Places You've traveled to, but didn't feel safe in.
Apr 19th, 2008, 12:43 AM
#41
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Afghanistan - few years ago. Our convoy, traveling from Kabul to Bagram Airbase was attacked by a druglord and his bunch. A regular Afghan army man lost his life. My bags were all shot to hell. Lost very expensive laptops, camera and all my personal stuff. Thankfully I escaped without injury. The attackers were all killed in a combined US/Afghan army op after they got all civilians out first. That was scary.
Poland - Warsaw, about 15 years ago. Riding a tram with a friend on the outskirts of the city. A bunch of young thugs came on board. Think soccer hooligans. They did not realize we understood Polish and proceeded to discuss a plan right in front of us to strip us of our belongings, and beat us to a pulp once we got off the tram. Thankfully we needed to go to the end of the line and there were 2 policemen there. Nothing happened but we were ready for a fight of our lifetime if we had to.
New Zealand - Franz Josef Glacier - Self inflicted, but I almost died during the glacier tour...
(I know this has nothing to do with safety but to me it was an experience..., I really, really almost died)
Nothing else came close to the 3 experiences mentioned above. Dark alleys, wrong nightclubs, landmines, warnings of possible attacks, etc...childplay....
Poland - Warsaw, about 15 years ago. Riding a tram with a friend on the outskirts of the city. A bunch of young thugs came on board. Think soccer hooligans. They did not realize we understood Polish and proceeded to discuss a plan right in front of us to strip us of our belongings, and beat us to a pulp once we got off the tram. Thankfully we needed to go to the end of the line and there were 2 policemen there. Nothing happened but we were ready for a fight of our lifetime if we had to.
New Zealand - Franz Josef Glacier - Self inflicted, but I almost died during the glacier tour...
(I know this has nothing to do with safety but to me it was an experience..., I really, really almost died)Nothing else came close to the 3 experiences mentioned above. Dark alleys, wrong nightclubs, landmines, warnings of possible attacks, etc...childplay....
Apr 19th, 2008, 03:19 AM
#42
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1. Callao Lima- the port which is also the location of the airport. Arrived in the early hours having heard of a private bus which was boarded by men who murdered one of the tourists. The bus was taking them to their hotel.
We had been given the name of the taxi driver who would meet us- it wasn't him. There was thick fog(which is the case often) but it meant people were wearing heavy coats and huddled over walking along the streets, it gave a very eerie atmosphere to the place. Our hotel, about 10 minutes from the airport was on a deserted square off the main road. A large metal gate was unlocked to let us in. The window in our bathroom was broken. No-one came to serve us breakfast in the dining room in the morning and we sat watching the television which reported that a member of government had been murdered on the street overnight. I was very glad to get out of there.
2.Miami in December 1991. Tourists were being mugged and murdered having been identified by the "hire car " sticker on the bumper. This was our first ever visit to the States. Our flight out of Gatwick was delayed which gave me time to read the Sunday papers. The colour supplement of The Times had an article on all the strange people who lived in Florida or maybe Miami.
Because of the delayed flight we arrived in Miami in the dark and having picked up the hire car- got lost. I was pretty nervous and pulled into a hotel forecourt to ask directions. As I stopped the car 4 teens appeared in front of us and split so 2 walked one side of the car and 2 the other. At this stage I was convinced we were about to be attacked but they just walked on.....
The next day we left Miami driving over the area where a German woman had recently been murdered in front of her two tiny children- I would not have stopped there for any money. Haven't been back to Miami since although I have returned to the States about 15 times.
3. Mexico City. Again I'd read about safety issues here before arriving. On the one hand I was fairly comfortable walking around during the day but at night even in a taxi, the barricaded houses and almost complete absence of people on the streets was frightening. One night we started walking from a restaurant and I suddenly felt very uneasy. We turned around and went back whereupon they called us a taxi and it made me wonder why we'd done it in the first place.
You learn from all these experiences.
The urban ares I've felt most safe are in Japan. I was completely comfortable walking in Tokyo and Kyoto at night.
We had been given the name of the taxi driver who would meet us- it wasn't him. There was thick fog(which is the case often) but it meant people were wearing heavy coats and huddled over walking along the streets, it gave a very eerie atmosphere to the place. Our hotel, about 10 minutes from the airport was on a deserted square off the main road. A large metal gate was unlocked to let us in. The window in our bathroom was broken. No-one came to serve us breakfast in the dining room in the morning and we sat watching the television which reported that a member of government had been murdered on the street overnight. I was very glad to get out of there.
2.Miami in December 1991. Tourists were being mugged and murdered having been identified by the "hire car " sticker on the bumper. This was our first ever visit to the States. Our flight out of Gatwick was delayed which gave me time to read the Sunday papers. The colour supplement of The Times had an article on all the strange people who lived in Florida or maybe Miami.
Because of the delayed flight we arrived in Miami in the dark and having picked up the hire car- got lost. I was pretty nervous and pulled into a hotel forecourt to ask directions. As I stopped the car 4 teens appeared in front of us and split so 2 walked one side of the car and 2 the other. At this stage I was convinced we were about to be attacked but they just walked on.....
The next day we left Miami driving over the area where a German woman had recently been murdered in front of her two tiny children- I would not have stopped there for any money. Haven't been back to Miami since although I have returned to the States about 15 times.
3. Mexico City. Again I'd read about safety issues here before arriving. On the one hand I was fairly comfortable walking around during the day but at night even in a taxi, the barricaded houses and almost complete absence of people on the streets was frightening. One night we started walking from a restaurant and I suddenly felt very uneasy. We turned around and went back whereupon they called us a taxi and it made me wonder why we'd done it in the first place.
You learn from all these experiences.
The urban ares I've felt most safe are in Japan. I was completely comfortable walking in Tokyo and Kyoto at night.
Apr 30th, 2008, 11:11 AM
#43
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Paraguay. Nothing bad happened but we traveled with a driver and guide who were both armed. The stories they had to tell were quite something.
Rio. Two boys attempted to rob us on the beach. Never felt safe, which is a pity as it is so VERY beautiful.
New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston: all cities where you can turn the wrong corner and find yourself in trouble.
Rio. Two boys attempted to rob us on the beach. Never felt safe, which is a pity as it is so VERY beautiful.
New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston: all cities where you can turn the wrong corner and find yourself in trouble.
Apr 30th, 2008, 12:57 PM
#44
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In Jordan, we had aan rmed guard on our tour bus, and while I was happy to have him, I wasn't happy to need him.
When my husband travelled to Sao Paolo, Brazil on business, he was only allowed to leave the hotel with his driver and bodyguard.
Of the other places people have mentioned, we've felt safe in NYC, Mexico, NO, St. Petersburg, Venice, San Francisco, Jamaica, Caracas, DC, Atlanta, Honolulu.
Of course, every city (our own included) has areas we wouldn't want to visit, especially at night, but we try not to wander around alone in those areas.
When my husband travelled to Sao Paolo, Brazil on business, he was only allowed to leave the hotel with his driver and bodyguard.
Of the other places people have mentioned, we've felt safe in NYC, Mexico, NO, St. Petersburg, Venice, San Francisco, Jamaica, Caracas, DC, Atlanta, Honolulu.
Of course, every city (our own included) has areas we wouldn't want to visit, especially at night, but we try not to wander around alone in those areas.
Apr 30th, 2008, 01:26 PM
#45
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I've never felt unsafe.
Looking back, I think that perhaps I should have been more afraid (or at least sensible).
When I was 20, I would walk several miles (by myself) in the middle of the night/early morning after clubbing. Besides being a young woman walking around alone, my senses probably weren't functioning at 100%. I definitely did this in London and Dublin, and I had to cover several miles in each place to get back to lodging. I know these places aren't huge crime centers, but this probably wasn't a good idea.
I don't have much of a sense of fear of my surroundings, which I think is a good thing overall. When my husband met me, I was living alone in a funky little apartment in downtown Sacramento. He thought I was nuts to live there and called it "the ghetto." There were at least 3 random shootings within two blocks of my apartment within a couple of months. Plus plenty of homeless people and what my husband (then boyfriend) called crack-hoes. But I was pretty darn proud of myself to be able to support myself and have my own place. I was 24.
Now I live in the suburbs, in a gated community no less. Maybe I'll lose my edge
Looking back, I think that perhaps I should have been more afraid (or at least sensible).
When I was 20, I would walk several miles (by myself) in the middle of the night/early morning after clubbing. Besides being a young woman walking around alone, my senses probably weren't functioning at 100%. I definitely did this in London and Dublin, and I had to cover several miles in each place to get back to lodging. I know these places aren't huge crime centers, but this probably wasn't a good idea.
I don't have much of a sense of fear of my surroundings, which I think is a good thing overall. When my husband met me, I was living alone in a funky little apartment in downtown Sacramento. He thought I was nuts to live there and called it "the ghetto." There were at least 3 random shootings within two blocks of my apartment within a couple of months. Plus plenty of homeless people and what my husband (then boyfriend) called crack-hoes. But I was pretty darn proud of myself to be able to support myself and have my own place. I was 24.
Now I live in the suburbs, in a gated community no less. Maybe I'll lose my edge
May 1st, 2008, 01:36 AM
#46
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<i>From other posts and what I hear, in general, the crimes committed on tourists and pedestrians in most other countries outside the US don't usually involve a weapon and almost never end in murder.
Not true in the US. The criminals and thugs here demand this thing they call "respect". They have decided that just looking at them or telling them to leave you alone or accidentally cutting them off in traffic or turning them away from your party are offenses punishable by your death and they are more than willing to do it.</i>
I think you watch too many movies. The risk to tourists in most of the US is low. The crime rate in the US is not so high that one sees crime everywhere they go - I have never witnessed a mugging, murder, or any other violent crime, and I lived in the US for nearly 30 years. And a shockingly high % of murders are committed by people known to the victim. So, if you want to avoid being murdered, don't hang out with murderers.
So, can we please stop with the silly assertions that the average tourist should fear for their life when visiting the US? At least until someone can answer the question about how many tourists have been killed.
As for Europe? I definitely stumbled into a few less than welcoming sections of London, but nothing particularly unsafe. Ditto Paris and Brussels. Not places where I was really concerned for my personal safety, but not a place I wanted to linger.
I did feel unsafe every time I got in a car or crossed the street in Cairo, but I don't think that is what the question is.
And, while I didn't feel unsafe, being swarmed by beggars and touts in Cambodia definitely made me feel uncomfortable. Again, no fear for my safety, but being surrounded by 20 people and followed for a few minutes does raise the stress level.
Not true in the US. The criminals and thugs here demand this thing they call "respect". They have decided that just looking at them or telling them to leave you alone or accidentally cutting them off in traffic or turning them away from your party are offenses punishable by your death and they are more than willing to do it.</i>
I think you watch too many movies. The risk to tourists in most of the US is low. The crime rate in the US is not so high that one sees crime everywhere they go - I have never witnessed a mugging, murder, or any other violent crime, and I lived in the US for nearly 30 years. And a shockingly high % of murders are committed by people known to the victim. So, if you want to avoid being murdered, don't hang out with murderers.
So, can we please stop with the silly assertions that the average tourist should fear for their life when visiting the US? At least until someone can answer the question about how many tourists have been killed.
As for Europe? I definitely stumbled into a few less than welcoming sections of London, but nothing particularly unsafe. Ditto Paris and Brussels. Not places where I was really concerned for my personal safety, but not a place I wanted to linger.
I did feel unsafe every time I got in a car or crossed the street in Cairo, but I don't think that is what the question is.
And, while I didn't feel unsafe, being swarmed by beggars and touts in Cambodia definitely made me feel uncomfortable. Again, no fear for my safety, but being surrounded by 20 people and followed for a few minutes does raise the stress level.
May 1st, 2008, 03:41 AM
#47
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On some of my travels in my younger days I ventured into areas I should have felt unsafe in, but didn't at the time. On my return from a trip to the States, a DC native attached to my office asked what I did in Washington. 'I walked from the bus station and', I replied, to which he interrupted, 'You <i>walked</i> from the bus station?' 'Well', I said, 'come to think of it, I remember thinking it strange how some streets were deserted and there were shifty-looking types taking a second look at me from doorways'. 'They must have thought you were crazy, tough, or both', my colleague replied.
Then there was the broken down Abu Ghraib-like hostel in New Orleans which I prudently decided to give the flick, the guard at the Miami bus station who advised not to walk across the nearby park on a peaceful-looking Sunday morning, but instead take a ride on the next Dog (and then showed me the list of weapons confiscated during the previous night), and a seedy dormitory in Amsterdam where two druggies - a German and a Scot - were trying to kill each other on the bunk below mine.
An incident on a train was a friendly warning from a local. On the way to Naples I was seated opposite an occasionally smiling old woman, flanked by her young grandsons - upon seeing me check my money belt she adopted a more serious demeanour, pointed to the money belt and said 'Napoli', while drawing her hand across her throat. Shortly after, I learned that two American women, both seasoned travellers, had been assaulted in broad daylight at Naples railway station.
Safe travels!
[All the above occurred during the 70s, if that makes it any better]
May 1st, 2008, 04:18 AM
#48
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Then there was Ciudad Juarez, where you could sell your own blood, buy second hand spectacles and teeth, and, so the touts were eager to inform, 'leetle girls' or 'leetle boys'. El Paso didn't look too bad at all after that.
May 1st, 2008, 04:31 AM
#49
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A place where I was overconfident and came unstuck - Nairobi.
A place where I should have been fearful and was watching but it was fine - Lagos.
Places mentioned on this post and/or generally seen as "dangerous" where I felt no bad vibe at all - Buenas Aires, Mexico City.
I guess it's possible to go where you shouldn't in London or Paris, and New York. But the only time I have really felt unsafe was in Johannesburg where the menace seeped out of the stones.
This was twelve years ago, and I came out unscathed. Could be fine now of course.
A place where I should have been fearful and was watching but it was fine - Lagos.
Places mentioned on this post and/or generally seen as "dangerous" where I felt no bad vibe at all - Buenas Aires, Mexico City.
I guess it's possible to go where you shouldn't in London or Paris, and New York. But the only time I have really felt unsafe was in Johannesburg where the menace seeped out of the stones.
This was twelve years ago, and I came out unscathed. Could be fine now of course.
May 1st, 2008, 06:07 AM
#52
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Riding the Tube in London after a soccer match. Lots of boisterous drunks and punks.
When I was travelling alone as a 23 year old, I had a bunch of sloshed and angry fans from Chelsea get up in my face and ask what team I supported. I said "Why YOURS of course!" and they went away.
When I was travelling alone as a 23 year old, I had a bunch of sloshed and angry fans from Chelsea get up in my face and ask what team I supported. I said "Why YOURS of course!" and they went away.
May 1st, 2008, 07:13 AM
#54
I've never been any place particularly adventuresome or where I felt unsafe completely, but there are moments...
A park in Amsterdam that turning a corner suddenly felt a bit dodgy, a strange encounter or two in Jamaica back in the day... just little moments where I felt the need to evaluate quicklyh and change my situation.
A park in Amsterdam that turning a corner suddenly felt a bit dodgy, a strange encounter or two in Jamaica back in the day... just little moments where I felt the need to evaluate quicklyh and change my situation.
May 1st, 2008, 09:44 AM
#55
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Advising people to visit only Manhattan to stay safe in NYC is ridiculous. I live here now and have felt profoundly unsafe while living in Manhattan and absolutely fine living in thriving Brooklyn.
Dangerous people move around and the city environment is in constant flux. It's impossible to guard against chaos definitively.
Dangerous people move around and the city environment is in constant flux. It's impossible to guard against chaos definitively.
May 1st, 2008, 01:06 PM
#58
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..India- NOT the country in generally just the driving..our cab went through red lights twice and we were almost T boned..I encountered the scariest place when I was a teenager. The NY Port Authority bus terminal!! and I even wandered into the ladie's room...and quickly ran out.
May 1st, 2008, 01:09 PM
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The subway is busy at all hours. I've lived here more than 10 years and come and go at all hours in the course of travelling to and from the airports, bus station and train station. Not to mention living 45 minutes north of midtown.
People can and are hurt at any time of day, any where. The burroughs are not the issue.
Dangerous people move around too. There's no such thing as a safe place. I took a wonderful class on personal safety in '99. A friend became an instructor there. I'll refer you if you like. It gave me a new lease on life.
People can and are hurt at any time of day, any where. The burroughs are not the issue.
Dangerous people move around too. There's no such thing as a safe place. I took a wonderful class on personal safety in '99. A friend became an instructor there. I'll refer you if you like. It gave me a new lease on life.
