Ajay Chirayil is a man with an impossible love for driving, who is first a traveler before he is a businessman. He hails from Kannur district of Kerala in India. Ajay is married to Jeena with a son, Anshul.

Day of Dubai approaches Ajay to talk about his business but ends up talking about his road trips instead.

Ajay and road trips

Road trips have always been a craze to this traveler. The foremost interesting fact about Ajay is that he travels as much as possible on the 4 wheels – by road. Ajay’s tireless love for driving can be clearly understood when he tells us of his recent 3-weeks’ vacation in India during which he covered nearly a whopping 4000 kilometers!

Ajay frequently heads for desert safaris with his adventurous bunch of friends or his equally enthusiastic family. He sees these trips as a road to relaxation, which has almost turned out to be a weekly ritual to this businessman. “Thursday nights, especially during the winters are for camping and sitting back relaxed, away from all the stress”, says Ajay.

“At times I go on long-drives that stretch as long as 3 to 4 hours during the early morning hours. It is a great stress reliever and takes you away from all the chaos and confusions, to a state of soothing serenity.”

Expeditions on Four-wheels

When we talk about Ajay’s love for driving, we are not talking only about the 3-4 hours’ drive. Ajay is a globetrotter, having expedited by road beyond state and national borders.

“The recent trip we took up was to the Himalayas. I drove all the way to the Himalayas.” Ajay is not here only for the pleasure of driving but also to explore the diversity that lies within every piece of land and its people. On his last trip to the Himalayas, he covered the whole place. Ajay has also traveled to the Northeastern states of India including Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and others. 

Not over yet, Ajay has even been on an enthralling road trip to Thailand all the way from India with his friends. “When on such long drives, we take small breaks, we stop at places for tea and snacks, often halting at interesting places on the go, and the drive to Thailand followed the same style. Myanmar was on the way and so we did stop by the place and explore it as well, adding to the total of 12 days that it took us to reach the place.”

The thing is, you don’t travel to ‘travel’ but to explore and that makes the difference which makes it a beautiful leisure activity."

“Last September, with my family, we hit the roads targeting the Everest Base Camp. This was notably the first time that an adventurous team from India was heading to Tibet by car. We were really lucky, as soon after our trip, driving to the Base Camp was banned. Hence it turns out that we will be the last team to have been on such an expedition to the place."

An irresistible craze

Driving and vehicles are a craze to Ajay, who currently owns a Nissan Patrol, FJ Cruiser and a Land Cruiser Prado. “Cars have always been a craze to me”, admits Ajay.

Ajay is more into adventurous trips driving past the rough and impossible terrains. Straight smooth roads don’t make Ajay’s cup of tea. Ajay wants to race through toughest of roads. 

“Spiti en route to the Himalayas is one of my favourite roads with its difficult and uneven terrains making the drive highly thrilling”, recalls Ajay. 

“I want to explore India"

Despite travelling around the world from European cities like London to countries like China, Nepal and most of the Gulf countries, Ajay’s heart still skips a beat when thinking of his homeland – India. Ajay wants to explore more of India. He has already begun with this, exploring each Indian state indetaill, one by one.

Planning is important

Since Ajay’s trips aren’t petty in-town drives, he points out the need for enough preparations before the trip. All his trips are well-planed and organized, be it with his adventurous team, the Mahendra Adventure Group or his fun-loving family. 

At times the drives are from one country to another which require the formalities be taken care of well ahead of the trip, like permission from government entities, or issuance of visa. These are time-consuming and need to be carried out way before the trip. When travelling to remote areas there are other requirements as well, as they are quite unaware of the availability of facilities in this place. “It is mandatory to equip ourselves completely ahead of the journey so as to ensure that there is little chance for anything to go wrong.”

A hand in business

Ajay is also a great businessman owning a breathtakingly beautiful 5-star hotel in Munnar, appropriately named ‘Blanket Hotel and Spa’. It is one of the favourite options for tourists from around the world who come to visit Munnar with its alluring location at Pallivasal, near the mystical Attukad waterfalls. 

Ajay is also the owner of Al Nada Metal Doors & Windows Making in the UAE that offers services in interiors, façade, fabrication of windows, doors and others. Ajay also owns ‘Tamam’ – tailoring and textiles for gents.