Ibrahim Bilal, aged 21 and Mohammed Afsal Haq, aged 22, known as ‘AB Tech Vibe’, from India, are on their seven-nation journey on a 2000 model Bajaj Chetak scooter.
The Indian men, Bilal and Haq, after completing their eleven-state journey around India in a period of three and half months, arrived in the United Arab Emirates around a week ago.
The UAE is the first country on their cross- GCC tour, said Bilal. Taking a long journey on a scooter is not an easy task, but he further said we wanted to do something unique.
Both of them hail from Kasargode, Kerala and are childhood best friends and are very active on social media as they regularly post reels and videos of their adventures on Instagram and Youtube.
While Bilal and Haq decided to ride from India to the Emirates, they said they could not get permission to travel in the Taliban-governed Afghanistan. Instead, after finishing their all-India journey, they shipped their Chetak scooter, which is around 22 years old, from Mumbai to Dubai.
Bilal stated, “The scooter reached Dubai in 15 days. We opened it five days ago.”
“Furthermore, our fathers work here and given the mere size of the Indian immigrant population in the UAE, it naturally became the most prominent option to start our international journey,” said Afzal. After journeying in Dubai, they rode on Chetak to Abu Dhabi on Saturday, 11 June.
Bilal further added that they visited many places in Dubai like Burj Khalifa, Museum of the Future and Al Qouz. On Saturday, they rode to Abu Dhabi via the Sheikh Zayed road.
Due to the high temperatures in the morning, the youths thought to ride only in the early mornings or evenings.
“We start our ride at 5 am or 6 am, stop for rest at 10 am and begin again at 5 pm. We have been staying with friends and family,” added Bilal.
“We do not ride over 80 km/ hour even though the scooter’s maximum pace is 120 km/ hour,” said Afzal.
After Emirates, the duo expect to visit Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.
They will ship the scooter back to Kochi, Kerala, from Jordan.
The duo also has an international license and the required permits to travel to these nations.