Meet the expat couple travelling 8,000km from UAE to France by road
Meet the expat couple travelling 8,000km from UAE to France by road
Dubai resident Loan Laux is a frequent flyer to France and whenever his plane whizzed past countries like Turkey and Iraq, he would look out of the window for the captivating views. “You think to yourself: what would it be like to actually drive there instead of fly?” he says.
To find out, Loan and his wife Kaouthar Azzoune have embarked on an epic 8000-km road trip from Dubai to Brittany in northwest France, that would span 49 days. When we catch up with them in Bulgaria where they were enjoying their pit stop, they had driven through Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Turkey and were planning to hit the road in a couple of days to head to Greece and later, Albania. “From there, we will take a boat and cross to Italy, head to Switzerland and then, France,” explains Loan, who is an active member of off-road clubs in the UAE.
“We have to be in France for Bastille Day on July 14,” adds Kaouthar. “We’ll watch the fireworks and meet family, which is the most important thing.” But they don’t intend to stop there: from France, they will travel to Spain and then, at the end of summer in September, Algeria. “We’ll take the ferry across to Algeria to see the coast. That’s going to be very exciting - I hope we get to visit because it depends on the ferry’s availability and all that,” smiles Kaouthar.
They have travelled through all kinds of winding roads on this trip, but the most unexpected twist came from an unlikely source: Instagram. Loan and Kaouthar had uploaded reels of their trip, not really expecting anyone apart from friends and family to tune in. They feature Loan's voiceover, often infused with dry wit as he narrates the day’s incidents – including their eventful stopovers, the food they ate, interesting nuggets of information about the places they visited and the colourful characters they befriended there.
Much to their surprise (and confusion), the reels became wildly popular. For some context, Loan had about 7,000 followers before the trip - that number stands at 36,100 today and appears to increase with every hit of the Refresh button. Their first reel has 2.3 million views. ‘You are living our dreams,’ followers declare in the comments section - after all, how often does one get to stare dreamily at a new landscape every morning while clutching a cup of freshly brewed coffee?
To the two seasoned travellers who cherish the quietude of such trips, this sudden fame has been a pleasant, but somewhat stressful, surprise. “We never expected so much success. Honestly, this is crazy,” says Loan. “I mean, we're not influencers, so we're not used to it. It’s nice to see that people are interested in these kinds of trips. We are really grateful and thankful for the support that we got.”
The two were inspired by fellow French expat Clement Piard, who had undertaken a similar expedition from the UAE to France a couple of years ago. They decided to not renew their apartment lease in Dubai and instead spend the entire summer travelling on a self-funded trip. They both work remotely – Loan at a web agency and Kaouthar as a digital consultant – which allows them flexibility for such plans.
It helped that the couple owned a Lexus LX470, a beast of a machine. “We bought the car completely unmodified and then slowly turned it into what it has become now," explains Loan. "The rooftop tent was the first modification we made for our trip to Salalah. Over the years, we installed drawers in the trunk, an awning, a shower suite, extra lights on the roof, and a house battery with solar panels on the roof to power our fridge and coffee machine.”
Local garages like Machinehead 4x4 in Al Quoz and The Hangar Garage in Ras al Khaimah further primed the vehicle for the trip. “We have a custom water tank fitted underneath the chassis, where the spare tire would normally be. We use it for showering, cleaning the dishes and all that,” explains Loan. “We also have a water heater which works with propane gas.”
They were excited and cautious – a winning combination especially if you want to survive such long-haul trips. They checked the website liveuamap.com regularly before and during the trip to remain updated on local news and unexpected developments like military activity in certain areas. “It’s really important to be aware,” says Loan. They also carried a couple of mobile phones, SIM cards and a satellite phone.
Such meticulous planning helped them to evade major roadblocks. There were a few hiccups though, like flat tyres and that time they filled their car with what turned out to be poor-quality fuel before crossing into Turkey. After a night of camping in the middle of a mountain, their car had protested briefly by refusing to start but ultimately, its dual fuel tank system saved them from getting stranded.
Their reels are blissfully devoid of the frills often seen in influencers’ reels, and have a documentary-style realism. Their Iraq reels, for instance, reveal a little-known side of the country that’s refreshing to watch. Loan and Kaouthar are often asked whether they felt safe while travelling through the country, and they insist they did. “Iraqis are some of the kindest and most generous people you will ever meet,” says Kaouthar. For instance, when they stopped at Daquq in the middle of the night for some refreshments while driving 900 km from Basra to Erbil, a group of locals helped them to stock up on food and refuel their car. “It’s a misconception that they might be hostile to Westerners or foreigners in general. The people that we met were so happy to see people visiting their country,” adds Kaouthar.
When they weren’t rustling up salads using the local produce or cooking instant noodles, Loan and Kaouthar sampled the local cuisine during their stopovers – Loan lavishes high praise on the food in Turkey, especially the ‘incredible’ grilled skewers in Silvan. Other major highlights of the trip were cruising through the Kurdistan region of Iraq, visiting the Red Valley in Cappadocia, catching their first glimpse of the Mediterranean Sea in Antalya and staying in Kas. But the smaller moments made the trip even more remarkable: like camping at the gorgeous Şirnak Province in Turkey, which is nestled next to the borders with Syria and Iraq. “Nobody really knows that place,” says Loan. “There are beautiful mountains and lush greenery everywhere. And absolutely incredible, hospitable people.”
The most secluded place they’ve been to so far is Kaymakam Çeşmesi, also in Turkey – Loan says the local village has about 2500 inhabitants. “In the morning, we only saw two people and the local shepherd with his sheep. That’s it. There wasn’t a single house in sight.”
The couple felt incredibly safe throughout the trip, but Loan cautions that it’s important to not ignore the risks. “Just do your research before you go … There is some military activity in the north of Iraq and other places along the Syrian border and border with Turkey. So basically, just stick to the main highway, main cities and so on. Be smart, and you will be fine.”