Colin Simpson
DUBAI // Big vehicles are a common sight on the UAE's roads - but a new breed of mammoths is dwarfing even the stretched Hummers.
The country's first showroom specialising in American recreational vehicles, or RVs - giant motorhomes and trailers packed with creature comforts - opened on Sheikh Zayed Road last year.
Business at Gulf Coast RVs was slow at first but sales have started to pick up as more and more people are lured by the American approach to enjoying the great outdoors in comfort.
"It took some time to pick up because the product didn't exist here, we were the first to have this idea in the GCC," said Mazen Kalach, the general manager. "We have delivered nine units so far, there are three in the pipeline and we are closing deals with some potential prospects.
"It's an addictive product - when people see one, they want it. We started in Dubai and now we are opening a showroom in Abu Dhabi."
RVs are much-loved in the US, where some owners live in them permanently as they shuttle from state to state. Others use them for trips to national parks or other beauty spots. They have featured in many TV shows and movies, including the 2006 comedy RV, starring Robin Williams.
In the UAE they are proving to be the perfect choice for either a weekend away or a road trip.
"People use them to go to the desert, they go hunting and they go to the beach," Mr Kalach said. "Most people are using them at the weekend or to go on vacations within the GCC countries."
Gulf Coast RVs is the GCC agent for vehicles made by US company Forest River, which cost between Dh60,000 and Dh800,000. At the lower end are truck campers - simple affairs that fit over a pickup truck. Next comes the pop-up trailer, which has a tent-like structure stowed inside a trailer.
There are two types of large trailers - one designed to be taken to holiday destinations and set up for two or three weeks, the other for touring.
At the top end are two types of motorhomes. Class C models have a separate cab, while Class A types resemble buses and can be up to 11 metres long. Sharif Al Awadhi, 40, an Emirati businessman from Dubai, chose the latter.
The vast Georgetown model he picked up from the showroom is the third RV his family has owned - the previous two were brought over from the US.
"We keep it in a shed at our farm and use it for picnics when we go out," Mr Al Awadhi said. "When the weather is good we go to Hatta, we go to Fujairah and sometimes we go out of the country. It's like a movable house."
The vehicles sleep up to eight people and typically come with spacious bathrooms, TVs, air-conditioning, fridges, cookers and other home comforts. A host of extras such as marble kitchen surfaces, solid-wood units, a flame-effect fire and even a built-in observatory can be added. Some models have side sections that slide outward at the touch of a button to provide extra space inside.
Anyone who does not have a few hundred thousand dirhams to spare but still wants to sample the RV experience can hire a trailer for Dh3,700 per day, complete with a four-wheel-drive vehicle and driver.
While most buyers are nationals from the UAE and other Arabian Gulf countries, the rental service is aimed at tourists and expats.
It even has celebrity appeal - Mr Kalach said one of the Arab world's most popular female singers hired a trailer last week.
csimpson@thenational.ae
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The biog
Age: 19
Profession: medical student at UAE university
Favourite book: The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
Role model: Parents, followed by Fazza (Shiekh Hamdan bin Mohammed)
Favourite poet: Edger Allen Poe
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Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Indoor Cricket World Cup
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ALL THE RESULTS
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.
Catch 74kg
Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.
Strawweight (Female)
Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.
Lightweight
Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.
Featherweight title bout
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if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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