Scariest Trip Away

Is it my imagination or are most of these stories of nightmare scenarios abroad involving the common denominators of a) too much drink and b) an ignorance/lack of knowledge about the host society.

Don't kid yourselves lads - people in foreign countries know that the Irish love to get plastered - especially when they're abroad and thus take advantage/rip them off accordingly.

I was in Russia on a school tour in the early 90s. Very grim place and unfriendly locals. I wouldn't be in a hurry to go back.

One time in Prague about 12 years ago myself and an Austrian friend got absolutely plastered on booze and got into a taxi asking the driver to take us to some new night club my friend has been told about. We were driven all over the city and eventually the taxi stopped down a dark side alley and two rough lookingvskinhead guys got in and told us to give them all the cash we had on us or else we would find ourselves in the bottom of the river Vlatava. It seemed the taxi driver was in on it. They were saying this in very broken English and better German and we were terrified. We gave them all our cash (about €140) in the form of Czech koruns and Austrian shillings and were dropped off a few blocks away. We went to the cops but they didn't want to know.

The lesson I learned is not to get so drunk while on holiday that you throw out your common sense. It's a rule I stick by ever since and to date it has served me well.