Dubai for PLAB 1

Traveling to Dubai for PLAB 1 Exam - My Experiences

Disclaimer: This blog is for Nepalese Medicos flying to Dubai from Kathmandu to take PLAB 1 exam. Contents in this blog are from my experience of traveling to Dubai for my exam on June, 2019

PLAB 1 is the first set of two parts PLAB exam to gain GMC registration. PLAB 1 has many overseas venues whereas venue for PLAB 2 is only available in Manchester, UK. Unfortunately, Nepal don't have centre for PLAB 1 exam. Hence, most of us have to fly to India, Pakistan or Dubai to take this exam. If you are flying to Dubai for this purpose, then this article is for you.

Planning

The most important planning is the preparation for exam itself. If you want to learn about how I prepared for the exam and my exam day experience, here is the link:

https://sidukjourney.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_1.html

The next important planning is about the whole tour. If you are working in a hospital, prepare and apply for your leave early. Let the department and your supervising consultants know about your leave for the exam if required. Get your passports ready if you havent done so previously.

Make a list of things that you are taking with you. It might include things like comfortable clothes, notes and books, prescription meds (if necessary), essential medicines (like antipyretics, antihistaminic, analgesics, antiemetics, antacids, etc.), a pair of sunglasses (a must), some fast foods, travel cards, some cash in USD or AED, exam admission documents, a luggage bag, a hand bag, etc.

Travel package

Dubai is an exciting place for roaming around and shopping, so I would suggest to travel dubai not just for your exam, but in a travel package as a whole.

Plan to reach there, at least 2-3 days early. You have to adjust in new environment and food, and also should cover the unforeseeable circumstances like flight delays. So always reach there few days earlier. After your exam, try keeping 3-4 days in hand before returning, for roaming and shopping.

You can buy such package from any travel agencies in Nepal. Make sure that those agencies has already got the experience of sending doctors for PLAB exam in Dubai earlier. You can arrange this package on your own too, but I would always suggest to take the help from an agency, because you don’t want to stress on these things before your exam.

On preparing your travel itinerary, dont keep any activities till your exam date from the date you landed in Dubai. Make sure you are picked up from the airport to the hotel by them. On the exam day, ask the agency to provide you a transfer to exam venue also. Then from next day onwards, you can keep activities like Dubai tour, Abu dhabi tour, Burz Khalifa, Desert safari, Dubai Mall aquarium, etc on your package.

Flights and Visas

If you have bought the travel package from an agency, then they will arrange for your flights and visas themselves. Generally you will get a 2 month tourist evisa for this purpose. Make sure you don't apply too early that your visa gets expired before your estimated return date.

For flights, you generally have two options, Nepal airlines or Flydubai. Both are decent options and both have comparable prices. Just make sure your flight to dubai don’t  have any transits in between.

Accommodation

There are all kinds of luxury hotels in dubai. Its not necessary to spend money on such accommodation. You can get a decent accommodation in a 3 star hotels. Generally your exam venue is Dubai World Trade centre, so make sure your hotel is not very far from the venue. We stayed at a place called Al Raffa, which is about 5km in distance from the venue and we were able to reach our centre in just about 15 mins in a car. One of the benefit of staying at Al Raffa is that, you will get many Nepali restaurants around there. Its always good to eat something that you generally eat in your home before exam. After your exams are over, you can try different cuisines anywhere.

Dubai Hotels has good internet facility, you can get connected to your friends and family directly from WIFI and dont need to buy a separate SIM card for that purpose.

Finances

After you have got your air tickets and visa, you can get foreign currency worth of 1500 usd from any bank with a stamp on your passport. You have to act smart here. Don't take all 1500 usd in cash. Take around 300-400 usd in cash and rest 1100-1200 usd in travel card. There is a strong reason on why I am insisting for a card.

Firstly, card is always safe to travel with. Secondly, but more importantly, this travel card is the only way you can get an international online transaction enabled card in Nepal. Do not spend this amount in your card, rather use it to pay for PLAB 2 exam in future after you get PLAB 1 results. Very few people knows about this idea, you definitely will thank me later on giving this piece of info. :)

Your total estimated travel cost will be:

1. Air fare : Rs. 30,000 to 40,000 (depends on when and which flight you book)

2. Visa Fee: Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 (depends on agency sponsoring you)

3. Accomodation: Rs 3,000 to 4,000 per day (depends upon whether you are sharing rooms or staying alone, and the class of hotel)

4. Fooding: Rs. 1,000 to 1,500 per day (depends on what you eat and where you eat).

5. Tour package: Rs. 10,000 to 20,000 (depends on what you include in your package, how much people you are travelling with, and the type of agencies)

Roughly estimating, if you are travelling in a group of 5-7 friends, for  a week, your total cost comes around Rs. 90,000 to Rs. 100,000

If you have further questions on how to travel to Dubai to take PLAB 1, you can ask them in comment section below.