Dumb Things While Traveling

>>1208417
I wasn´t sure how much the unmarked 5 yen coin was worth - I misread some website or guidebook and thought it was more valuable. Ended up confusing a few vendors and making a beggar laugh.

I tried ordering a starter in an English pub while my friends and I were ordering our drinks and they all looked at me in shock like I was ordering all my food before them.

I guess in England you order your starter at the same time as the rest of your meal, kinda weird desu.

Tried passing 50,000$ worth of goods through US customs. It was a high-tech machine for a kid for his birthday. Ended up calling the mother saying I won't be able to make it on time for his birthday.

The kid got it a day later, I shipped it via UPS critical service for 800$

>>1208478
Lucky he didn't rage stab you m8, I would if someone threw me the equivalent of 3 pennies.

>>1208539

What is this machine?

>>1208539
What the fuck did you buy him? What kid needs a high tech thing that's worth more than his house?

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>>1208417
Every time I visit the US I have to recall how to make the hotel's shower work without it feeling like I'am going to break the valve

>>1208417
Last year in Seattle I asked my uncle if they still made grunge, he laughed at me.

Then in Cali I pointed out La Jolla and pronounced it exactly that way instead of La Hoya

>>1208417
Totally edgy meme, 9gag, mom won't approve of that one :^)

>>1208539
This has to be a troll, what the fuck kind of birthday gift for a kid costs 50,000 fucking dollaroos?

>>1208417
bump

>>1208417
bump

>>1208417
Bump

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>>1208725
>>1208728
>>1208734
Holy shit, get back to /b/ you underage fuck.

>>1208417
customs asked me if i had any mobiles lighters or tablets

told her I have some paracetamol

she looked at me confused and then explained she meant tablet like an ipad

>>1208721
Not a troll m8.

I can't tell exactly what it was on here, but it's an health related equipment. They thought we should deliver it for the kid's birthday party.

The customs agent were OK, understood the situation and tried to help the best they could, but they had a job to do. Therefore i was denied entry in the US.

Came back the morning after, after the equipment was shipped by UPS. Since I had nothing to declare, I was OK to enter.

>>1208725
>>1208728
>>1208734
Not necessary to bump, threads are rather slow here.

The stupidest thing I ever did was walking around the CBD in Johannesburg as a white young man with a backpack so full it seemed to burst (I only had clothes and towels in there, but it still must have seemed like somthing valuable from the outside) and a confused look on my face, as I was looking for a taxi rank I didn't look up the exact directions to beforehand.
I got a lot of weird looks, and I was lucky that I met the benevolent guys before I met anybody that would want to do me harm. They told me sincerely that I should get out of this street quickly and gave me directions to the rank.

Terribly stupid for sure, I was very young and unexperienced at that point

>>1208417
Got stranded in Hanoi when without any planning I arrived on the airport from Ho Chi Min city and took a cab stright to the bus station at 3AM, thinking they are going to be buses and an open place to grab some sleep, as everywhere in the world.

Due to reasons I had 2 MacBook pros and about 2k USD in cash with me + credit cards, passport etc.

I got to the bus station, left the taxi.
Bus station closed. In front of it dozen or so guys, taxi and moto taxis, offering me a ride. No one else on the street.
Walked down the street in a random direction. Pretty shitty and shady part of town, with rats, empty streets (at 3 AM) and nothing really open to ask for a tip.
There were some hotels for hours (crack houses) but nothing for a night (and they were ridiculously expensive for more than 1 hour).

Ended up sleeping with all my stuff in some side-street hidden behind small plants, hoping no one will notice me.
At 7AM I went to the station which was buzzing with life, took the nearest bus and went to Ha Long bay.

Should have rented a room for these few hours though, felt pretty shitty, it was dark and if anything would happen to me, I'd be fucked.

I left chopsticks in a soup bowl in a way that it made the whole food court crowd stare.
We didn't get any stares for our whiteness in that tier 2 Chinese city, so I knew for sure it wasn't for that reason that people started staring.
I was like... Do we have some red sauce on our faces? No. Did we leave our bags in the way? No. Does my hair look weird? No. Did I do something wrong with the food? And then I took the chopsticks from the bowl, laid them on the top, suddenly everyone went back to their business. I thought only sticking them in the middle of rice is a big no-no, but apparently some other positions are also wrong.

I got plastered drunk in St. Petersburg, Russia and fell asleep on top of my sandwich at a Subway restaurant at 4 AM, woke up at 6 AM and staggered my way back across the city to where I was staying. No idea how I didn't lose my passport or significant amount of money

>>1208807
I actually did the same thing. Walked around Hillbrow at dusk with a huge duffel around my shoulders filled with all my shit to go home- computer, passports, money, etc. trying to find a place to spend the night. People were super friendly the whole time, probably because they thought I was a dumbass.

I had hitchhiked down the length of Mozambique and was riding high at that point, thinking I was invincible.

>>1208807
>>1208825
How do you people keep finding your way to Hillbrow?? This happens so often with tourists in South Africa.

>>1209171
The central bus terminal is right there. If you exit on foot you're practically in it.

>>1209171
Is it a meme about rape in South Africa. I want to visit and I might if I get the chance but I'd never bring a girl there.

Same thing with India.

>>1208417
When I was in Bangkok for the first time, I had to ask the security guard how I could cross the street. LOL. I didn't notice the bridges and would walk down like 3 blocks to cross then walk again to get to where I wanted to go.

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>>1208417
>be in Georgia (In the Caucasus for you Amerifags)
>Meet a group of people at the hostel in Tbilisi
>"Hey anon, we're going on this trip to the east, you want to join?"
>so in the bus with this Australian real traveller (he was cool)
>also an old English guy who was doing a world tour by bicycle
>this guy was not so friendly and seemed to be doing his trip to get past his midlife crisis (50, no wife, no kids)
>got irritated at me for not being impressed enough at his stories even though I was nice to him by inviting him for dinner and drinks and stuff
>so set out with these guys
>meet new people on the road anyway
>lots of drinking
>very beautiful walk in the mountains with 12th century Georgian orthodox monastry ruins
>later the second night (next day we would go back)
>when I was paying for the tour the locals gave me a bottle of liquor
>later that night I meet a Ukranian guy
>finish said bottle of liquor with him
>guy does all kinds of crazy stuff
>walking over cars
>telling about Ukrainian prostitutes
>his "girlfriend" is a stripper in another town
>it was kind of funny
>get back
>the Ukrainian's bed was next to the British guy's bed
>he starts looking through all the stuff to find his headphone to listen to punk rock before sleeping, because he was the type of guy that calms down from punkrock before sleeping
>the British guy wakes up
>WHAT THE FUCK WHY ARE YOU GOING THROUGH MY STUFF
>it was both their stuff and the Ukrainian guy was just looking for his headphone
>GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY STUFF
>British guy swings his arms to look bigger and threatening
>YOU BRITISH DOG I KICK YOU IN FACE
>this was the point where I took the Ukrainian guy outside to calm down, gave him my headphones so he could listen to music before sleeping
>actually I was the good guy in this story
>except that I got the booze that made the Ukrainian into the monster that he is

>>1209176
You should never use South African public transport unless it affiliated with the Gautrain or a private taxi service (read: not a minibus taxi).

>>1209196
Mostly within their own communities. You should be fine unless you're like every idiot tourist that runs straight for Hillbrow in the middle of the night.

I've been calling the Moe-jav Desert for months. Apparently it's pronounced Mo-ha-vay

>>1209276
>You should never use South African public transport unless it affiliated with the Gautrain or a private taxi service (read: not a minibus taxi).

Intercape buses are very nice. I used a minibus to get to the airport and it was fine. The private taxi that took me to the station ripped me hardcore. Travel in SA is a toss up just like any African country, that's part of the adventure.

This was more dumb planning on my part
>Getting picked up to go to Special Camp for my Special Hobbies at Airport in Geneva
>Decide to arrive a full 32 hours early and explore the city a little
>didn't book a hostel
>Didn't plan for anything
>go to information desk asking if they have a city map
>also ask about hostels I can stay out
>Lady gives me craziest look like she can't believe I didn't book anything
>walked around for several hours with 20 lbs on my back before I stumbled upon a hostel

A lot of my trip was me just winging it every situation and somehow it all worked out. No body harm came to me and I wasn't robbed or anything over my 2 months soloing it.

>>1208417
Pissed on a wall on a bus station in Maan (Jordanian ISIS shithole), they threw stones at me.

>>1208417
Haven't done too many stupid things, but when I was in Taiwan I was going up to Alishan and didn't check the bus schedule. Turns out the buses end at like 3PM, but I already had paid for my hotel, so I ended up getting a cab to take me up. They looked at me like I was pretty dumb and I was, it ended up costing me like the equivalent of $40. Luckily the cab driver spoke decent conversational English and decided to stop at a bunch of points on the road and show me some of the cool stuff on the way (probably felt sorry for me spending so much) so it didn't turn out too bad. Certainly a more fun ride than the bus, even if I paid ten times as much.

>>1209171
I am that first one >>1208807

I stayed in South Africa for a year doing a voluntary service. Where I lived was Parktown, pretty and safe with at least one guard in every house.
Nevertheless, it was only a five minutes walk from Hillbrow.

My 'adventure' didn't even happen in Hillbrow, but downtown.
Still, I went to Hillbrow a lot throughout the course of the year, mainly because it was the only contact I had with local youth. Some other volunteers worked and lived there and I visited them quite often.
If you walk around by day in bigger groups of locals, there's relatively little to worry about.
Still, you must never forget where you are.

>>1209276
The main concern with minibus taxis is their safety. There's huge pressure on the drivers to be on time always, so they drive recklessly.
Also, the taxi ranks can be rather shady.

Other than that, it's a fun experience.
Just be careful not to sit on the passenger seat if you don't want to be in charge of collecting and counting the fare of every passenger.

>>1208485
wow anon... that sounds like some real culture shock...

>>1209791
Top kek
Shame they didn't kidnap and behead you
Find a toilet you barbarian, or at least a secluded area

>bought ticket train from Amsterdam to Koln
>enter train
>all seats are reserved
>wat.jpg
>spend whole ride between cars

Great fun.

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>>1208417
White Ameribro here that speaks decent Spanish. While visiting Spain, I drove into Portugal for a little side trip. My first stop there was a restaurant in which I spoke Spanish to the waitress. She was not happy. I soon learned that while most Portuguese are good with Spanish, they don't enjoy speaking it, or have it spoken to them. It's a bit insulting. Think, "Im Portuguese, NOT Spanish!"

This is the exact type of thing I try to be aware of when immersed in other cultures, so I was mortified. Even thinking back on it, I feel bad and embarrassed. Way to go, Americunt. :/

>>1211076

Shouldn't you have had a seat SOMEWHERE if you bought a ticket?

Reminds me of the time I accidentally sat in the first class section of a train going from Paris to Amsterdam. When the ticket lady came and looked at my ticket, she told me about the mistake. I had to get up, grab my bag, and awkwardly make my way to the proper area. Was embarrassing.

>>1211582
No, seat reservations in Europe are typically separate from tickets on non-high speed trains. Regular trains are largely used for commuting, and since they get full during rush hour it's normal to stand. Ticket attendants probably tend to think to sell foreign tourists a seat reservation along with their ticket, but if you buy the ticket online or from a machine you don't necessarily get a seat automatically.

>jet lagged in the U.K.
>walk into a store
>walk to the checkout
>"...sir?"
>realize I didn't pick anything off the shelves
>walk out

Kek

>be super lankey white guy with my fat manlet Korean friend
>walking around Roma Termini at 1 am to get back to our hostel
>walking around Berlin looking for a hostel because my retarded friend forgot to book one
>everyone tells me I'm an idiot for doing that
Was it really that dumb?

On a family vacation on a small tMediterranean island just after I turned 15.
Saw a dual sport motorcycle parked outside a house with a set of keys in the ignition so I decided to borrow it.
I spent half the day at the beach and later rode it all around town.
I returned it in the evening before it ran out of gas.
The owner came running out just as I was parking the bike. He was fuming with rage even though I didn't break anything.
So I called the police and they arrested him.
Caught the night ferry to another island a few hours later.

>>1209791

hero status

>>1211582
relax man, don't be embarrassed

I accidentally walked on a bike lane and got almost hit by a cyclicst in Amsterdam.

This is literally the worst thing you can do there as a trourist and I hope the Dutch people will forgive me one day.

>>1211702

Kek. Wasn't you supposed to do it?

>>1212528

* Weren't

>>1212528
Wasn't I supposed to do what? Take the bike?

I had no right to take the bike. Technically I stole it and I was fault for everything that happened.

The keys were in it because there is zero crime on the island I guess.

I would have never done something like this at home.
Somehow I thought that over there I could do anything I wanted without any consequence.

>be gringo in texas, so learn mexican spanish
>travel to central america
>spanish is rusty, but get by for the most part
>sit down at restaurant
>see them making bomb sandwiches
>order a sandwich with beans and bacon and everything they had with all the fixings
>waiter looks at me funny and asks if im sure
>yes...
>he leaves, comes back, and asks if im really sure
>yes...
>he comes back with another waiter who explains it to me

In Mexico, una torta is a sandwich with lettuce and avocado and meat and junk, while in several other countries, una torta is a sweet cake/pie with lots of sugar.

I had been trying to order a dessert cake with hot sauce and shredded beef, so the waiter rightfully thought I was insane

>>1212662

In Brazilian Portuguese, a "torta" could either be a sweet or a salty pie/cake.
A sandwich is a "sanduíche".

>>1212676
A "torta" is local slang for a gooey creampie. I would avoid using this word in public, especially as parts of Latin America are a lot more culturally conservative then you'd image.

Prepare for dirty looks, the gringo excuse won't always protect you.

>>1208824
I lived in Russia for a year while still underage, damn I've been drunk at Subway many times. Cheap, Russian beer could be bought and they didn't give a fuck about our age, so that was pretty cool

>on vacation in Paris
>order salad, potatoes, steak tartare and a dessert at a restaurant
>waiter asks me if I'm sure
>I say yes
>5 minutes later
>he asks me for my order
>I repeat it
>you sure?
>I say yes, I know it's raw meat, can I please have what I ordered?
>he nods and leaves
>does the same shit 5 minutes later
>I'm kind of annoyed and ask him if there's a problem with the beef, is it not fresh or something?
>he finally accepts my order and I get my meal
Annoying as fuck, food was good though and I chatted with him afterwards. It was obvious that he had other foreigners who ordered that stuff and were disgusted by it, sending it back etc.

Complained about the air quality in Mexico in front of a local.

>>1212709
Oh shit.
Reminds me that after weeks and weeks of successfully holding it back in...

I fucking told some mainland Chinese people in a hostel the amount of paid vacation I get per year (27 days, and that's the base, there are many other special leave situations). Like.... I successfully held back every other time when I met locals who had to resign from their jobs to travel 2 to 4 weeks. But the last night it just came out of my mouth. Luckily it seemed they just thought I was a liar, that it was not possible, so they didn't seem to feel bad (which was what I was worried of). But it did kill the conversation.

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Went to Auschwitz with gf last summer
Go from Warsaw to Krakow, spend a couple days there. On the last day we go to Auschwitz. Oversleep the morning train we wanted to take. Take much later train, arrive much later. Wait a while in Auschwitz for free access without guide. Casually stroll around camp, taking our time. Leave. Find out there's a second part of the camp we need to see. It's late already. Realise we forgot to check trains back to Krakow and then to Warsaw. Panic, take taxi to railway station. Missed last train to Krakow. Find a bus stop, wait for bus. Wait wait wait. The schedule that hangs there seems to be just for shits and giggles. Finally a bus randomly appears. Slowly goes to Krakow, stops everywhere along the way. Arrive in Krakow at night, run to railway station. We've missed the last high speed train to Warsaw. Get tickets for shitty local train leaving at 11pm. We have allocated seats in a compartment, but there are quite many people in it. Find an empty compartment with just one guy in it. Sit down, rest. gf sleeps. Train is some rusty Soviet piece of shit that goes at 10mph. Train stops at some middle of nowhere town after an hour. Guy leaves our compartment, we are alone. Fuck yes. Immediately a fat tracksuit wearing woman shows up with like 10 kids. Tells us to fuck off kurwa, it's her compartment. We leave. Wander through train for ages looking for empty compartment. Don't find one. Settle down in one with 2 old polish men who welcomed us in and one young metrosexual looking polish guy. They drink beer, chat wildly, and go smoke in the toilet. We went to smoke in the toilet too. Tried to chat with them, but it didn't work. Continue like this for a few hours. Arrive in Warsaw at 3am. Walk 30 mins through a dodgy part of town to find hotel I booked. For some reason I had decided to book a very nice place, £80 per night. We have a coach to Vilnius to catch at 6am, so we can enjoy this place just for 3 fucking hours. kill me

>>1212880
Funny thing is that my gf is super organised and planned everything meticulously
One retarded planning mistake triggered a whole wave of fuck ups
It was a good learning experience, but my did it feel bitter
Also Auschwitz was very boring and incredibly touristy (we ended up missing the famous train track entrance gate in part 2)

>>1209271

Jesus that was a shit story.

>>1208417
>arrive at airport
>pay like 6 Euro for Swiss orange juice
>oh wait, security
>spend another 6 Euro
>Flight delayed, free orange juice all around

Happening right now

>>1212937
>head back to duty-free to buy a large beer for rest of the wait and airborne consumption
>it's a corked one with a metal twisty
>open it at the crowded gate as people are queuing
>POP!
>a woman screams, people gasp and look around
>successfully cover it with hand and there's minimal beer spillage
>cork lands in Indian woman's lap
>she smiles and shakes her head at me
>get laughed at by entire flight
>drink beer

>>1212949
good start for a porn

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>>1208417

>from Aus, flew into Uk then bussed through Europe
>Catching a flight from Munich back to London
>Had three 1 litre beers at the airport bar (Maßkrug)
>Guy checking my passport bombards me with questions like some kind of gestapo
>I get more frustrated as he doesn't fully understand what I'm saying
>Right at the end just as he goes to stamp, I go full Schultz
>I KNOW NUSSINK!!
>Guy working next to him gets the reference, pisses himself laughing
>Still get stamped and waved through

Still makes me kek

>>1208755
Don't feel bad, I would have thought exactly the same.

>>1209271
>(In the Caucasus for you Amerifags)
if an american doesnt know where georgia is, he definitely does not know where the caucasus are.

>>1213484
Sure, Georgia is just north of Florida.

It would simplify things if the Caucasian republic would insist that we call it Sakartvelo.

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>>1208485
>Can I get you some drinks?
>Yea I'll have the garlic bread

>>1208417
>be in San Francisco
>try to order some neato mexican food
>pick some items randomly and miss pronounce them
>think I did okay for a non-spic
>cashier lady looks at me like I'm retarded while asking for my payment
>WASP upper-middle-class woman behind me orders next
>orders completely in (fluent?) spanish
>cashier takes her order like it's completely normal
wtf?

>>1211702
but why would they arrest him?

>>1209863
Hillbrow was a big boho place during apartheid. Then single Africans came there to live then families Mostly poor. I guess it's been cleaned up a bit and the locals have a sense that they want tourists feel they aren't all thugs.

>>1211582
you post this story a lot. It's really not that bad. If this is the worst that's happened to you while travelling you must have pretty boring adventures

>>1211076
haha same here, seats cost extra

>>1211702
they should've arrested you for theft

>>1209276
>first day volunteering at a hospital in Jburg
>take train with other volunteers to the hospital, all escited
>fist thing the docs tell us during orientation is not to take the train we took
>oops.jpg
>tells us to get a car and never stop at red lights or we will get carjacked

Lovely country

Didn't fill out the customs sheet when crossing the Canada/US border. Fucking greyhound driver was in a hurry and left me there without telling me. When I was finally ready, the bus and all the passengers were gone. But another driver (not greyhound, don't remember the company) gave me a free ride to seattle. So it ended up well.

>>1208485
Wait what, that doesn't sound rude at all. I mean, you said "as a starter to get us going" right?

>get on plane
>as I sit down, pat my pocket to check for my passport
>passport gone
>plane lands
>me and cabin crew search entire plane
>nope
>sent back to airport (Don Muang Thailand)
>Friday Night embassy is closed
>spent three days in the airport
>embassy reps come down to meet me
>have to fly back to own country
>Don Muang has no connections
>to cut a long story short, had to get escorted in a taxi with police to International airport and buy a direct flight back.

The scary thing about the whole process was the realisation that the final say in everything came down to the airlines. I am lucky to have a british citizenships, but I met some african people who got screwed. One was going to a country that gave visa on arrival, but the airline didn't believe it and wouldn't let them travel, so they were stranded in an airport detention centre. Also I was told that if it had happened in the international airport they would have put me in the cells. Luckily at Don Muang, I got to roam around and had a computer and a wifi password for a cafe that was left on all night.

>land in Fukuoka after 25 hours of travelling from Copenhagen
>10 in the evening
>ask information desk at airport for city map
>they ask if I want a taxi to my hotel
>Nah, I'll walk
>look at me like I'm crazy
>head out
>mid January so fucking cold
>get list on the way
>have to ask like 4 people how to get to Hakata Station
>speak very little Japanese
>finally get there after one and at half hour of lugging 30kg luggage around narrow Japanese streets

>next morning
>missed breakfast at hotel because I slept in
>head for nearest convenience store
>light up a smoke on the way
>everyone is looking at me like I'm insane
>later find out smoking in public, especially in big cities, is straight up illegal

I'm still in Japan, getting a hang of the cultural differences is tricky.

>>1216814
So did you forget your passport or did it get stolen?

>>1208417
In China, there is a phrase which is literally just "how much". I was horribly slurring it, so none of them could understand what I was saying. Swapped to English and suddenly had no problems.

I felt like a tremendous twat, to be honest. Last time I mangle a language like that.

>>1216814
just reading this gives me the shakes

>>1216817
Thats why you got to travel ultralight.

I was in Southeast Asia for the last 6 months traveling with 6kgs (12 lbs). For colder climates I got a setup that weighs just 9kgs. Spent 1 month in Iceland during winter with it.

Fuck lugging around 20,30 kgs. You dont need that much stuff.

>>1216888
多少?duo shao?

Well i guess its the tones, right? Unnatural for nonnative speakers.