Ever had a nightmare trip somewhere?

Shewie

Shewie

Chief Slackpacker
Staff member
I've been fairly lucky, I've snapped a pole and ripped a shoe wide open but no real trip enders as yet, I've been waist high whilst bog jumping a few times, the first one was worst, a cold foggy February dropping down off Great Whernside, a nothing of a hill but the ground was saturated. I put the poles over the bog to what I thought was firm ground and took a leap, the left pole just kept going and I went sideways into a stinking bog, god knows what had died in there but it reeked. After we stopped laughing my mate pulled me out, I think I could've managed it by myself but it made me think.
We had the fox incident in the spring which could've been annoying and potentially a trip ender, but luckily it was the last day of the trip so we made do with what we had left.

Anybody got a funny tale to tell, bonus points for a medevac :) (joke :rolleyes:)
 
edh

edh

Thru Hiker
In '92 I cycled the Karakorum Highway from Islamabad to the Kunjerab Pass with China.....on the way back I got amoebic dysentery (not that I knew that at the time).

Medical facilities were non existent and the highway lower down was shut by a landslide. So we had to keep on riding. For 6 days. I lost 22lbs in the 2 weeks that followed.

So I've seen the world - most of it coming out of my behind :D
 
EM - paul

EM - paul

Thru Hiker
Arctic Norway Feb 13. Temps largely around zero C, got really ill and turned green. Sat it out for two days and then carried on. It was zero fun hauling a 90kg toboggan on roads that were now mostly tarmac. Its mostly killed off my wanting to do another arctic trip. Spent a lot of cash assembling the kit for a poor trip.

Now dont mention it again, im healing lol
 
fluffkitten

fluffkitten

Moderator
Staff member
Shewie said:
We had the fox incident in the spring which could've been annoying and potentially a trip ender, but luckily it was the last day of the trip so we made do with what we had left.
Click to expand...

Australian foxes are just as cheeky, keep thinking you need a bear cannister where ever you might find foxes. :D

I'm still suffering from a trip I did with a few friends inland of Townsville in '92. The week walking in the coastal range was wonderful but on the second last night I became a mosquito buffet and 24 hours later I was extremely ill. How I made it back to town and a Doctor I don't know because I don't remember the day at all. The mozzies had given me the virus that causes Ross River Fever, 24 years later it is still messing with my health.

I hate mosquitoes more than any other biting thing in Australia.
 
Lady Grey

Lady Grey

Thru Hiker
Yeah, on my first independent trip overland to Oz'. ate kebabs in a filthy Afghan ****-hole of a restaurant. Shared a room (to save money) with a Jap and a German.
Collapsed on the floor trying to get to long drop middle of the night. The other 2 carried me to the long drop and had to hold me there. I was too ill to be embarrassed!!!
The Jap guy then stayed with me 'till I recovered; mmm he was quite nice too. ( I may have prolonged my illness a wee bit !!!)
A Kangaroo ripped open my tent and took my bread up near Katherine...N./Territories. I'd borrowed the tent, but luckily got off repaying. Another nice guy !!!
Got kidnapped in Iran on first overland trip. Only sheer luck got me out of this one....close call and more than scary. ...the most scary time of my life.
And, contrary to the situation now, Pakistan was one of the best places I travelled..Everyone wanted to..."look after me" !!! It was safe then and incredible scenery.
Door locks were non existent and leering hotel managers used to barge into your bedroom at night. I learnt to punch HARD; where it hurt
2 drunk African lasses attacked me one night in the bus station. I'd learnt to fight back by then. The drink in 'em made it easier for them to fall over ! Then I ran.
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Travel troubles -

Camping in Iran 1985 - Iraqi jets overhead attacking town - I reasoned if I was hit by bomb -too bad, so hid under a table to avoid shrapnel.

Jordan desert - The truck I was travelling on went up in flames - I was left standing at the side of the road bare foot, with only the clothes I was wearing, my passport and a sleeping bag. It was April and it was v. cold at night.

Sudan - locking myself into hotel room and pushing all the furniture behind the door because the 'manager' thought I was 'available' and he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

In UK - the worst I can remember was coming home a day early, after a solid week of rain when we wandered from bothy to bothy trying to keep dry.
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Lady Grey - I found Pakistan very grim. I was harrassed so much I took to carrying a whip to stop being 'pawed' by every passing male - 1985. In Iran the atmosphere was worse but at least they didn't actually touch. In Egypt even the small kids got in on the sexual harassment 'game'. Africa was great - most of the places I went are now 'unvisitable', or changed :(.
 
SteveMat

SteveMat

Trail Blazer
I saw someone get shot in the head unfortunately in Honduras in 1994 :( The coastal town Puerto Cortes was the roughest, most dangerous s**t-hole its ever been my misfortune to visit, and i used to live near Middlesboro! I got a boat across the heaving bay from Belize and as soon as you got there you were constantly harrassed by agressive nasty b***ards. anyway i got in to my fleapit hotel and sat on the balcony, watching some sort of political parade, when a shot rang out followed by screams and i saw a guy get shot in the head, yuk! i still have that mental image even now. the police didnt even bother to turn up for hours either. i got the first bus out of that dump and vowed never to return, and i never will! :D mind you, i then got the bus to San Pedro Sula, which wasn't much better. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/15/san-pedro-sula-honduras-most-violent
 
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Lady Grey

Lady Grey

Thru Hiker
Ha, Ha, Cathy; yep, the worst we experience in the UK, is probably trying to stay dry, falling in a bog or your shelter getting blown away whilst you're inside.
Iran was a nightmare from beginning to end. I dressed up as a young, ( YES, young then..) male as a lone female is spat upon. Being a young 'Male was just as bad, as I got groped continually as I walked down the street. Luckily no bombing when I was there in mid 70's.
I ended up barricading my bedroom doors too. I needed sleep so I was mentally alert for the next day's excitement.
Africa used to be easy in comparison; jump on a bus and go anywhere; worst there was building the road as you travelled along.
Don't think I could bear to see what SteveMat saw.
Passed a terrible accident in Kashmir, last year, between a small motorbike, bus and car.
2 young lads, knocked off bike, sadly, I knew one would not make it as limb was devastated and beyond repair....no help for them; no-one bothering with them? Locals seemed indifferent to the whole catastrophe. That's life there I guess.
I felt bad for rest of trip.
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
"Africa used to be easy in comparison; jump on a bus and go anywhere; worst there was building the road as you travelled along"

- as opposed to the usual - "wait 3 days for enough passengers to pay for their tickets so the bus driver can buy the tyres to put on the bus" :D. I didn't notice much road building going on in Africa in the 1980's :rolleyes:
 
cathyjc

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Oh yes, done that too - putting a bridge back together and getting pelted with unripe mangos at the same time, comes to mind.
And fighting a bamboo forest fire that blocked road ahead and then behind too. :eek:
 
fluffkitten

fluffkitten

Moderator
Staff member
I recognise the repairing the road (4wd track) ahead of you thing. Think I've been lucky with the people I've met but then I've never been to places where you might cop more hassles.
 
Teepee

Teepee

Thru Hiker
A trip to North Wales several years ago sticks in my memory.

I'd seen a nasty storm forecast with 70mph winds and decided it would be fun to hammock it in-between 2 rocks in Bwlch y Batel, not far from the top of Yr Arddu.

After an hour of trying to get pitched with the tarp not rubbing on the hammock suspension, I was losing light and couldn't risk a failure so pitched it as a ground setup.

All was fine until about 2 in the morning when the wind and rain really got going and pulled one of the stakes out of the lee side corner. I'd only enough stakes to triple peg 3 sides, thinking I'd have rocks to tie to. The lee side had only 1 stake per tie out. The wind was so strong, I had real trouble grabbing and keeping hold of it. The whole lee side then came free and the pegs has dissapeared (I found them in the morning 30 odd meters away)

Spent the next 6 hours lying on the free side to pin it to the floor with my bodyweight with the wind forcing the rain in through every gap.
 
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