Worst Travel Experiences

eternal

white van man pyh90tm wrote: »

i am 43 and have been to 35 countries, some expensive trips and some budget.

Disaster 1, me and a friend arrive in france via callis on a bus ride from london to prague, friend is french and police come on bus and arrest him for some crime he did some years b4. so i go to prague alone and unbeknown to me he got bailed and followed me 2 days later, problem was no mobile phones in them days and he lost the hotel details, so we were in prague together but never seen each other until we met on the last day in the bus station. all his fault.

disaster 2, went to usa with the same guy and on paddy's day he got arrested again for fighting in a bar and got jailed for 2 weeks. again im alone.

disaster 3 went to Tijuana Mexico on a day trip from california with the same guy and some drug smugglers attached some bags of drugs to our van and we crossed back to usa with the drugs without knowing they were there and when we stopped for food we saw the guys go under our van and retrieve the goods. lucky the border cops didn't find the drugs or i would be writing this from jail.

almost a death disaster 4.

arrive in new york on september 10th 2001 and decided to go to the world trade center next morning, got too drunk the evening b4 and didn't go.

Get a new mate ffs.

white van man pyh90tm

i arrived in berlin one fine summers evening and walked about looking for a hotel but kept getting told that there were no room available because of a football final
i thought best get out of here so hopped on to a train bound for amsterdam, got there and the same story, no room at the inn due to marathon tomorrow,
it's getting late now so jumped onto a train to brussels only to find no rooms there either due to there being some big convention.

i hit a late bar until i was pissed and slept in a bank, in some places you need to swipe your card on the bank doors which gives access to atm machines in a secure area, so i popped my sleeping bag down and enjoyed 40 winks, god knows what the locals thought

razorblunt

westcoast66 wrote: »

Was on a flight back from Mexico. About 2 hours from London started getting a bout of the Dehli belly, really bad. Air hostess insisted I take a seat 30 minutes from landing. Ended up having to squat in the seat and scutter into a sick bag a number of times. The other passengers were not impressed.

This is one of my greatest fears being caught short on landing.
I don't understand why you just didn't get up and go to the loo, I'd take an argument over the air hostess than crapping my pants.
The last trans atlantic flight I was on last month had a similar situation, some girl was asleep for most of the flight and was almost caught short, she apologised to the air hostess unclipped herself and ran to the jacks. The stench coming from there as we disembarked told the horror of the situation.

osarusan

All my own fault:

Was flying back to Ireland for 3 weeks and decided to eat a lot of what was in my fridge so I'd be throwing less away. Ended up combining some stuff that shouldn't ever be eaten together, and got a really bad case of food poisoning.

Really bad. Vomited waiting for the bus to the trainstation. Vomited waiting for the train at the station. Had to get off and change trains to one with a toilet so I could vomit some more. Vomited at the airport. Vomited on the plane, again and again. It was nothign but water coming back up 3 minutes after it had gone down. After about 8 hours of vomiting, finally got about 2 hours sleep, and the vomiting stopped.

I was with my now-wife, and even the two of us said nothing to each other, we both had the same thought in our mind all the time - is this guy even going to be allowed on the plane?

panda100

I went to naples by myself a couple of years ago. I'm very tall (6 foot), very pale and blonde so I am used to getting a lot of unwarranted attention when travelling solo in Italy. Naples was a whole other ball game though. Seriously scary levels of street harassment all over town. I'm generally okay with just ignoring calls from men like this on the continent but I had men following me back to my hotel, grabbing me, walking beside me constantly.It was just relentless. I literally had to lock myself in my room and was scared to leave the hotel.

I know some people might be dismissive of this but it was a really frightening experience. I've travelled a fair bit, both solo and in groups, but the street harassment in naples really was something else.

keithclancy

Went on a trip to Sri Lanka, on the second last day stepped into a pothole on the road while walking down to the pub.

Didn't think it was that serious until I got to somewhere with lighting, big gaping hole in the front of my leg.

Got a Tuk Tuk and drove to three different hospitals which were all closed, finally found one that was open. Went into the Emergency room *if you could call it that, looked like something out of a movie with people lying all over the place on the floor, i think one guy was holding his arm so it wouldn't fall off.

I think some hours later got to see a Triage nurse, they cleaned out the wound and bandaged my leg.

Went out to the waiting room again and asked how long it would normally take to see a doctor, she responded with, this not the West White boy, you see a doctor in maybe 2 or 3 days, no special treatment for you.

I said fair enough, asked if I could pay and go back to the hostel (I was worried I would catch something in the Hospital)

She said no, I was staying there and security would restrain me if I tried to leave (apparently this is a common thing in Sri Lanka to try and make money from foreigners)

Waited for a shift change .... told the next nurse if I didn't go for a smoke i'd freak out, she opened the door for me and I legged it, jumped into the first tuk tuk I saw and went back to the hostel.

Next day we drove for 2 hours all the way up to Colombo too a 'good' hospital.

That looked kind of like a HSE Hospital, there were signs everywhere saying they won an award (upon closer inspection it also said they organised the competition)

The Doctor cleaned and stitched my leg.

Upon getting back to NL a week later my leg became infected, turned out the doctor in Sri Lanka had decided to use some dissolving stitches but also something that resembled fishing gut.


Took about 4 months to heal completely and thank god for travel insurance.

In short, I would never complain about European Healthcare ever again.

Pink Fairy

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Sweet Jesus,that's fcukin gross.

That's Ryanair for ya.....probably charged him for every bag he used and then weighed them when he got off and charged him excess baggage charges

The J Stands for Jay

Turtyturd wrote: »

Atlanta...no more needs to be said.

It's more than just a Delta hub

mahoganygas

westcoast66 wrote: »

Was on a flight back from Mexico. About 2 hours from London started getting a bout of the Dehli belly, really bad. Air hostess insisted I take a seat 30 minutes from landing. Ended up having to squat in the seat and scutter into a sick bag a number of times. The other passengers were not impressed.

I hope you handed the sick bag to that air hostess when you were done.

Sir Osis of Liver.

westcoast66 wrote: »

Was on a flight back from Mexico. About 2 hours from London started getting a bout of the Dehli belly, really bad. Air hostess insisted I take a seat 30 minutes from landing. Ended up having to squat in the seat and scutter into a sick bag a number of times. The other passengers were not impressed.

Deserves a thread of its own.

An Irish bloke on a plane squatting over a sick bag while a load of Mexicans look on with disgust.

KatW4

Not as bad as some stories here. I lived in London and myself and my sister were trying to get home for my bf's parents' wedding. We were waiting at Redbridge station for the bus when the rep came over and told us to get a taxi because there was a major accident on the road and none of the buses were getting through.

We got a taxi fairly quickly but we noticed the traffic straight away. Our taxi driver kept telling us that we weren't going to make our flight and we were getting quite upset so he decided to bring us on a trip around the countryside. He wouldn't tell us what was going on just that we weren't going to make our flight.

Finally we arrived at Stansted literally minutes before the gate was due to close. We ran the whole way through the airport and just about made flight. I think we just cried with relief that we had finally gotten out of that bloody taxi and could get home.

Like I said, not as dangerous or exciting as other stories here but I certainly won't forget it in a hurry!

the evasion_kid

Travelling through Vietnam I did a favour for a Texan fella who said he'd cook me dinner as a thanks,he was staying in this tree hut with a rope ladder up to it,so I get up there and there's a Vietnamese woman skinning up drums in the corner and he's messing around with this pot on a burner,bit of a surreal situation what I didn't know was that the "dinner" was ketamine that was cooking up in the pot.after a while he puts a mound of it on the table and hands me a rolled up note,I hadn't a clue about ketamine at the time so I bent forward and sniffed a good portion off the side of the mound.

As I straightened back up the Texan is looking at me stunned and worried.."did you do all that?"...."yeah why?"...."oh-eh its nothing"....."no no no you can't be saying that somethings wrong?!?"..."oh-eh you'll be fine"

Fine my arse,I had friends waiting down below for me who told me later they were looking up at me coming down the rope ladder and i was swaying from side to side on it,felt like an eternity to get to the bottom,freaky experience being stuck in the jungle with all the sounds around me and I didn't know what was going on.ya live and learn

Strumms

Not as bad as some stories but...I missed my train from London Euston to Holyhead and had to spend the night in the hell hole that is Holyhead port ..... to make matters worse about 25 very very pissed up and agressive members of the travelling community were also sharing the 'facilities' as they had presumably also missed their transport... no way was i or could i sleep with the racket going on and then with them coming up to me asking for cigarettes and what not constantly. One woman becoming agressive with me because i didnt smoke and was quite insistent that i did ! ... eventually one of them started banging on the window of the Irish Ferries customer services desk because the staff didnt have a spare ferry and crew sitting in the port to take us to Dublin... cops were called after a good while just as it started kicking off between themselves.. longest 7 hours of my life... as if a simple night in Holyhead wasnt gonna be bad enough..

Mongfinder General

Strumms wrote: »

Not as bad as some stories but...I missed my train from London Euston to Holyhead and had to spend the night in the hell hole that is Holyhead port ..... to make matters worse about 25 very very pissed up and agressive members of the travelling community were also sharing the 'facilities' as they had presumably also missed their transport... no way was i or could i sleep with the racket going on and then with them coming up to me asking for cigarettes and what not constantly. One woman becoming agressive with me because i didnt smoke and was quite insistent that i did ! ... eventually one of them started banging on the window of the Irish Ferries customer services desk because the staff didnt have a spare ferry and crew sitting in the port to take us to Dublin... cops were called after a good while just as it started kicking off between themselves.. longest 7 hours of my life... as if a simple night in Holyhead wasnt gonna be bad enough..

Jesus, I think I might have been on that ferry! I remember a big 17 or 18 stone itinerant ale tank face down in a doorway on the ship's deck next to a puddle of puke. Absolute hellhole is Holyhead

Zebra3

Bag went missing while travelling with Lufthansa. They didn't give a toss.

Seemed just easier for them to cut me a cheque (to cover about 10% of what was missing) than bother their hole looking for it.

Turned up weeks later.

Oh, and they're deceitful scum. Weasel words "it's x days before we consider your bag missing". Totally at odds seemingly with consumer legislation but using "consider" helped them bend that particular piece of legislation.

Would never, ever use them again.

Strumms

Could have been although its not an uncommon type of scenario from what a friend who worked at Dublin port told me. Basicially a lot of undesirables who know that their behaviour wouldnt be tolerated for 5 minutes in an airport setting let alone be allowed on an aircraft in that state will choose to go by ferry when they arnt under the same sort of scrutiny and can spend the trip getting pissed up and being obnoxious...

As for Holyhead... what a fůcking dump... a hell on earth pure and simple the town and the port...

Bulbous Salutation

panda100 wrote: »

I went to naples by myself a couple of years ago. I'm very tall (6 foot), very pale and blonde so I am used to getting a lot of unwarranted attention when travelling solo in Italy. Naples was a whole other ball game though. Seriously scary levels of street harassment all over town. I'm generally okay with just ignoring calls from men like this on the continent but I had men following me back to my hotel, grabbing me, walking beside me constantly.It was just relentless. I literally had to lock myself in my room and was scared to leave the hotel.

I know some people might be dismissive of this but it was a really frightening experience. I've travelled a fair bit, both solo and in groups, but the street harassment in naples really was something else.

Naples is a proper sh1thole.

A rather nasty looking man approached me with a gun while I was taking out a few roubles at an ATM on the Russian/Mongolian border. I quickly withdrew the equivalent of 100 euro and handed it over to him. Having a gun pointed at you by some tough looking Russian scumbag is a very frightening experience,

Russia is a dreadful country. I couldn't recommend a country any less.

Canis Lupus

Milani Breezy Transgressor wrote: »

Stuck with 2 others on an uninhabited island off Chile due to bad weather. 6 days with supplies for 2.

Actually, it was quite fun thinking back now with 40+ years of rose coloured glasses.

You killed them and ate them didn't you.

sangsung

Got trapped in Charleroi airport during the big winter storm of 2010 I think it was.

I had arrived from Mombasa, which is a tropical city by the Indian Ocean, so I didn't have any winter clothes. Was supposed to get a connecting flight to Dublin.

I was stuck in Charleroi for about a week.

Ryanair had closed their offices and left everybody freezing to death in the airport. I was sleeping behind the coca cola vending machine on two boxes (the ones you put luggage in). There was warm air coming from the back of the machine which is why I slept there.

The Red Cross came to the airport to give food & soup to us. Old people got blankets. The local TV crew was there. I smelled like ****e as there were no shower facilities. Drank water from the bathroom taps as I couldn't afford to constantly buy bottled water.

On the third night I think, we were told a flight was ready to take us back to Dublin! We all queued up, happiest day of our lives. By the way, this was like 22nd or 23rd December, so we were all anxious to get home for Xmas. As we were boarding, the snow got worse, and were were told to get back inside. Flight cancelled.

That was the last straw. A huge crowd of us barged into the shop, bought every single drop of beer they had, and proceeded to get absolutely sh*tfaced falling around the airport. I don't remember much after the 4th can as I was malnourished at that point.

I woke up the next morning, asleep on my box, but this time I was in the middle of the floor in the main hall, right in front of a big queue.

My dad called me and asked me what the story was. He then booked me a hotel down the road until I could organize some sort of plan. That first shower in the hotel was great.

I celebrated Christmas day by myself, watching Belgian TV in my room eating a packet of crisps.

Eventually managed to get a Euroline bus from Brussels to Dublin via London. Longest bus journey ever. The ferry to the UK was nice though, it had a cinema.

I arrived in Dublin looking like a Syrian refugee.

edit: Forgot to add, I called my family on Christmas day for a few minutes from the hotel, and as I was checking out they charged me €70 for the call.

ArnoldJRimmer

razorblunt wrote: »

This is one of my greatest fears being caught short on landing.
I don't understand why you just didn't get up and go to the loo, I'd take an argument over the air hostess than crapping my pants.
The last trans atlantic flight I was on last month had a similar situation, some girl was asleep for most of the flight and was almost caught short, she apologised to the air hostess unclipped herself and ran to the jacks. The stench coming from there as we disembarked told the horror of the situation.

I was in a similar situation on a connecting flight from London to Dublin, having travelled from India to Heathrow. Not much I could do about it, so had to unbuckle and leg it to the jacks just as we were taking off. Just mumbled sorry on way past air hostess, who was initially trying to turn me back. However, around ten minutes later she was straight up to my seat, and couldn't have been nicer. She asked if I needed anything, and said that she understood I was feeling unwell and that these things happen.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Canis Lupus wrote: »

You killed them and ate them didn't you.

I was tempted to eat the one who was like Private Fraser - we're doomed...doomed...doomed"

bodhrandude

Did anyone ever travel on a vessel that they discovered was going to sink, what was the ocean like, was it freezing, warm. Did rescue come at a decent time?

Cupcake_Crisis

Stuck in Toronto airport for 32 hours because of a US Airways mess up. Literally the rudest bunch of people I've ever encountered, refused us so much as a cup of coffee for our troubles. Point blank refused to put us up for the night (the end of a 10 day holiday, we hadn't the money for a hotel ourselves). They then proceeded to lose our luggage into the bargain and had the balls to blame that part on Aerlingus (who we eventually flew home with). I sent in an email of complaint and after a month got a reply politely telling me to go away!

Moral of the story, never fly with US Airways.

meeeeh

An 8 hour bus journey in Mexico that ended being about 36 hours. Farmers were striking and they put roadblocks everywhere and they were guarding them with big knives. We were stuck on a petrol station in the middle of nowhere for a day. And then they finally found a 'bypass' that was nothing more than a chicken path. At one stage we had to go across a narrow bridge and when one of the bus made it, the other driver who was showing the way, danced with joy. I think I must have slept for a day after we arrived to a destination.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

bodhrandude wrote: »

Did anyone ever travel on a vessel that they discovered was going to sink... Did rescue come at a decent time?

No, we all drowned.

steddyeddy

panda100 wrote: »

I went to naples by myself a couple of years ago. I'm very tall (6 foot), very pale and blonde so I am used to getting a lot of unwarranted attention when travelling solo in Italy. Naples was a whole other ball game though. Seriously scary levels of street harassment all over town. I'm generally okay with just ignoring calls from men like this on the continent but I had men following me back to my hotel, grabbing me, walking beside me constantly.It was just relentless. I literally had to lock myself in my room and was scared to leave the hotel.

I know some people might be dismissive of this but it was a really frightening experience. I've travelled a fair bit, both solo and in groups, but the street harassment in naples really was something else.

That is disgusting behavior! Ive been in some really messed up countries but never seen anything that bad.

mzungu

Travelling overland from southern Ethiopia through northern Kenya a few moons back. Roads were absolutely woeful, got bashed about so much I looked like I had gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. To boot, it was a lawless enough area with shedloads of bandits and the threat of hijack always a concern. Some locals I was talking to were telling me that Al Shabab were beginning to become more active in the area...I found out later this was true. Looking back it was the best of times though.

Another time in Peru I ended up in a siege in a restaurant. I went out for a quick bite after a long days travelling. Went into this cosy looking place for a bit of grub. Anyways, this drunken looper starts to cause a commotion over in the corner, nobody really takes any notice. Security guard heads over to him, and all seems well. I take a quick toilet break and when I get back everyone in the place is hiding behind the tables and bar counter. Your man has whipped out a gun and is waving it about. I'm standing there in the middle of the gaff, no place to hide, and besides, everything in there is made from bamboo, so it aint exactly going to deflect any shots if they end up being fired. I was told the cops had been called by staff, so there was backup on the way if it ended up escalating.

The security guy (brave) is still trying to coax your man into handing it over. It was all a bit surreal. People were peeking out from behind the counters/tables , and then when yer man thew a wobbly and waved the gun around the heads would immediately drop for cover. It was proper naked gun stuff.

The only reason I hadn't legged it out the open door was because he was covering the it. Anyway, after a short while he started moving away from the door , I saw my chance to make a clean getaway and took it. Pegged it out of there like no mans business.

The next day I met some heads that were in there and found out the gist of what happened. When the backup team arrived he barricaded himself and everybody else inside. This went on for another 5 hours, until his girlfriend was summoned to play negociator. It all ended peacefully enough when he (presumably) sobered up and decided to end the charade.

In hindsight, it was obvious he wasn't a psychopath or anything like that. The thing that made it scary at the time was that he was pissed as a fart waving a gun around...thats how accidents happen!

AgileMyth

sangsung wrote: »

Got trapped in Charleroi airport during the big winter storm of 2010 I think it was.

I had arrived from Mombasa, which is a tropical city by the Indian Ocean, so I didn't have any winter clothes. Was supposed to get a connecting flight to Dublin.

I was stuck in Charleroi for about a week.

Ryanair had closed their offices and left everybody freezing to death in the airport. I was sleeping behind the coca cola vending machine on two boxes (the ones you put luggage in). There was warm air coming from the back of the machine which is why I slept there.

The Red Cross came to the airport to give food & soup to us. Old people got blankets. The local TV crew was there. I smelled like ****e as there were no shower facilities. Drank water from the bathroom taps as I couldn't afford to constantly buy bottled water.

On the third night I think, we were told a flight was ready to take us back to Dublin! We all queued up, happiest day of our lives. By the way, this was like 22nd or 23rd December, so we were all anxious to get home for Xmas. As we were boarding, the snow got worse, and were were told to get back inside. Flight cancelled.

That was the last straw. A huge crowd of us barged into the shop, bought every single drop of beer they had, and proceeded to get absolutely sh*tfaced falling around the airport. I don't remember much after the 4th can as I was malnourished at that point.

I woke up the next morning, asleep on my box, but this time I was in the middle of the floor in the main hall, right in front of a big queue.

My dad called me and asked me what the story was. He then booked me a hotel down the road until I could organize some sort of plan. That first shower in the hotel was great.

I celebrated Christmas day by myself, watching Belgian TV in my room eating a packet of crisps.

Eventually managed to get a Euroline bus from Brussels to Dublin via London. Longest bus journey ever. The ferry to the UK was nice though, it had a cinema.

I arrived in Dublin looking like a Syrian refugee.

I lived in Charleroi for a year. Probably the worst city in the world! You were better off in the airport.

discus

Mongfinder General wrote: »

Jesus, I think I might have been on that ferry! I remember a big 17 or 18 stone itinerant ale tank face down in a doorway on the ship's deck next to a puddle of puke. Absolute hellhole is Holyhead

I was asleep in the main ferry port building there one time and the traveller kids kept having a game of running up to me and jumping over me. I was asleep in a sleeping bag along a wall ffs. Anyway one of them end up running ON MY HEAD and falling and hurting themselves. Traveller women who had been watching the whole time apparently got up in my face, didn't even think to chastise their child. Was delighted to see customs the far side pick apart their story when they got caught with fake documents.

steddyeddy

bodhrandude wrote: »

Did anyone ever travel on a vessel that they discovered was going to sink, what was the ocean like, was it freezing, warm. Did rescue come at a decent time?

In the Congo out boat overturned and I was swept down a powerful river. Fractured both legs (hairline fracture) from hitting against the rocks under the water. Thought I was going to die but luckily I landed on an embankment. Got back on the boat to get to wear we were going and the two boat drivers messed up on balancing and we fell in again. Seen another guy being dragged along by the neck underwater by the ropes attached to the boat.

In Sumatra was grabbed by a female orangutan looking for food. She was feral, having been raised by humans. They're more dangerous than the wild apes because they've learned that they're several times the strength of a human. I have never felt power like that before and I'm not weak by any standards having practiced weightlifting for years.