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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/3/2006 5:26:01 PM | So, I'm sure some of you POF travellers out there have some pretty awsome experiences to share...and some not so awsome...those are the ones I want to hear about!
What happened? Where were you? How did you react? How did it all end? What did you learn from it?
I've had many I must admit. As a single woman traveller, I've had my fair share of mishaps...got caught in a riot in the port of a small greek Island; got stuck riding an old out of shape school bus in Guatemala for 12 hours on the roof holding on to chicken cages(!); and the list goes on...
The scariest I guess was when a knife was put to my throat one late afternoon in a not-so-shabby area in Bruxels as I was walking on some sidewalk, trying to find a shop where I could find me something to fill my tummy... There, in front of me, stood three teenagers just hanging out. As I came closer, the one with his back to me just turned around and stuck a knife to my throat, hashing out words I could not understand.
I was just arriving from my home town (Montreal at the time) after over 12 hours of flights and transfers, completely jet lagged and oh-so-tired! It was my first long trip (3 months). I was fairly young and by myself. Plus, I had partyed non-stop prior to my departure...so needless to say I was absolutely wiped out, and no longer quite in this world... Funny thing is that it was exactly that which saved me!
So tired was I that my first reaction was sort of a knee jerk one. With my hand I just pushed the knife aside and kept on walking...until what had happened just hit me! My knees started shaking...and I started running as fast as I could!!!! I was really lucky...I guess he was as astounded by my reaction as I was of his...because he just stood there wondering what had just happened!
What a first impression to have and situation to be placed in...
Lessons learned? Hmmm...
1) Never assume that because you can walk safely in the streets of your own city, the same is true in foreign ones...
2) When placed in harsh situations, we often realize that we are much stronger than we thought
3) Faced with difficult situations, you never react the way you could have planned reacting, should you had even planned it...
4) Life goes on (if you're lucky)...the rest of my trip was FANTABULOUS!!! And so have all the following ones. 
5) Those mishaps often make the best stories...;) So tell me yours!!! 
Message to POF: kudos on this new forum!!!!  | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/5/2006 8:30:53 AM | Oh Geez~ come on fellow POFers! You must have some interesting travel stories to tell!!
All you adventurous ones out there: your adventures must have led you down a few paths that are worth sharing...no~?
The screen is all yours... I'm waiting impatiently. I just loOove travel stories! | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/5/2006 9:35:22 AM | It might be different because I'm a guy, but my scariest experience while in Europe was worrying about whether I was on the correct car on the train. I was soo afraid that I would be in a sleeper car that was going to separate from the train and be sent to some strange, far off place before I'd wake up. Everytime the train would stop, my eyes would fly open from the deepest sleep.
The only other experience I had, after meeting up with a friend this time, was when we were walking through Prague. We were walking around the city at dusk and we came to a highway that we had to cross. There was a pedestrian walkway under the highway, but there were NO lights, it was completely black! So we ran through. On the way back, hours later, we were so freaked out by going through this passage, we decided we'd rather run across the highway. (It wasn't that busy by then, anyway) | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/5/2006 4:14:26 PM |  Funny! I can just imagine two freaked out tourists storming through the tunnel...reminiscent of children running and jumping on their bed, afraid of what may lie underneath... Funny. As for running back across the highway: funny! Though probably wise...
That said, I can surely relate to the freaky part of walking in a black tunnel at night in a foreign city! Must be scary indeed!
I've never been to Prague but would love to at some point. I hear it is an absolutely astounding city!
Cheers~ and thanks for sharing! | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/6/2006 7:34:42 PM | | Almost got thrown in jail in Mexico... I ran like hell for the US border... I was a freshman in college, several of us went across the line into Mexico because the bars & music were better.. One of our college guys got into a fight with the Mexicans.. Dana had bright red hair and a temper to match, unfortunately, he was also drunk.. Anyone who resembled a Gringo, was put into a wagon and carted off to jail.. I was dating my ex hubby at the time and I told him that they would have to shoot & kill me as there was no way in hell that I was going to a mexican jail.. I grabbed his hand, and we ran like hell! It was about 3/4 of a mile to get to the USA border... We made it back to the USA, thankfully. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/7/2006 2:52:01 AM | In my more youthful years I did a tour of europe with $100.00 in my pocket to start with. I made my way around the italian boot which took me a year to do. I worked small odd jobs anywhere I could find work mostly at the fresh outdoor markets etc. Anyway one night I pitched a tent somewhere in the middle of no mans land it was pitch black outside just like in the country where you can barely see your hand in front of your face. I had no idea where I was, just that I needed sleep pretty badly. I set up tent and just before sunrise an ((((earthquake))))) It freaked me out. I woke up went outside the tent only to find I had pitch up near a peer very close to a cliff. So glad I don't roll around when I sleep. Anyway made my way through Italy didn't have any cash near the end of my trip I needed to get to Germany. I jumped the train and got caught in Munich. Holy scarred!!!! I managed to escape and made my way outta there however the adrenaline was pumping pretty high. Would I do it again? In the blink of an eye I would do the same trip hop a train in Germany? never again. LOL
Jane | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/7/2006 7:10:20 AM | I didn't share this story the first time because it didn't happen to me.
On the train ride from Copenhagen to Brussels, we were woken up in the middle of the night by lots of loud talking, (that I couldn't understand) and the lights were turned on. But, one of the other 2 people in the compartment had gone very pale. She could understand what they were saying and, apparently, she happened to have the same last name as a wanted criminal. The authorities searched the car, and had talked with her. Then everything was cleared up, but not without a lot of suspense first. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/8/2006 11:33:12 AM | Have had the hotel room from H*ll; the late night plane shuffle from airport to airport; the lost taxi driver... but nothing truely scary. Scary to me is when my hair feels like it's turning white.
I flew into Key West and had to wait around for another flight which held my luggage.
I sat in the bar overlooking the runway. The flight came in and as it was a small plane, the heavy wind picked it up and it ran on one wheel for quite some time. The plane was met by the airport crew - I guess to determine the size of pants the pilot would need.
I flew into a layover in Chicago; in rains so heavy they put us up in a hotel. Rain water was pouring down the hotel elevator shaft. That caused me to pause.
I've been de-iced twice on the tarmack. Had to wait around on the tarmack a long time once while they repaired the Radar (uh, hellow, we need that).
But my girlfriend who travels the same spots I do, never goes to NYC without a problem.
She has been in a high rise hotel, in a black out, carrying her luggage up the stairs.
She was with me in the airport shuttle mentioned above.
Once, She got to our hotel and they had dropped her reservation; so without calling me (already in my room), to warn me....
they gave her a key to my room (!!!) and she walked in on me and my guy doing the dirty. Then they gave her a rollup in the conference room!! | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/9/2006 11:13:24 AM | | Costa Rica...... Brother and I went down to trip around the country..... Second night there we where assaulted by three Ticas on our way back to our lodgings.... They started with rocks and ended it with a gunshot to my brothers arm and I a broken rib........ End Result... He is doing ok now but required three operations.... Me... Rib has healed...... Would I go there again ? No.... Cuba bound next time around.... | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/10/2006 12:57:49 PM | Not sure this counts because I was only 12 but here goes… I was on a school skiing trip in Austria, to get to the ski slope we had to travel on the train for about 45mins. on the first day at the slops I got separated from my class in a snowstorm. I skied round trying to find my group for about 4 hours. It started to get dark so I skied down to the train station expecting my group to have.
That said it seemed they had already left without me, teachers and all. I couldn’t believe it, I was penniless, had no train ticket, didn’t know the name of my hotel, its location or even its direction, i couldn’t speak a word of Austrian and was dangerously dehydrated. I tried to talk to some civilians at the station but I think they thought I was begging. I guess I was, it was probably at this point I started to cry. Iv never been a religious boy/man, but at that point my mind was screaming out “please help”. I
I wondered up to the vending machine at the end of the station, someone had left 2.50 euros in it. Didn’t strike me as odd at the time that someone had left the exact amount of money for a coke in.. a coke machine. A train pulled up next to me so I just got on it. I watched the scenery fly past, didn’t recognise a thing. After about half an hour a ticket collector came down the isle, I pretended to be asleep but he poked me till I had to open my eyes. All he could saying in English when he realised I didn’t have a ticket was “bat on!!” witch I presumed to mean get off. I think I started to cry again. He walked me to the carriage while continuing to yell “bat on”. As the door opened I walked into my teacher. I couldn’t speak for about 5 mins.
It turned out my teacher had stopped at a random station simply because there was heavy traffic.
Im not lucky by nature, that was the only day of my life when I questioned weather huge coincidences amount to proof of some kind of “influence” or “help”.
any-who dout anyone bothered to finish that. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/11/2006 9:36:11 AM | Hmmmm! There are too many to recall because as an avid traveller scary things happen all the time. At the time, they seem scary and maybe a little exciting, but after the travel is over these same scary events just become moments that made the experience an "experience"!
I remember the weirdest experience (a little scary at the time, but now really funny) was during my time teaching in South Korea.
It was Canada Day, and I had been celebrating in true Canadian style with all the Canadians in Seoul. Our celebrations ended late at night, well past the time of the last bus or subway; however, still too early until the subway began running again. It was a Sunday, and I had to teach my classes early the next morning, so I did not want to wait it out for the subway at 5:00AM. I was determined to make it home for at least a couple hours of sleep!!!
Well, my friend was also with me, but he was from out of town and had to get on the bus back to his town that night. He was in really bad shape from celebrating all day and night, so I offered to escort him to the bus terminal on my way back to my apartment in the taxi. When we arrived at the bus station, he was staggering so profusely that I was worried he would fall into a ditch and I'd never see him again. I also got out of the taxi and carried him into the bus station. When buying his bus ticket, I realized he had no money left from celebrating, so I bought his ticket and sat him on a bench immediately in front of the bus stall. Then, I rushed outside to find a taxi to take me home.
This was where the scary adventure began because I forgot that the money I had loaned to my friend was the last money I also had to pay to get home safely......and nothing was open (they do not have 24 hour ATMs in Korea). I shyly walked over to the taxis all in a row, and politely asked if they could drive me home and maybe stop by an ATM before getting home. They were very rude, smoking their cigarettes, and lounging atop of their cabs. They refused!
I proceeded to argue with the cab drivers (and even in some Korean unknown still to this day to me!). Well, the taxi drivers all jumped back in fear and like robots opened doors to let me into one of their cars, and take me home. That was me scaring them, but here's them scaring me!!!
The usual cab ride to my home was about 20 minutes, but this particular one lasted for 2 hours! The driver just kept driving around and around, saying he was lost and ignoring my directions to get home! He kept driving faster and faster, never stopping for long enough that I could even try to jump out or open the door. I was trapped inside this taxi, with this crazy driver. I was scared because I did not know what he was going to do, or where I would end up at the end of the escapade (or even if it would end?!?!)
Finally, the taxi driver stopped long enough for me to open the door, and I dove out of the car onto the sidewalk, and ran away. The driver was yelling at me because he expected me to pay for the ride (all 2 hours of it), and made it seem like I was the bad one. Then, he followed me in the car. Even as scared as I was, I was smart enough to think to not head home, so I dashed into the closest PC Bank (24 hour computer centre) to rest until I was sure that taxi was gone....disappeared back to the city centre. My heart was still pumping hard, as I waited.
I finally made it home at 6:00AM, and had no sleep before teaching my class of energetic children the next day. That was my scary experience! Maybe, I provoked it a little bit, but I learned to be patient and to wait for safe transportation (maybe sleep on a bench in the subway station) instead of risking the dangers of crazy Korean taxi drivers. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/11/2006 9:14:35 PM | I have another one, but I thought this was more "interesting" at the time it was happening.
We were on a bus to take a field trip to some hill towns like Arrezzo, Gubbio, and Urbino. Well, the driver must have wanted the day to be over as soon as possible, because we were FLYING down the highway. I was sitting on the left side of the bus, and saw that we were passing people! This was OK, the bus was one of those huge, tall types with the luggage storage under the passenger area, and so the ride stayed smooth. But, then we came to a screeching halt because we had arrived at a low arched tunnel, and the driver had to drive in the middle of the 2 lanes to have enough clearance to make it through without the roof scraping the sides of the tunnel. Ah, the memories. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/13/2006 6:31:54 PM | Ummm, just remembered a scary. Went on an Elk hunt in Raton, NM (NRA ranch) with my friend. Me with camera, he with gun. We met up with another Texan on the same invited hunt and we rented a 4 wheel drive vehicle together, my friend driving.
Going up a really narrow, really steep road... the vehicle began to slide back in the snow and ice. It stopped against a 4" wide tree trunk, very young nimble tree, which clung to the edge of a cliff. A really steep drop off. Yikes!
The other guy got out. - Not Ash. I settled in with encouraging words. We eventually got traction and drove away from the cliff.
On that same trip, me with camera.... I followed large cat tracks through the snow, over a boulder, around here and there. The tracks appeared to follow bird tracks for a while.
I knew that the cat could smell me and come back on me, but I needed that shot. Never showed himself. shucks. Oh, well... that's also the trip when I learned it is possible to load 2 1/4" film in a Hasselblad backwards, emulsion side. | |
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longte
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Joined: 10/18/2004
Msg: 19 | |
| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/13/2006 11:53:05 PM | Plane flying to Lhasa lost compression so spent a pretty scary trip looking at the sky through where rivets had pulled out of the roof
Camped beside a waterhole up North
Woke up with very big Croc tracks all around the tent
I'm fairly light and reasonably fit so went rock climbing with these experienced guys
Love the taste of adrenalin, but will never forget holding onto this tiny little bit of rock, with one hand, and swinging around an outcrop with nothing holding me
We had just walked across a tributary of the Orinoco River, about chest deep.
Big snake was waiting so guide blasted it with a shotgun
Fell into where we had crossed
Piranha cleaned it up in no time, but we had no idea they were there
Landing at the old Hong Kong Airport in a Typhoon
Over the mountain and just drop onto the runway
..
. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/16/2006 8:03:33 AM | Definitely not as scary as having a knife pulled but...
-Having an Italian stranger rub his erection against my ass in a crowded Roman bus...
-Night trains in Italy...as a female, NEVER do it alone
-jumping off a cliff in Greece...I'm afraid of heights but the things you'll do on vacation...
-Hebron in the West Bank in Israel...but what do you expect....
-Crossing the street and being in a cab in Cairo....a city of 18 million people...1 traffic light that NO ONE obeys... | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/16/2006 10:25:01 AM | I have so many to pick from, but off the top of my head, in no particular order of adrenaline secretion
1) Cycled around east africa solo, was at a place called Bagamoyo in Tanzania, and was surrounded by six locals with machetes who proceeded to relief me of several of my belongings including my camera. (managed to keep my bike thought!)
2) Partaked in a Yage ritual ( an amazonian hallucinogen used by shamans to communicate w the spirit world) in the Peruvian amazon some years ago. After what seem forever caught in the throes of emetics, the so called cleansing of the soul but more of the purging of your stomach and intestines, and experiencing the wildest hallucinations ( yes even beyond the lsd experiences I had in the seventies) and basically loosing all control( mind and body) and being at the mercy of the indigenous people around me.( I was with my younger brother but he was more f*$%#ed than I was.)
3) Climbing Island Peak in Nepal. Nothing happened but it was my first technical mountain climbing experience and I was completely exhausted three quarters of the way up.
4) My experience with malaria. I managed( do to my own stupidity) to contract it in a very remote region of Indonesia called Irian Jaya, west of Papau New Guinea. High fever pitches countered with cold chills and shivers for 10 days. Turned out I had a strain called Plasmodium Falciparum, the worst and most lethal of all malaria parasites. Doctors in Toronto said another day and I would've been a goner.
5) Mountain gorilla tracking in Uganda at the borders of DRC and Rwanda. Again, ignorance played a role here. The politics and violence surrounding this region are so convoluted and complex, turns out 2 days after being in this region, Bwindi Impenetrable forest, several American and British tourists were abducted and subsequently killed with machetes. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/17/2006 8:53:21 AM | simplybefree, I have more stories.
1) Northern India ~ Ladahk and Zanskar regions. My bro and I were at small town called Leh. We had just came back from a Buddhist festival at one of the temples sites nearby, maybe 5 or 6 miles from Leh proper. We hitched a ride back to Leh and arrived quite late. We decided to get a bite to eat before heading for our hostel, situated a mile from the city center and reached via a network of pathways. Anyway, sure enough the lights went out, the whole town immersed in the blackest of blacks. Finding our hostel was difficult enough in the daytime, by now, its pitchblack, we didnt even have our flashlites with us so off we went. Stumbling around obstacles of all kinds, little streams, stone fences that went on forever, but that wasnt the scary part. No sooner when the lights went out, you could here a pack of dogs howling, at first, from a comfortable distance, but increasingly and unnervingly getting closer. Long story short, we made it back to our hostel in one piece but I'll never forget that sound, of howling dogs, creeping closer and closer.
2) Another incident in the Pervuvian Amazon. While trekking thru the rainforest solo but on well defined trails, I had the brilliant idea of straying off the beaten path in hopes of actually seeing some wild life. Now there was a trail veering off the main path, a little faded but a trail nonetheless, so I followed it. Sure enough the trail just merges all so subtlely with the actual forest until there was virtually no trail left. No problem I thought, I scanned the area and made a mental checklist of my surroundings( yeah yeah, I can hear you all from here, what could you possibly reference in a rainforest) well, it was more or less just just checking out where the main path was..so there I am, slowly walking thru the most magnificent rainforest on the planet when all of a sudden, the sun's ray illuminated this huge web netork stretch across the path, another couple of steps and I would have been completely submerged in this huge spider web. Well, it wasnt spider singular, it was spiders plural, in fact hundreds perhaps thousands of these little spiders coexisting in this single web system.
Naturally, being somewhat arachnicphobic, I panic! In the midst of my panic, I forgot where I was! I lost my way in a forest the size of Canada. Taking a couple of deep breathes, and knowing the main path wasnt more than say 20 meters, I strategically made my way 20meters in one direction, back again, and repeated this formula til I found the path, taking approx 20 mins. I heart was still pounding thru my chest by the time i got back to the lodge. | |
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| Travel experiences that have scared the hell out of you...
Posted: 3/17/2006 4:39:31 PM | I've thoroughly enjoyed all these stories, makes me want to go someplace...
I've thought about all the travel stories I know but unfortunately the best are other people's stories... leeches in Australia, hyenas and elephants in Africa, mountain climbing in Scotland. Mine are embarrassingly pedestrian.. having my backpack stolen at the Victoria bus station in London and continuing a 3 month trip with far less luggage! A variety of bus rides at night...our bus driving at top speed on a one lane road, driving at top speed up a hill with dangerous curves (and little shrines at every corner)..an expert pickpocket taking my wallet out of my bag in Belgium (he was brilliant, I still can't believe it happened)...staying in hotels in less than wonderful areas of town due to a strict budget. More discomfort than true danger.
But I have a few memories that are actually scarier than those I've just mentioned: a small child in Istanbul alone and crying in the rain, with her parents around the corner, ready to take any coins dropped in the basket beside her. Some Haitian children, none living with their biological parents, suddenly becoming silent as they watched two blonde infants playing with their mother in the water. A little girl in Bolivia going from table to table in a restaurant piling leftovers in a plastic pail (and one of my nicest memories - the same girl grinning from ear to ear as a man took her over to a juice bar and bought her a cup of juice). | |
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