“Who remembers the second man on the moon? Exactly you only remember number one”
Dubai,UAE: Our Fly Emerates landed in Dubai around 7 p.m. After a smooth seven hour flight from London we went through customs, picked up our luggage, and headed toward our hotel.
Once we arrived at the Rove Downtown, we were checked into our rooms and had the night to grab dinner and see the city at night.
The next morning, we enjoyed what our Dubai coordinator, Robert Williams (not Robin Williams may he rest easy) called a early start. 11:30 a.m. HA! After a string of 7 a.m. wake ups in London this was a very welcome start. Most of the IBI group spent the morning enjoying a breakfast at the on campus TGI Friday’s and completing our briefing report form for PWC.
On Tuesday we headed off to the University of Dubai for a tour, lectures, and a class session with current students. The university itself is quite young with only 800 students currently enrolled. They were very ambitious though to grow the university and want to become one of the top 100 universities in the world by 2035. The fact that they are located in Dubai is an attraction for investors and students.
The following day we went to the museum of Dubai, zoomed to the top of the world’s tallest building, and sweated our way through a spice and gold market. During the hottest time of the day the real feel temperature was 120 F. And boy did it show on some of our faces! Rivers of sweat were pouring down our backs and faces as we tried not to get scammed by the market salesmen.
During our time in the Baj Kalifa we oversaw a city that sprung within the past 40 years. In the museum we saw the nations history. At its beginnings a group of 80 men moved from an overcrowded Saudi Arabia to an empty plot of land that is now present day Dubai.
Something that our guide and every local I’ve spoken to is that Dubai is more than a oil nation. Tourism (us) is what spurs the majority of the nations economy. Of course, the Baj Kalifa is the #1 attraction for Dubai. That, in addition of hosting the world’s largest mall (sorry Minnesotta) make it one of the world’s best hospitality nations.
Finally we spent our last day on a safari adventure. It was a day/night filled with sand boarding, rolling through the dunes, fire dancing, and dinner.
Next were headed off to India for two whole weeks.
All the best,
Hannah Reed
REED IT & LEAP 