3 o'clock and the arrangements

03:48are really very nice.

03:49After coming back here we did not expect that they would be putting up so many tents and

03:53all so we got a very beautiful tent, put up our stuff there and we enjoyed the evening

03:58with all these camps and all these shops there.

04:02We did play some games as well and we won a few goodies and overall it was a very good experience.

04:09We love Gulf News Fondrais!

04:12We love Gulf News Fondrais!

04:17It's been a thrilling ride through and through.

04:19I remember we tackled the dunes in the Talal-Swehan region.

04:24Well it is the first time that an overnighter has been done in the Al Ain region and from

04:30what we've heard from the people, they truly enjoyed it.

04:33Last year we were in the Leva region.

04:36Trust me, the route that we took this time was supposed to be really challenging but

04:42thanks to the rains last week, the sands really helped people to have a smooth transition

04:48and even beginners who were trying out the Gulf News Fondrais for the first time found

04:54this terrain to be fairly easier than what they had heard of from the other routes.

05:02And so it is a wrap for the 39th edition of the Gulf News Fondrais.

05:07We hope you enjoyed it and for those who didn't make it this time, see you next time.

05:12This is Anjana Kumar for Gulf News.

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