UAE expat drives 8,000km from Dubai to France to get car specs changed

8,000 kilometres. 21 days. 10 countries. A little over $2,000. Meet French expat in Dubai, Clement Piard, who went on an epic adventure, driving to France from Dubai in his Golf GTI car.

It was almost two years ago that the 24-year-old adventure lover had moved to the UAE for work. Earlier this year, he spent weeks driving across Saudi Arabia in a bid to learn Arabic.

A desire to take his car to France and meet friends he had made while living in Dubai en route to his destination is what compelled Clement to set off on the epic adventure.

How it started

What started out as a comical discussion during a gathering with friends eventually caught fire in his mind. “I was showing them on Google Maps the way to drive to my hometown Caen from Dubai,” he said.

“We all laughed and moved on. However, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. I loved my car and I wanted to take it to France to get it changed to European specifications there. The only way to do it is to put the car on the boat. However, the car could take up to three months to reach there and it would cost me $3,000. So, I thought, I had free time. I wanted to travel, meet people, and enjoy the experience. Why not?”

Setting off

Having driven across Saudi, Clement had made friends in Jubail. So that was his first stop. “I knew I could stay with my friends there,” he said. “So, on the first day, I set off at 8am and reached my destination around 8pm. That was around 900 kilometres. That is the longest I drove at one stretch throughout my trip. It was Ramadan and I joined my friends for iftar and some traditional Arabic hospitality.”

After two days at Jubail, Clement set off for Kuwait, where he slept the night in the car, before driving on to Iraq. That is where he hit his first roadblock.

Hurdles and hospitality

At the Iraq-Kuwait border, Clement was turned back. “When I checked with the embassy here, I was told I could get a visa on arrival,” he said. “However, when I got there, the border guards were having none of it.”

A dejected Clement travelled back to Kuwait where he applied for a visa at the Iraqi embassy. He drove back to Saudi Arabia and waited. “I got a call from Kuwait. My visa had been stamped.”

Once he got the visa, he entered Iraq. “I met the same guards at the border who had refused to let me in earlier,” he said. “They were actually really happy to see me.”

He hoped to meet his friend from Dubai Mohammed in Iraq. “Mohammed lived in Baghdad,” said Clement. “However, I was so exhausted. I had spent around 9 hours at the Iraq border. And I had been driving around and sleeping in the car the previous couple of days. I didn’t have the energy to drive to Baghdad that day. So I stayed the night with a friend of his in Basra and then set off to meet Mohammed early next day.”

Clement spent the next three days in Baghdad with Mohammed, celebrating Eid Al Fitr. “It was the time that all my expectations about Iraq completely changed,” he said.

“People there were so welcoming and so hospitable that I really enjoyed myself. No one allowed me to stay in a hotel. Mohammed and his family just welcomed me into their home as if I was their own.”