From TripAdvisor KissMiss
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Your out-of-the-ordinary experience might be unbelievably good, bad, or unusual. It could be an amazing bargain, insane road trip, bizarre flight, special destination, hotel/attraction/restaurant from heaven or hell, or something along similar lines. We’re looking for brevity – no more than a sentence or two. We’ll give extra points to submissions that include destination or property names. And lastly, focus on the travel part more than the personal. For example:
Not so good
My daughter got engaged on family trip to Hawaii – love the fiancé! He’s so cute, she’s so cute, together they are SO CUTE!
Much better
Family trip to Oahu, HI. Daughter’s fiancé proposes volcano-side. Right after, volcano blows! She yelled yes running from lava.
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Send it to us between Tuesday, March 23rd and 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 29th. On March 30, 2010, TripAdvisor editors will select the top 10 submissions based on how well you convey the out-of-the-ordinary experience, and how travel-related it is. If your tale is chosen, it will be included in the April 1st edition of Member Update!
92 Comments
Fellow travellers tell me – don’t leave your valuables in the Phnomh Penh guesthouse. While in a motocab, a guy on the back of a motorcycle snatches my bag containing cash, passport camera and airline tickets. Epic fail.
Ohhh mate, I know how you must be feeling, I taught there in 2008 and the stories of bag snatching was a regular event, often with violence. It saddens me to hear things haven’t improved.
Armed Dock Port Strike ensues in Papeete, Tahiti 1 day after our arrival for a 1YR
South Pacific tour!
Honeymoon in Dominica with cheap personal tour guide. He snuck us illegally into national parks and we suspect he was a pimp after we continued to make random stops so he could threaten good looking women if they didn’t come to the next party.
We arrived on Corn Island, Nicaragua December 22, 2008. Planned on staying until December 30th then fly back to Managua to catch our flight home when we were told that all the flights off the Island were booked solid until January 6/09… convinced we were stranded!!! If you’re going to be stranded, that’s a good place to be! We did get a flight on December 26th – fantastic Christmas!
My best friend and I were leaving Tampa after a Spring Training trip and our flight kept getting delayed. After more than 5 hours we went back to the Continental desk and were the only ones there. The woman behind the counter asked if we were Michelle and Kelly. We said yes, and she informed us that we were the only two on the flight back to New Jersey after all the delays. We sat first class, the pilots addressed us personally and they let us pick what movie we wanted. It was insane.
We stayed for two days at Shady Shack on the topical island of Bintan, Indonesia. Our stay was perfect until a rat decided to join us in bed.
*tropical
Weekend beach trip to remote location in India. Make out for 1st time with new gf on deserted beach at midnight. Right after looted of camera & money by 7 goons, followed by sexual harassment of other friends at a dodgy hotel where we were staying. Nearest police station 26 kms away and no phone connectivity. Epic adventure!
Hi,
You can read about our trips with my younger brother Dave in here, in our blog:
http://madmenexpress.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/germany-netherlands/
Have the nice trips!:)
Bill & Dave,
Estonia
My fiancé was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal kidney cancer — given 2-3 months to live. We were married in the hospital chapel, but she passed away 6 days later. Her 1st husband and I became great friends (ironically) and after the funeral he offered to accompany me on a 6/wk backpacking pilgrimage to give her remains all over Europe. This was my promise to her — for the honeymoon we never shared. Since then, I’ve returned four times in two years, lived in Europe and South America, got remarried, wrote a Free European Travel Guide and started a travel charity for terminally ill cancer patients in her memory called A Passport To Giving.
What an amazing and kind way to celebrate the life of someone you loved. I wish there were more people in the world like you.
aloha gabe!! i got interested in your passport to giving and want to learn more about it and see how we can support your drive. i will surely appreciate to hear from you. more aloha…
Sandals Resort in the Grand Bahamas always has awesome activities, loved the beach party on their private island, especially when the only one that got a lap dance from the hunter/cannibal was me!!!! eeeek!!
I was travelling through Belize with a couple of girls that I had met in Mexico and one of them met a local young man in Placencia that took quite a liking to her. In an effort to impressher, he took us all out on his small boat and pulled up a lobster pot with 4 huge lobsters. We then went to his families island where he BBQed them for us over an open fire. It worked cause we were all impressed!
Parents were visiting me in Australia from overseas. Joined them in Northern Territory for a “rafting” trip down Katherine Gorge. I was about to get on the air mattress when something slipped into the water. Dad says don’t worry, it was only a crocodile! Made it downstream in one piece without setting as much as a toe in the muddy water.
On holiday Fes Morroco shown market place by tour guide, police nab tour guide, gas instead of water showers at hotel..next train out of there
travelling from riyadh to Dammam in saudi ,we stopped at an arabic food shop ….looking 4 some western food …best we got was an indian guy telling us hanburger ,hanburger !! we said yep give us two …after munching our burgers we decided they had a strange sweet taste .it turned out he had used a jam donut with mayo egg and beef pattie .the lump of jam was the giveaway haaa
Attempting to fly out of China (a few months visit end of world trip) from Shanghai in 1989. No boarding passes issued. We sprinted through the airport scattering paper kites and other relics. On board (jumbo)it was every man and woman for themselves. The crew emerged after 15 or so minutes, every person strapped in to a seat was able to fly. Anyone else was forced to leave. In hindsight I should have given my seat.
Riding in an aluminum boat on the Rufigi River in the Selous park of southern Tanzania. Hit a log, put a hole in the boat. Spent the next two hours with my foot on the hole to keep water out. Crocs and hippos surrounding us.
I was in the squatted free town Christiania in Copenhagen, where I had been earlier the same week chewing coca leaves as a part of Bolivian “healing ceremony”, and Naomi Klein came to talk in a circus tent and it got fuller and fuller people until it broke. I got out right after she finished the talk, but right after the police came in and threw tear-gas to the crowd.
At the Kula Botancal Gardens on Maui, one of the African Cranes leapt the fence in the middle of his pond and came over to check out my hubby and kids. I was laughing so hard as I tried to take a photo that I missed the bird actually having a go at him. He got me to put down the camera and give him a hand but that was always referred to as ‘The bird that beaked Daddy’ by the kids.
Two weeks after 9/11 I flew Seattle-LA-Tahiti-New Zealand-Fiji-Hawaii-San Francisco-Seattle. I wasn’t going to let 9/11 ruin my travel plans! Airports were either EMPTY or full of passengers waiting for delayed planes. One of the best trips of my life! I wore USA t-shirts and met lots of people who wanted to talk to an American.
Mom-daughter visit to homeland: Taiwan. On a bus ride to a Buddhist temple atop a mountain the villagers sing Chinese karaoke. They pass the microphone to me. Figuring they don’t know English, I sang “Like a Virgin”. The gods must not have been pleased; I was the only one who got bitten by mosquitoes!
Rented an apartment in Florence to “live like the natives.” It was great! Except for the washer and dryer-the washer would NOT stop spinning, and the door was locked with our wet, drippy clothes inside. The dryer was a rack on the patio (which didn’t get used). Hopefully someone in Florence is enjoying our clothes!
Walking back to our B&B with my mother in France, a motorcyclist drove by and pinched me on the butt! I was insulted and flattered all at the same time.
Most extraordinary trip- day trip to Egypt from the UK for my son’s 14th birthday. Saw the pyramids and went inside one to the centre, had a camel ride, saw the Sphinx, and had some time in the Cairo museum.
My son’s school phoned me, as they thought there must be a mistake on the absence request form.
Days requested- one.
Purpose- trip to Egypt.
Vegas, 12 days, 9 people, Traveled across country from TN in a van without enough seats for everyone. So I had to ride in the floorboard. Got motion sickness. Had to puke in a bag because they wouldnt pull over while my family laughed and filmed the whole thing. So glad to be back home. Whew….
Camping near the Mayan ruins of Calakmul in Campeche Mexico, we were woken-up by screaming monkeys (saraguatos) just outside of our tent. We thought that they were Jaguars, because their “scream” is like a big roar. Somebody peed on her pants because we thought that we were about to die, but they were just fun-loving monkeys that scream horribly.
On a trip to Costa Rica, we flew out of San Jose to the west coast. The plane ride was quite the adventure. The pilot looked about 17-18YO, the flight was terribly bumpy, and that was the good part. When we were starting to descend getting ready to land, we look out the window and realize that we are going to be landing on what looks like a gravel driveway. If it weren’t for my friend crying and making a little girl on the plane cry as well, I think I would have wet my pants, but there were already enough waterworks on the plane. Good times.
Come to the famous Pearl Market in Beijing, China for the ultimate shopping experience! Where else will you find double-branded athletic shoes (“Adidas” on one shoe and “Nike” on the other) or a T-shirt that says “Los Angeles Lakers” underneath an explicit logo of a bull’s head?
Adventure trip to the ancient, holy city of Badrinath, India, in the high Himalayas – at 14,000 feet. Upon departure, we discover that our hotel’s restaurant had no hot water for cleaning, and routinely placed dirty dishes outside to be licked by sacred cows and stray dogs.
Going there in Sept. Do all hotels “clean” their dishes this way? OMG!
My son and I were in Barcelona, rushed to catch a train to the airport for our flight to Ghana. The train arrived, we jumped on, relieved to have made it in time, when suddenly the doors slammed shut, the lights went out, and the “out of service” train sped away!
Arrived in the Cinque Terra with no hotel booked as we were informed you could get a room anywhere at anytime, except of course when it’s an Italian holiday. We ended up asking everyone at the train station (after traveling for 30 hours) if we could share a room with them when finally one couple said we could share with them but we would have to ask the other couple they found that they were also sharing with. The other couple said o.k. so the six of us squeezed into a small 1 bed room that had two bunks that hung off the wall. I never thought I would ever think this was funny but now I do and I can laugh about it.
While staying at a swanky London hotel(22 Jermyn Street… fabulous place), I was accidentally locked out of our 4th floor room while wearing only my bathrobe (long story). With no other option, I took the elevator for help but the lift stopped on the 3rd floor and one of the cleaning staff stepped inside and made an audible gasp. I smiled sheepishly and she said: “I’m so sorry… it’s so unusual to see a guest in the lift wearing just their bathrobe!” Situation explained, I was returned to our suite without further embarrassment. I’d go back to 22 Jermyn Street in a heartbeat (although keeping an extra key in my bathrobe pocket).
Hubby, friends, and I vacationing in Kona, Hawaii have gone fishing and are trying to catch something to grill for dinner (we all met in Tahiti aboard a cruise while on their honeymoon) who we ask to join us in our Keauhou area “Holua Resort” Condo. I end up catching a 366 and one half pound Blue Marlin – the fish of a lifetime!
After food poisoning on a flight from Europe to Kenya, then a canceled flight to Kinshasa, DRC, was finally re-routed. Realized that I had been given NO contact information for the people who were to pick me up in Kinshasa from employer in London. Arrive hours late (at least that time there were the stairs at the airport to get us off the plane, unlike a subsequent flight) and no one there, Immigration takes my passport and demands a special fee. Seat mate with me, first time in Africa, she’s terrified. We went to a groups of priests and nuns and asked for help. They shamed our passports out of the corrupt hands of the official, crammed 10 of us in an early 70′s Corolla. We spent the next 6 hours going from priest’s house to priest’s house drinking beer. In a city of 10 million people I was at my bosses house by dinner time. He asked why I was there so early, he thought my flight arrived later in the night.
August 27, 2005 I arrive in New Orleans from San Diego. The Saints are playing in the Superdome. Two days later I’m stuck in Superdome, unable to get out of town before Katrina, as the Airport, Amtrak, & Greyhound all shut down 2 days before the storm.
This was the only time in my 10 visits to Nawlins that I actually lost weight on my vacation! Planning to go back this August for the 5th Anniversary of Katrina.
Fraser Island, Australia. While enjoying deserted sand beach at the edge of a freshwater lake a ways from camp, a dingo turned my tent into confetti. At least it didn’t eat mi baby.
Sardinia seemed a good choice for a long weekend. Off season, beautiful geography, very low fare. The perfect combination, right? Well, the roads that looked straight on the map were twisty turny up and down mountain sides. The 200 mile drive around the southern part of the island turned into an 18 hour trip when snow was added to the mix. And I wouldn’t have changed a THING!! A trip I’ll never forget.
I have a garment bag that was twice misrouted to Rio de Janeiro. Once, on a flight from New York to London, it was loaded onto the wrong aircraft. Several years later, it was mistakenly included by a hotel porter in Santiago, Chile with the bags of a group destined for (you guessed it) Rio. I had never visited there, but I owned a bag that had done so. Twice.
Imam Square, Isfahan, Iran: a World Heritage site, this unique place is full of artistically constructed buildings, where fountains and gardens are the most beautiful maze.
Under the archway around the square, among mosques and an ancient palace, you can find many Persian treasures, including tapestry and pastries. The most amazing are the handmade enamel dishes.
Iranians are the nicest people I ever meet, they are everywhere in the “Naqsh-i Jahan” Square and they are really tourist welcoming.
On my quest to explore more of the Mayan sites, we landed at Rotan Island off the coast of Honduras. We were taken to the airport, and were put on a Czech twin-engine turboprop. The flight was uneventful, but the landing was not. I expected to land at an airport that was somewhat developed, but it was a gravel runway covered with cowpats! Having had similar experiences in the past, I was more surprised than upset, however
On a tour of Russia and stopped overnight at a hotel in Smolensk. Advised not to use the water – brushed my teeth using Pepsi – & lying on top of the bed clothes was the cleaner option. Put a chair under the doorknob – tried to sleep through the LOUD disco on the floor below. Awoke the next morning to find tour bus driver had been drugged and robbed! He was carted off to hospital, we ended up in a local Russian bus – which kept breaking down – the driver didn’t speak English and our passports were with the guide on another bus, which kept disappearing into the distance.
Tour company has since removed Smolensk from their list of overnight stops.
Booked into a country hotel in South Australia for 4 nights. Only guests there and one morning found no-one around, though the owner’s dog had left poo in the hall outside our room. Left to find food and on return place all locked up. Tried local police who suggested we check out local pubs for the owner, eventually got onto cleaner who let us in, telling us the owner had gone to the city for the day, telling her no-one was staying overnight.
While my husband and son enjoyed the casino in Monte Carlo, my daughter and I went to find a pharmacy to fill a prescription that my son lost on our cruise. The pharmacist spoke no English and I spoke little French, but ultimately, she figured out what we needed and let me know she wouldn’t have it until 6 pm. Our cruise was leaving port at 3:30. So I drew a picture of a clock at 3:30 pm and a ship sailing away. This solved the problem, and she found a substitute. So, when all else fails, resort to Pictionary!
We were finally going to golf for a week at South Padre Island, Tx. I began having pain from a kidney stone the first night along with my partner and self getting food poisoning that night. The tummy got better in 24 hours. I didnt pass the stone until we returned home at the end of our weeks outing..No golf but plenty of together time…smile
Many years ago our family drove to Fla. from Pa. On the way back home we stopped in Florence SC. Eating breakfast this woman comes into the cafe and had a 4′ long bamboo stick. She was hitting the tables, chairs, windows, counters. All of a sudden this trash can lid comes flying, like a Frisbee across the room and hits this woman in the throat.. With that she chocked and left.. Then the PD came.
While vacationing in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, a little scraggly starving street dog found my husband and I in a tequila bar and we fell in love. Before we knew it, we had put her in a taxi, a ferry, 2 plane rides, and a car ride home. Turns out she was pregnant with 10 puppies. Our next 3 months were spent knee deep in poop and paws in our 700 sq ft apartment. Isla, whom we named after Isla Mujeres is now fat, happy, and fixed. And we are still married, but certain to never have children after this experience.
drove to a place called xsi xsi in mozambique with family only to be stopped by every single police officer looking for money or some kind of bribe. there were more potholes than tar on the roads bt we went racing through the bush in our old mercedez benz that was falling apart already.. we jus had enough of trying to enjoy ourselves in moz & decided to let loose.. only to realise later that mozambique still has landmines that havnt been found yet.. O.O
2004 Olympics Athems. Lots of new train stations not much signage. Had to hire another hire car to find the hire car!
Holiday to South Africa for our honeymoon. Booked a whale watching boat tour and ended up rescuing a hump backed whale – supporting a marine biologist crew. Awesome!
That sounds fantastic! What a cool adventure.
My friend and I spent a long weekend in Dublin, Ireland. The room had 2 beds with wheels. The beds would move when barely touched, which made it difficult to get onto. There was a nightclub a few doors down. Music started, and we laughed that the natives were restless. My friend, while on her bed, leaned forward to look out the window. Suddenly she screamed–her bed was rolling away. Her chest was on the windowsill while her feet were moving away. So, I leaned forward to stop her bed and prevent her from falling on the floor. Only problem, I was on my bed with my feet now moving away from me also! The only thing that stopped us both from falling on the floor was the open closet door. We couldn’t stop laughing.
This happened a long time ago, in 1972, but it still haunts me. We were backpacking in Europe that summer and on our last night in Brussels before our return home when we got kicked out of our hotel room because of a ruckus caused by a man from North Africa. He was very creepy and he showed us his multiple passports (obviously all forged). He said he was on his way to the Olympics in Munich. He also said he and several of his friends were meeting up there with a big “mission” to accomplish. I still think he was one of the guys who was responsible for the kidnappings and killings later that summer at the Olympics.
My husband and I decided to drive to New York City for our honeymoon. We were advised to park outside the city and take the train in. It was a Friday afternoon as we got near the city and could find nowhere to take a train. (before cellphones) ? We kept driving and ended up in the Lincoln tunnel in rush hour, with an almost empty gas tank,the car overheating and only a small AAA map to guide us. We pulled over as much as possible with green stuff spewing out of the car. My husband paid a cabbie to take me 2 blocks to our hotel, The Waldof Astoria,while he took care of the car. I walked in wearing jeans and t-shirt and tried to check in. The hotel employee asked for I.D. but it did not show my married name yet and he concluded I was there for ‘another’ purpose.Upon seeing tears in my eyes, said he would give me the key, but “if they found out I was not who I said I was, they would kick me promptly out of the hotel.” Thank goodness my husband showed up 3 hours later and the hotel apologized by sending up a bottle of champagne!
October 2009 we self-book a trip to Machu Picchu, Peru. January 25, 2010 massive floods and landslides wipe out the railway to Machu Picchu. February 2, 2010 change flights to visit Santiago, Chile. February 26, 2010 an 8.8 earthquake and tsunami strikes Chile, airport is knocked out then reopens in tents and we fly in ANYWAY on March 5th, 2010 hoping we can get out! Santiago hotel is cracked up so we head to a cabin in the Andes Mountains. Meet a really nice gay couple, one owns an underwear store and the other is a doctor who works with aids patients, performs sex change operations and photographs models for the underwear store. Visited Concha y Toro winery as 6.9, 6.7 and 6.0 earthquakes struck. Went horseback riding in the Andes when one guy gets knocked off his horse which spooks my husbands horse and it runs under a tree knocking off my husband too! In total we feel 7 earthquakes while in Chile. Had a GREAT TIME, HONESTLY!! Always wanted to feel an earthquake!
That is insane! Glad you had fun. Sometimes the weirdest trips are the best.
Went to Goa Febrauary this year and ended up staying for 1 month as I had peritonitis and was in hospital for 2 weeks. Holiday was only for 2 weeks but doctor at clinic was great, on the mend now! p.s always have travel Insurance
A dream around-the-world honeymoon visiting 33 countries with lots of out-of-the ordinary experiences like the trip across the Drake Passage to Antarctica on an icebreaker that rocked over 45 degrees for two days(everyone on motion-sick pills) or the Tapati Festival on Easter Island where everyone participated in the evening parade, naked, but painted all over, until the one float caught an electrical wire and the whole thing stopped while it backed up and off the road.
How I became the last victim of the famous battle of Dien Bien Phu!(N/W Vietnam)
While doing some volunteering in the province, particularly with the SOS International Children’s Village, I made friends with an old soldier who had fought in the battle against the French when he was very young. On the last day of Tet, after lunch in his shop at the markets, he invited me home to see his medal, the one presented to all participants by Uncle Ho.
As I was leaving the backyard after a tour, something grabbed me from behind. Out of a dark shed, his dog had darted out, took a bite, then darted back. I made the fatal error of forgetting where I was when I put my hand on his shoulder. After a course of 20 needles over 8 painful days, Dr Vinh (also an old soldier) and a month to heal, I reckon that qualifies me as the last victim of that historic battle, 56 years later.
It was my fault not the dog’s.
Great place to visit, wonderful people.
While boat sitting in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, we celebrated John’s birthday by getting up at 3 am to go babysit the rescued pilot whale baby. Sully was a 3yr old baby whale who was found beached a few weeks ago. Since then volunteers on the island have kept up a 24hr. round of watches to keep him safe and fed. We watched both Sully and the sun rise over the Caribbean ocean that morning. At around 6:30am the trainers showed up and took Sully for a 6 mile “walk” around the ocean.
Here’s the link to our full story: http://www.hopandjaunt.com/blog/travel/baby-sitting-a-whale/
On our last day in Kauai my friend and I were walking past a stone bench that had a rooster on it, we apparantly scared it and it flew up and hit my friend in the chest and squawked and flapped its wings. I bent over laughing and the tour group that was also there applauded, it was the highlight of the trip. I wish I had my camera for that moment!
Arrived at the Thuan Loi hotel in Chau Doc, Vietnam to a nightime blackout, feces in streets, ants in the room, and a squat toilet with bucket for shower. Almost gave up on the whole trip. Regrouped the next morning, had an amazing trip, and still laugh about that night till this day!
Friend needed a haircut in Guangzhou. Found the only hair dresser there that could speak a little English. 4 hours later and 30 other male hair dressers had fondled Andrew’s ponytail. He’s never grown it long again…
After spending three weeks in Muhuru Bay Village on the bank of Lake Victoria, Kenya, I awoke during my last night at the Hilton Nairobi to the sounds of an exorcism in the hotel room next to mine! The next morning, I saw the sorceresses at the continental breakfast.
Camping and sleeping out in the open on the ground, near the Mayan ruins of Palanque in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, we were woken-up in the middle of the night by screaming monkeys, Howler Monkeys (saraguatos) just all around us in the jungle. We thought that they were Jaguars, because their “scream” is like a big roar.
I grabbed my Machete and held it my hand all night. Next morning I asked the camp ground owner what they were, he laughed and said the jungle monkeys.
After a wonderful wedding, my new husband and I jetted off to St. Lucia to enjoy our honeymoon together. After one day of being there I started to have terrible pain in my abdomen. I was eventually sent to a hospital in Castries where I had my appendix removed. Thinking I was going to die there and only wanting my mommy I entered the surgery room. (NO they DO NOT have laproscopic appendectomy’s) After surgery I was coming to when I looked through the tiny glass window and there was my new husband who gave me a big smile. I WAS ALIVE! After recovering they sent me back to the resort where I spent one day there then flew out the next morning to go HOME. I just wanted to be HOME! My husband was so great through it all I just wish I could pay him back someday with a REAL honeymoon.
Flight got cancelled in Jamaica after waiting 8 hours at the airport, got stuck two more days covered in bed-bug bites from our dirty resort and I had no clean underwear left.
First trip to Maui in 1994. On a dare, we drive the road to Hana and then continue around the entire island (where you aren’t supposed to drive!) Try that in a Ford Mustang convertible, as a BULL blocks the dirt road, and we must wait until he decides to move. Eventually made it around, but found out if we’d gotten stuck, tow trucks won’t go get you! Oops! Thanks Mr. Bull for moving!
Many years ago I and a scout frined were walking in Morrocco and were allowed to take some transport in our quest to get from Fez to Meknes. It was hot and we were behind schedule so when a taxi (a saloon car if I recall) came along we stopped it and got in (rucksacs and all). A couple of miles later the taxi stopped and picked up a farmer with a sheep he was taking to market.
I am not sure I have ever been in a taxi with a sheep before or after – an interesting experience as all were in the back seats.
One month trip to Australia,New Zealand and Fiji in 2005 added excitement when our sunrise hot air balloon ride was interupted by a crash landing!! We knocked a tree down and were dragged on our side for about 3 blocks! No one was injured and I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t get out of the gondola! Great experience on that trip.
Ever flown from Guernsey to Jersey – it takes 15 minutes or so. One Easter the whole family was returning from Guernsey to Jersey and it was somewhat foggy. We took off, couldn`t land in Jersey, circled and returned to Guernsey where the fog had decended and we also couldn’t land.
We were in a plane on a journey designed as a 15 minute one and eventually ended up after 90 minutes in the air in Alderney.
How much fuel do these planes carry to be able to do that? We were a little concerned to say the least.
Hubby and I were deserted in “Hell” after our tour bus drove off, while we attempted to mail a postcard from Hell.I hollered out to anyone listening, “Hey our bus left”; and a Grand Cayman resident offered us a ride to the Turtle Farm where we met our very embarrassed driver!
Well….our most amazing adventure was the “40 days and 40 nights” that we spent in Kazakhstan to adopt our then 8 1/2 yr old daughter from an orphanage in Shymkent. Being in Central Asia for that long was amazing/hard/despairing/etc. Lot’s of adjectives. She is now 14 yrs old, a wonderful sister to her 3 “Home-made” siblings!
In Theologos, Greece on archaeology project; met Andrews; told Andrew I was going to Egypt after project; he said, “Say hi to my MIT friend Alexandra when you get there;” shared car from Aswan to Abu Simbel w/other travelers; girl writing postcard-to Andrew-I said “Hey Alex – Andrew told me to say hi.”
July 2006- Our family of four is stranded in the Dublin, Ireland airport waiting for our plane to Chicago. After 3 1/2 hours, we finally board, fly to Chicago and wait some more after missing our connection. Our neighbor in Kirkwood, MO called us to tell us a giant 75-yr-old black oak tree had fallen on our house, breaking 8 rafters and landing in our son, John’s bedroom. If we had left Ireland as planned, our son could have conceivably been in bed and killed because of the tree. Some call that the luck of the Irish. I call it Divine Intervention. Either way, $31,000 in damage.
We got the times wrong and missed the Dolphin show at SeaWorld Miami. I stood by the rail in the empty stadium staring at the pool when a dolphin flipped a ball to me. We played catch for about 20 minutes. Amazing!
That is truly cool.
I arrived on the tiny Greek island of Pserimos, off the end of Kos on the last trip boat of the season. I was the only tourist on the island as it was nearly November, apart from a Dutch man who arrived at the same time as me.We decided to walk to the other side of the island and on the way back our way was blocked by a JCB, which, very effectively, filled the gap between a house on one side and a high metal fence on the other.We tried getting over it and even crawling under it- but it was impossible.
Eventually, I knocked on the door of the house and out came the JCB driver. Instead of moving the machine, he invited us in, through one room, then into the dining room where 8 men were eating lunch. One of them shouted “Kalo taxidi” (have a good trip)as we passed through nearly bumping into a black clad granny carrying a tray full of food. The driver then showed us out of the front door and off we went…… Only in Greece!!
We went on vacation in a beach resort in a tropical country. We rent a car with my wife and our three young children. Upon reaching a town, I inadvertently missed a red light. Immediately we were stopped by a policeman with a big mustache who held my license. I quickly think for me, to ask him to be so kind enough to receive the money and “pay the fine by me”, and I planned a long and wise speech. But my nerves betrayed me and I could only say “and if we fix it with $ 10”… as the words left my mouth I was repenting. The police became angry, cried, I was accused of bribery and offense to the police force … and I saw me in the dungeons for life. But in the end he said, “Well, by this time I accept” and handed back my license. I did not stop shaking until we came back to the hotel.
I had stepped off the tour bus on my first day in Beijing only to be hit and completely knocked down by a motorbike. Welcome to China! After all the confusion I noticed that the woman who hit me ran off with my water bottle!
My mom and I, my two aunts and 5 cousins were headed from Wisconsin to Tennessee in two minivans loaded with our luggage when my aunts van broke down a little over half way there. Leaving the van at a repair shop to pick up on the way back we somehow managed to get all of our luggage plus all 9 people in one minivan and continue the trip. While the adult sisters bickered we kids (at the time I was 14) had a blast being all together even though we barely had room to sit in the van!
Then two days later my other aunts van broke down and was towed by one of Dolly Parton’s first cousins. Luckily it was just a minor issue with the brakes (in the mountains! yikes.
We visited San Marino and found to our dismay the last bus had left for Rimini an hour ago. Went in to a Pizzaria and asked where we could get a taxi. The cook whipped off his apron and beckoned us to go with him. He drove us the 40 minutes to Rimini. He spoke no English and we didn’t speak Italian.
Hey, Trip Advisor, zero gravity might be great once you get to outer space, but achieving escape velocity will cost you dearly for those heavy bags!
24 hours in Bangkok and I find myself in jail for 4 nights after local scam goes wrong and the police won’t accept bakseech. Thai prisoners kindly teach me some Thai but they reverse the gender specific courtesies through an elaborate plan that fools me completely. This results in
me accidently and undesirably flirting with Thai ladyboy waiters for two days before I realised I’d been had.
In 1991 we went to Rumania on a ski holiday and due to fog at Bucharest we had to land at Timosoara to wait for it to clear. The airport was a small dark building with the path to it lined by armed guards who stood over us while we sat the only room! No facilities, toilets in darkness very scary! We had a couple of hours there but after finally reaching the ski village we had a marvellous tiem with lots of snow
OK, I see the comments above and raise them this: I am sitting in front of the American Embassy in Florence, Italy….when a caribinieri comes up to me and asks what I’m doing there. I flipped open my passport & jokingly replied “Just checking in and, a little out of your jurisdiction arent’t you”? Mistake, big mistake. He took me by gunpoint off the steps, drove me on the back of his moped a block away from the building and told me that terrorist activity wasn’t tolerated in Florence, and if he saw me there again, he’d shoot me.
My friend Jayne and I were staying in Athens for a week. She had raging tonsillitis and I had Delhi belly – however, we didn’t want this to spoil our holiday and we decided to take a ferry trip to the nearest island – Aegina. We caught the Metro down to Piraeus and arrived at the harbour just as the ferry was leaving. We didn’t get time to buy tickets but jumped on the back of the ferry as they were raising the ramp.After we has been at sea for a short while, one of the sailors came up and said could I go down to the next deck to get the tickets.So leaving Jayne with her swollen tonsils, I started to go down the steps following the sailor. As he was half way down, he raised his hand to stop me and waved me back, while pointing to the side of the ship. I was speechless because climbing up the side of the boat on climbing nets were fully armed soldiers with hard hats and visors. They poured on to the deck and then began to make their way up the steps toward me, all the while sweeping their semi-automatics from side to side. I backed off and shrieked at Jayne to look what was happening. I thought we were going die or at least get blown up. The soldiers continued with their menacing sweep of the deck until they reached the front of our deck, where they promptly stopped and took their helmets off and had a ciggie.
This had obviously been an exercise for the Greek Army – but why no announcement??? or being the last on the ferry, had we missed it? Who knows?
I’m just glad that neither of us had a heart condition.
Needless to say, it was ouzos all round when we reached Aegina. It took us the rest of the holiday to recover.
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