Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

Somehow I don't recall a thread on this, telling stories about things that went wrong. I don't have any great story, but I'm sure some others do. Probably the worst for me was when I missed a flight in Japan and had to crash at the airport for 24 hours, not a huge deal I suppose, or the other time in Fukuoka I lost my ferry ticket but luckily the co-worker with me had enough cash to cover me.

I'm sure some of you can do better than this.

[sojourner1]

This happened 12 years ago, but quite a brutal and trying experience it was. This was on my very 1st day the 1st time I went to Holland.

Getting attacked in Amsterdam by a Morrocan who befriended me and then dropped kicked me out of the blue when we walked in a less populated area away from the city center. He was trying to get my wallet, but blew my knee out and actually hurt me quite badly resulting in 2 surgeries a few months later and numerous months of physical therapy. He ran before he could get my wallet as a boat on a canal and some pedestrians were approaching. They called the police and ambulance, took me to a hospital, looked at my knee, seen it was blown, didn't treat me or even give me crutches, and had the police take me to the train station hopping on one foot even though I drove a car to get to Holland. I then went back to the hostel I was staying at, it was locked and past curfew as it was late, but I got in by beating on the door and screaming.

To make matters worse, I had a German rental car impounded by a privately ran car snatching company during the same evening all this was going on with a blowed out knee and almost losing my wallet. The car was illegally parked for 3 hours and the signs were not in English. They ticket the car and then if you haven't moved it in 3 hours, it's toast. I seen my car going down the road on a flat bed truck as I rode with the police! It costed $550 worth of Dutch Guilders to get that car out of impound!

Next morning, I'm hopping on one leg down to eat breakfast and meet a cool dude from Rome who gives me a ride in his red convertible to 2 different hospitals who wouldn't treat me as we were trying to get crutches, then takes me to my car that came up missing, then back to the police station to be told about a car snatcher company location that has my car, and takes me to the car snatching company site to be told my car is being held ransom. They wanted $550! I didn't have that much and my cards didn't work there so I had to ride the train all the way back to Germany hopping on one foot to get around for more money. I ended up taking out a payday loan since it was only 2 days before I was to get my salary and I had to report back to work in just 2 days. I got my car and drove it back to Germany and turned it in to the car office. This all happened on a 4 day pass.

Upon arriving back in Germany where I lived, I was immediately given a set of crutches. Stingy Dutch. They could had sold me a cheap pair of sticks to see me back home since they don't give health care to foreigners.

[moosehead]

uh am not sure anyone here can beat that!

what a story - hope things got better for ya!

[jajdude]

Yeah, thanks for sharing that sojourner.

Hard to understand why you got no help, not even a pair of crutches.

[sojourner1]

Oh yea, things got better and I ended up traveling to many parts of Europe. I took many good trips after this bad trip. You really got to be careful. While I love to travel, today I get uptight about any upcoming vacation or trip that something could go very wrong. It takes bravery and courage to independently travel if you're aware of the risks. Guess, in Asia, such as Thailand, you're taking a risk if you're staying in a bungalow where pot smokers are staying as well as renting motor bikes. I'm thinking maybe I better not take those risks any more even most do with no problem. So much can go wrong when you get into driving something, being around druggies, walking around in red light districts at night, night clubbing, and being out too late. Last time I went to Thailand, I was walking down KSR at 5:30 AM looking for a tour bus I paid to go on and a half dozen lady boys surrounded me and were going to rob me, but I slipped past and got away. close call. Lucky cuz hardly no one was around. Only trust your instincts and gut feelings. Lesson learned.

[chris_J2]

I caught a public bus, from near my hotel in Bratsk, Russia, to the train station in the late afternoon. A young guy drinking beer at the bus stop, hopped on the bus with me, & offered to carry some of my luggage, from the bus stop, to the train station. I paid him a few roubles for his trouble. Towards sunset, he suggested we move to another deserted platform, so I could get on the train, before it looped back to the main station. When I said I was going back to the main platform, where all the other passengers were waiting, he started getting agitated & fumbling with something under his shirt. Probably a knife. My gut feeling was that something wasn't right here.

I then started carrying all of my luggage, from the deserted platform, to the main platform, 200 metres away. He then grabbed some of my luggage, & started carrying it back to the deserted platform. I grabbed it back off him, & called out as loudly as I could, as I passed the station masters office, about 1/2 way. My so called Russian 'friend', then ran off into the darkness. The train never did stop at that deserted platform. It went straight from the main train station platform, & over the top of the Angara Dam, towards Vladivostok. There's definitely safety in numbers.

http://www.treklens.com/viewphotos.php?l=7&p=354286

[Tiger Beer]

I was going to grad school near Valencia, Spain. I saw a cheap flight on a budget Italian airline to go from Valencia to Rome for the weekend, then I had assignments, classes, etc. to attend on Monday.

I flew to Rome on a Friday night, had a good time for two days, then went to Rome's airport. It turned out the Italian airline WENT OUT OF BUSINESS over the weekend! All kinds of people who I saw on Friday were also stranded with no way to get back to Valencia. The other airlines booked others at very overinflated prices, but generally you had a few hundred people pleading with how to get back. Other airlines just closed their doors as well as they didn't want to deal with the frustrated stranded passengers.

In the end, I paid for a very overinflated ticket several days later than went from Rome to Barcelona instead, and would take a bus back towards Valencia from there.

I guess the part that most of us brewing was the fact the employees probably KNEW we'd be stranded, but the company sold the tickets anyways, and no one got money back from not having a return flight.

[D.D.]

I went to Thailand last summer and had lunch and a few beers. Didn't feel right after lunch and spent the next 10 days puking and crapping . It stopped when I arrived back in Korea.

So flew over to sit in a hotel room and be very sick for 10 days.

[VanIslander]

unless there are lasting physical or emotional scars

there are no truly bad experiences

my two worst travel experiences make for HELLAVU stories!

[Xuanzang]

[jajdude]

Oh yeah I got very sick first time in Thailand too, lasted a good week afterward. Probably was the hotel food. Very unpleasant. Getting sick from food now and then though is pretty common when you go to new places.

[D.D.]

Once I was hitching around Australia and got let out in the middle of the boonies 100km south of Broken hill. I was dropped off by a trucker who said he had to turn onto a ranch road.

It was 3 in the afternoon and only one car passed me going the other way.

I had no food or water. About 12 midnight I heard a truck coming and lit a piece of paper with a lighter.

He stopped and backed up for about two kilometres (beep beep beep). He opened his door just a bit and said who's out there. I said a Canadian. he said you would have to be a stupid Canadian to be out here this time of night.

Later he said he almost didn't stop as he though I was just a drunk abo on the side of the road.

Strange thing as I went to light a smoke my lighter didn't work anymore. The last fuel in the lighter had worked to light the paper torch.

He dropped me off in a little town called Mildura and I slept on some couch inside a backpackers as everyone was asleep. Next day hitched into Adelaide and ran into my gf by chance within 5 minutes, so the story ends on a good note.

[Illysook]

The best travel stories have good and bad, right?

My trip to Bali was like that. The bus ride through the mountains in the pouring rain was scary and made everyone carsick, but we all bonded a bit and had a really great time afterward.

[samd]

[D.D.]

My first day in Dehli I got caught up in buying a ticket to Kashmir.

When I got there I was the only person on my house boat. I heard bombs going off in the distance and didn't feel very safe there.

The next day I arranged to get a jeep out of there back to India. This was just after 911 and I was alone in a jeep with 9 Muslims.

We were passing blindly on mountain passes with 200 ft drops onto rocks below.

One time we passed on a blind corner and met face to face with another truck.

To this day I still dont know how we didn't hit each other. I was screaming and the muslims were laughing at me.

After hours of this crazy driving we arrived in Jammu where I got into a motor rickshaw and drove through the scariest roads I had ever been down.

We arrived at a train station and all I could get was third class. After two stops two army guys got on and kicked us of the benches so they could lie down.

I refused to move and they started giving me a hard time asking if I wanted to buy hash and that they could arrest me for buying it.

Then they made me smoke 4 Indian beadies one right after the other which made me puke.

After that they chilled out but at each stop some new weirdo would get on the train and just stare at me.

When I needed to use the toilet it was even worse than a Chinese public restroom.

Woke up the next morning to watch at least 1000 people squatting to use the ground as a toilet as we rolled into Dehli.

The next hour after we arrived in Dehli I bought a package where you could fly in a clockwise direction around India and make 5 stops.

Never actually have bought a train ticket in India that didn't turn out to be a scam.

I never suggest third class train tickets to anybody.