[cLJ]

Hello to all Bhpians

My name is Jaison and coming from Gods own country (Kerala).

To give a brief detail about me, I am working in a multi-national oil company in the Middle East for the last 2 decades in the oil exploration. The working condition is so harsh that I work only around 7 months in a year and rest is off duty (of course paid). I am married and have 3 children. I like to travel a lot, but now children are in schools, the travelling is limited to school vacations only.

Though I have fair knowledge of pumps and motors, I learnt a lot from this forum about automobiles. This is a forum where people exchange expert ideas and hand-on experience, which I liked very much, and I don't think you will get them anywhere else so freely. The test drive report is great.

I am now proud to be a TBHPian.

CLJ

[Johnny_]

Warm Welcome..It would be an appetizer if you could reveal about your machines(i.e. cars) that you drove abroad i.e. Middle East.

[Wanderer78]

Welcome cLJ. It will be great if you can also share information about the cars/bikes your drive/drove.

[navan49]

Hi CLJ,
Welcome on board of Team bhp. You have a god experience in life. From the God's own country to Middle east for 2 decades. Please don't come in and go away. You can contribute any topic of yours in our forum

[cLJ]

Thanks for all welcoming to the forum.

To brief about my driving experience in the middle east, there is nothing much to talk about. Out of all these periods, only 2 years I worked in the town office. The first year spent for obtaining licence. Then I bought a 2nd hand Toyota Cresida which I sold after 6 months; then I bought a new Toyota Camry which I was forced to sell after 7 months, due to my transfer to Fields. In the fields, we are not allowed to drive unless we undergo desert driving and pass the test. I took the training twice and during the test, both the times my vehicle got stuck in the sand dunes. Afterwards I gave-up all these due to, first it is very risky to drive in the desert, second we have a huge number of rented vehicles and drivers at our service.

I have a lot of travelling experience in international brand of cars like Mercedes, BMW, Chevrolet, Audi, Volvo, etc. The only Japanese model available in the company is Toyota L/C for desert use. Out of all these cars, the cars I like to travel is Chevrolet Caprice and Mercedes.

In India I had an Ambassador Mark IV until 2002 and then I bought a Zen, because my wife wanted to drive. Now it is time for a new car and for the last 6 months I am behind this whenever I am in India, and I have some brands in mind. But the biggest hurdle is my home minister, who wants only hatchback. We are fighting it out and I don't know who will win the race. Since I am away most of the time, our driving is very limited and she is using most of the time. We have an Activa also, so this also limit the driving unless we go out together.

CLJ

[Johnny_]

Originally Posted by cLJ

Thanks for all welcoming to the forum.

To brief about my driving experience in the middle east, there is nothing much to talk about. Out of all these periods, only 2 years I worked in the town office. The first year spent for obtaining licence. Then I bought a 2nd hand Toyota Cresida which I sold after 6 months; then I bought a new Toyota Camry which I was forced to sell after 7 months, due to my transfer to Fields. In the fields, we are not allowed to drive unless we undergo desert driving and pass the test. I took the training twice and during the test, both the times my vehicle got stuck in the sand dunes. Afterwards I gave-up all these due to, first it is very risky to drive in the desert, second we have a huge number of rented vehicles and drivers at our service.

I have a lot of travelling experience in international brand of cars like Mercedes, BMW, Chevrolet, Audi, Volvo, etc. The only Japanese model available in the company is Toyota L/C for desert use. Out of all these cars, the cars I like to travel is Chevrolet Caprice and Mercedes.

In India I had an Ambassador Mark IV until 2002 and then I bought a Zen, because my wife wanted to drive. Now it is time for a new car and for the last 6 months I am behind this whenever I am in India, and I have some brands in mind. But the biggest hurdle is my home minister, who wants only hatchback. We are fighting it out and I don't know who will win the race. Since I am away most of the time, our driving is very limited and she is using most of the time. We have an Activa also, so this also limit the driving unless we go out together.

CLJ

A bigger and nimble hatch would be better than a bulky sedan, which could be difficult for her to drive in city.