Association

IEM-Project 2024-2025

Peru

IEM-Project 2022-2023

Nepal

IEM-Project 2020-2021

Montenegro

With a group of both first and second-year master students, we started our journey on August 5 in the capital of Montenegro, Podgorica, at the Hilton hotel where we had a luxurious dinner. In addition, we also explored the local atmosphere at a small festival with music and some drinks. After this luxury, we started our trip on a Jeep through the mountains the next day, which lasted three days. In these three days, we explored the mountains and nature of Montenegro on off-road roads, hikes, and slept at local and basic lodgings. In the first shepherd's village, Vranjak, we had a very tasty shepherd's lunch between dogs and horses. The first night we slept with a lovely couple who cooked delicious food all night long for us. The next day, we set out for our first hike with our guide over the highest peak of Bjelasica, from Crna Glava (2139m). Despite this hike lasted a bit longer than predicted, we were able to enjoy the views and we took a dip in a cold but beautiful mountain lake Pesica. Then we continued our trip through a national park, and we saw one of the most beautiful views of Montenegro, with another dive in another lake and some necessary beers. In the evenings we slept in small houses without electricity which enhanced the experience of the mountain huts. With the third and last stage, we go to the lodges of Stavna on a beautiful shepherd's meadow in Komovi. In the afternoon some of us climb the peak Kom Vasojevicki. With 2460m this is in the top 10 peaks of Montenegro. The other of us relax with some games and a nice lunch at the lodges.

After our Jeep adventure, it was time for something different, namely mountain biking. After this big, warm, and tough trip we slept in a luxury ski resort in Kolasin where we recovered from this fun but tough day. After enjoying a buffet we started the next day with a five-hour rafting trip in the Tara gorge. Due to the heat and drought, rafting was not that challenging, but we still had a lot of fun with each other on the raft boats. In the evening we stayed in the Durmitor National Park at the Pod Gorom lodges. Durmitor is the most famous national park of Montenegro located in the far north, against the Bosnian border. The compact Massif is bordered on the east and north by the immense gorge of the river Tara. On the seventh day, a big hike through the national park was waiting for us. Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, the route had to be adjusted, but this did not make the nature and the view any less beautiful. In the evening we reunited to have a nice meal together around a campfire prepared for the next day where an exciting activity was planned for us: paragliding. . Fortunately, the weather was good, and we all enjoyed a flight at altitude in the oldest ski area of Montenegro in Durmitor with the best views and even some stunts.

The following days we have a little more relaxation and we started our journey towards the coast from the mountains. During this travel day, we have planned a boat trip in Rijeka Crnojevica, where the prosecco flows freely and we can all cool off in the lake. After this, our journey continues, and we have a wine tasting in the village of Godinje, a beautiful medieval village surrounded by the oldest vineyards of the region. Here we tasted homemade white wine, rose, and red wine. The following nights we slept in Stari Bar, an old citadel, which was once a Venetian fortress on the coast of Montenegro. Inside you will find traces of the diverse civilization that once lived here: Venetian villas, Orthodox churches, mosques, a bathhouse, and residences of people of all origins. The citadel is surrounded by deeply carved gorges, streams with crystal clear water running down. Here we did the canyoning trip Medjurecki with a few hefty jumps (up to 8m), tough abseil passages under the waterfalls, and a series of long slides: in short, a decent adrenaline level. During this trip, some of us overcame a lot of fears and were accompanied by three firefighters. After this trip, we did some relaxing and visited the old town, sat on the terrace, and bought some souvenirs. On the eleventh day, it was finally time for some sun, sea, and beach, and we went to the Sveti Nikola island, also called Hawaii of Montenegro. Here we rented some beach beds and sunbathe with some beers, snacks, and cocktails.

We ended the trip in a beautiful villa. Here, we had five complete apartments including a swimming pool and BBQ for ourselves. With the villa, we had rental cars that allow us to move around the surrounding towns of Kotor and Tivat. Many of us visit the old harbor town and bay of Kotor. Kotor is a network of ancient alleys and intimate squares. Additionally, the boys organized the Beer Olympics in the afternoon, consisting of some games and of course cans of beer. The girls went out for dinner in Kotor. One of the last day we spent at sea, sailing around the Porto of Montenegro between the mega yachts in this luxury marina. We also visited an oyster farm where we ordered oysters and white wine which we enjoy. On the last day, we had a working visit to the Porto of Montenegro, the largest real estate project in the country. Here we had a tour of the port, and the history and future plans were also told. We also visited the accompanying museum and an old submarine. The last evening, we closed with an extensive BBQ in our villa. A lot of time was taken for cooking and preparing the meat, fish, and salads, and vegetables. We all enjoyed the food, the drinks, and we looked back on the last two which were filled with challenging activities and a lot of fun! In short, a trip we will never forget.

IEM-Project 2018-2019

Colombia

The destination of the study trip for this edition of the IEM-Project was chosen to be Colombia. With a group of 30 master students of IEM, consisting of 24 participants and 6 board members, the trip officially started on the 6th of August. We started off in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, which is located at an altitude of 2,640 metres above sea level. We did a lot of things during our stay in this immense city: we explored Bogotá by bike, learned about the stories behind the graffiti on the walls and visited a gigantic salt mine which brought us to 60 meters below the ground. Besides many more activities, we also got to know how Chevrolet cars are made in the local factory of General Motors. During the evenings, we went out with the group to get some delicious Colombian food and learned how to perform the best salsa dance from beautiful local Colombians.

On the fifth day, we moved to the most famous coffee region of Colombia with a private touring car. Our stay here was amazing as we had a private villa including swimming pool, tennis court and a football field. During the 3 days of our stay, we saw the highest palm trees in the world, picked our own coffee beans at a traditional coffee farm and made sure we stayed in shape by doing some horse riding through the hills of the Andes and ziplining from the top of one tree to another. A truly memorable activity was Yin Yang Yoga with a special touch. The special interpretation of this relaxing therapy can be asked to the people who joined this amazing trip.

The next five days were spent in Medellín, famous from the Netflix series called ‘Narcos’. We learned a lot about the recent history of the city and the problems it faced only a few decades ago. In this light, it must be said that none of the biased expectations of this city and the country of Colombia are true. As in every country cautiousness is important, but we experienced Colombia as a completely safe country. In Medellín we visited a leather factory and saw how leather shoes, bags and belts are being made from scratch. Besides that, we went to Guatapé, a colourful little city, where we climbed a 200-metre-high rock to enjoy an amazing view. During the other days, we blew off some steam during a game of paintball, played some soccer against local kids and saw Medellín from another perspective during paragliding.

After these first two weeks, it was time to leave the midlands for the Caribbean Sea. After a 1-hour flight we landed in Santa Marta and immediately drove to Tayrona National Park, which is a jungle at the coast of Colombia. A hike of 2 hours took us to our sleeping place, which was a beautiful hostel with 30 hammocks waiting for us in the middle of the jungle. Some enjoyed it more than others, as we saw not only playing monkeys, but also a tarantula and even a wild alligator with a length of 3 metres during our stay. After one night, we took the hike back through the jungle to depart for our last destination, Cartagena.

In Cartagena, we visited the oil refinery of the last company, called Ecopetrol, which is the largest oil company of Colombia. We also tasted the delicious street food during an interesting tour from a local and went out into the sea to see some colourful fish during some diving or snorkelling. One of the best activities to do in this vivid city is the so-called Chiva Bus tour. For 3 consecutive hours, you will drive through the city in a bus with no windows while blasting your own music through the speakers. With PartySquad, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig and especially Henry van Loon’s ‘Fuifje’ through the speakers, this evening was one of the moments to remember. Our last activity was to sleep at the Rosario Islands for one night. But, how do you get 30 people to an island which is 5 hours away from the coast? Exactly, make sure you get a private catamaran with enough sunscreen and enough to drink and eat. While our tender Dutch skin could not be protected by the sunscreen, the traditional Lugus Radio was organized through the 2 big speakers on the deck. An amazing closure of 3 weeks that none of the students will ever forget! 

IEM-Project 2016-2017

India

At end of July 2017 25 enthusiastic IEM-Projectors were heading towards India. Delhi was the starting and ending destination of a cheerful, colorful and busy trip. When arrived at the airport there was no time to relax or fresh up at the hotel; the first company visit was directly scheduled. In the bus, we met our guides: Prithvi G, Siddaq and Deepak. Prithvi was a full-time tour leader, but Siddaq and Deepak were students of Thapar University. The company visit was at Hero motor corporation, which produces all kinds of motorbikes and scooters. We had a warm welcome there with multiple lunches and met three IEM-Projectors which had arrived from different locations. Due to the long trip and lack of sleep, some people could not manage to keep their eyes open during the presentation of Hero. Thereafter a great show was offered to us at the Kingdom of Dreams. The second night in India ended in a bar where the birthday of Bart Yellow was celebrated with a rietpijp. The Indian guides were greatly impressed by this Grunings habit. The following days in Delhi were spend visiting a NGO which made electricity from garbage. Furthermore, cultural activities as the Qutub Minar and the beautiful Rail Road museum were visited.

Dehli

The first impressions in Delhi were that India is a very, very crowded, hot and dirty as well (yes, the prejudices were confirmed). What was also noticeable, is that everybody on the streets would stare at us, unashamed, not for a blink but for seconds and seconds. But it was time to leave Delhi and head to Chandigarh. This was done by train. From the train, we had a great view on a field in which multiple local people were shitting. The ‘Delhi Belly’ started to work and once arrived in Chandigarh people got the real India experience. Chandigarh was also the home town of Siddaq. This offered the opportunity to meet his parents in their house while having some beers. The parents were deeply impressed by the amount of white people that showed up in their living room. Kasauli was next on route, a small mountain village. This was a good place to get some rest. Then, Amritsar was visted after a long trip in the bus with Radio ‘de Heilige Koe’ and the ‘INDIA IEM-Project’ Spotify list on the speakers. The highlight of Amritsar was without doubt the Golden Temple, one of the most beautiful places of India. Moreover, the Wagah-border ceremony in which soldiers from India and Pakistan show their strength was a unique experience.

Rajasthan

After a first week, full of culture and a busy program we flew back to Delhi and moved further to the South, to the Rajasthan –land of kings- region. In Delhi, there was still an appointment at the Dutch Embassy where finally some good quality coffee was found and we could ask some questions. Dechu and Pushkar were the next destinations. Here we stayed in luxury forts with swimming pools and did some adventurous activities as riding a camel and riding a jeep. The hometown of Prithvi, Jodhpur, was next in line. This appeared to be a cozy city with good restaurants. At daytime, some forts and castles were visited over here. After visiting Udaipur and Jaipur, the end of the trip was near. There were only two things left: the Taj Mahal in Agra and Rishikesh, a quiet mountain place. The Taj Mahal was as stunning as expected. The weather made cancel some of the activities the first day in Rishikesh, but the day after people had the opportunity to choose for water sports, a massage or hiking. This was for most people a very pleasant end of the trip, followed by a good night of drinking and heading back to the Netherlands.