Traveller Interview

markbroadhead I only seem to get into dangerous situations when I with other travellers. This one wasn't really dangerous at all, but I wouldn't do it again...I got off the Greyhound in Daytona Beach with this Scottish guy I'd met in Key West the day before. We planned to catch a bus later that day to New York. Running a little late we couldn't find the bus station. Wandering the empty streets, the Scot saw 20 or so adolescents standing on a corner ahead and decided to ask them for directions. They turned out to be friendly (it was Daytona, after all), but then the Scot saw a guy sitting in a parked car and asked him to give us a lift to the station. This he did while downing large doses of solace from a bottle of whiskey and telling us that his mother had just died. When we got to the station the Scot discovered that his Greyhound pass had expired, and he missed the bus. I was glad to get away from his reckless naivety.

cambodiasue Bangkok, July 1985... I was twenty traveling alone between Tokyo and Delhi. I'd had enough cash for cab fare for my overnight in Bangkok yet a re-entry permit took the balance of my cash and a bit more. The steward noticed my distress and introduced me to a woman, whom he said he thought could help. I had noticed this woman in Tokyo, her garb was asian, her look was scary, a foretaste of "goth". Kinda Angelica Huston in Darjeeling Express but in black with a pentagram rather than in white with a cross sort of look... I was scared of her. Yet she brusquely paid for my shuttle bus ticket to her hotel which she said we would settle in the morning. I wasn't sure if I'd see breakfast... it was a 3 star hotel and arriving at about 1am the disco throbbing with "A Night in Bangkok" and being offered a drink at the desk... yikes. Over the papaya the next morning I discovered this woman was a Reiki healer, lapsed catholic and truly generous soul, not a person to be fearful of as I had imagined.

xflibble 1987, getting stuck outside in Suva after curfew. Teenagers pulled out of prisons and given automatic weapons to man roadblocks is not nice.

drifting_adam When travelling through Russia I managed to get on the wrong side of the law by neglecting to get my passport registered with the police to prove where I'd been staying. My host in Moscow (a very gentle fatherly type person and ex-cop) and I ended up at the main train station where we got some Kazakstani guy to forge the missing entry for $50. It seemed stupid at the time, but I felt stuck. The next place I stayed took one look at the passport, furrowed their brow and asked "Were the cops they drunk when the filled this out? They've stamped you in for 3 years and listed your nationality as "Avstrarian". How I managed to get out of Russia after this is beyond me.

satpack Just across the border from Malawi to Mozambique, 1998. Found out bus headed to Vilankulos wouldn't leave for 10 hours. So decided to hitch. Initially things went well - met a lorry driver who communicated by drawing a clock in the sand that we'd arrive there at 8pm (we thought). Nice. Boarded lorry (we were on top of the container, holding on by the straps). Initially enjoyed lovely views, fresh air etc but went downhill when driver stopped at every village to have a drink and pick up a lady of the night who would entertain him until the next village. At about midnight realised he had meant 8am. The temperature dropped dramatically, the rain started and the driver's style became more erratic/flamboyant. He eventually fell asleep and the lorry trundled (slowly) off the road, through a fence and into a field, where we then saw the 'minefield' sign. Later found that the lorry's cargo had been several million matches As we started walking, the bus we should have caught flashed by.

minnesota_trekker Probably trekking in Papua New Guinea. We were shot at in a truck convoy enroute to our trailhead. Apparently this is not, or at least was not uncommon. They used to shoot at helicopters carrying climbers, though I'm not sure if this is still a problem there.

Trekking in Afghanistan in the pre 9-11 days wasn't without risk either. I don't want to even guess how bad it can be today.

Some close encounters in NE Uganda are probably towards the top of the list as well. Though I hear the place has really been making a comeback these days, a hidden corner of growing popularity...