Fancy escaping it all? This cosy lodge in East Greenland could be just what you’re looking for.
Nestled in tiny Ittoqqortoormiit, a place where the population count runs to a mere 450 people, the Ittoqqortoormiit Guesthouse is the only lodging in Greenland's most isolated town.
Getting here is an adventure in itself, with ship access restricted for nine months of the year thanks to ice blocks that form in the surrounding Arctic Ocean. Instead, travellers need to fly to Iceland’s Reykjavik, then on to Akureyri in the north of the country where flights depart for Greenland's Constable Point just two days per week. From there, it’s another 15-minute ride by helicopter to finally reach the remotest inhabited settlement in the Western Hemisphere.
The town’s only wooden lodge has just seven bedrooms and lists a microwave and refrigerator as two of its main amenities. There are no restaurants, theatres or bars in Ittoqqortoormiit and only a solitary grocery store so entertainment comes in the form of cross-country skiing, snow sledding, sea-kayaking and polar- bear watching. Don’t expect to hail a cab, transport is sled and husky-driven only.
But what Ittoqqortoormiit lacks in the way of facilities, it more than makes up for when it comes to its neighbours. Nestled between the world’s biggest national park, Greenland National Park, and the towering fjords and glaciers of Scoresby Sund, it shares it's snow-drenched setting with polar bears, reindeer, walruses and the huskies of the Danish Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. Nightfall in this far-flung spot brings aurora borealis-spotting opportunities as long as you’re brave enough to tackle the weather where temperatures often creep towards the minus 20°C mark.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
MATCH INFO
Watford 2 (Sarr 50', Deeney 54' pen)
Manchester United 0
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
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Watch live
The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.
You can find out more here
Essentials
The flights
Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes.
The stay
A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.