Any Negative International Travel Experiences?(both)

In 1980, as an 18 year old from a small country town in Tasmania I went on a cruise with some friends to Fiji, Noumea, etc.

On the Ship it was okay but the moment we landed at Suva I was accosted by all and sundry pressuring me to buy their wares. One local persuaded me to accompany him to a jewelry shop and I had this high pressure sales person on my back the whole time.

I continued to say I did not want a watch so the sales person tried a different tack.

"You want Girl? I have girl for you out back, you come with me out back we get you girl."

I ran out of the shop and ran back to the ship. It was a frightening experience.

In 1990 I went to Malaysia with a friend for a 2 week self drive holiday.

Landing at Singapore, proceeding to the train station, having to use an open squat toilet visible to other men, getting off the train at Johor Baru, we went at Hari Raya/Ramadan, the amount of people there was overwhelming.

I could not have done it on my own. My friend was a seasoned traveler, the culture shock was almost debilitating for me.

In attempting to locate the hire car office we went into the Hilton Hotel. Whilst my friend was making enquiries, I was viewing the scene outside the Hotel. Here I was inside this palatial building, outside there seemed like millions of people living in poverty. I was appalled at the spectacle.

When I arrived back home I vowed never to leave Australia again.
Why leave Australia? 10 lifetimes would not be enough to experience all there is here

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

toddr13 · 46-50, M

On a rural road in Ireland, I found out that the rental agency hadn't changed the tires in a while when I ended up in a field because there was zero grip when I had to evade a tour bus that was traveling in my direction at a good clip. He claimed that I was at fault, but someone on the bus, also an American said that she saw him talking to someone and had his head turned away from the road. Luxury rental car towed out of field and tires were bald. I had to buy tires and get reimbursed by the agency, since I wasn't about to drive it a hundred miles on bald tires and they could not dispatch someone with another car. Had to wait to get tires delivered for the car and then set out again. And, the car had no jack in it, but the spare tire, but the standard tool kit was not there so I couldn't change the tire. When I asked why it wasn't there, the agent on the phone said "Oh, somebody could nick it."

Two days later, the same car was sideswiped by a tour bus while parked in a legal parking spot near the corner of a High Street because the bus driver "didn't see it." Two of my new tires were now flat, and I had yet to be reimbursed from the rental agency. I called them again, and they agreed that it was no problem to cover the costs, since I had full insurance. Ireland is one country where you need full insurance because most credit card insurance policies for LDW/CDW exclude Ireland because of the number of claims.

Luckily, the sideswipe was in a larger town and I didn't have to wait to get tires fitted, but they had to rig the mirror to stay on the door as it was knocked off by the bus. The luxury rental car was looking a bit shabby by this point. So, the journey continued, and we were at a lovely hotel for dinner, and the car had made an odd sound on the way into the parking area. The valet took the car, and we took our luggage out and checked in for the night. Midway through dinner, the hotel manager came into the dining room and was looking around. He found me and said that he needed to speak to me urgently because the car was now on fire. I remember that I said "Of course it is" and burst out in a frustrated laugh as I walked to the lot with him to identify the vehicle in question. I was happy that I had insisted on getting everything out of the car before dinner, though.

I called the rental agency and said that there was a problem with the car. She asked me to drive it back to her, but I told her at the outset that the car was on fire. She thought I meant the heating system was stuck on too high, not that the car was smoldering after the fire brigade arrived to extinguish it. I remember standing there holding my head and the phone, while she prattled on about driving the car back to the agency, which I assured her was completely impossible. They agreed to deal with the tow company with the vehicle that burned to a crisp, but had no facility to get another car to me.

I had to go back to the airport to get another car. When I was picking it up, the lot porter said "Are you the bloke who had the car burst into flame?" I said that I was and he said "I knew that car was acting funny. I told them it was the fuel line." I just nodded and said that it had wanted to self destruct as it had thrown itself in the path of two buses before bursting into flame. They gave me the identical car, down to the color, and I had a horrible sense of deja vu.

I took that car, as it was the only one that met the size needs and need for an automatic transmission as one in my party could not drive a right hand drive stick shift. All was fine for the remainder of the trip, about two and a half weeks. The morning I was going to the airport, I awoke to two flat tires, but they were low on air, not destroyed, though the garage recommended replacing them. We drove gingerly to the airport and I reported the tires, and got reimbursed for all the tires I had purchased for the destroyed car. I honestly thought there was a stalker trying to kill me through the car at one point. Ha ha.

I have been back since, and no matter what, I check the rental cars, and have had some aggravating experiences, but nothing as bad as that rental.

Gusman · 61-69, M

@toddr13 What an experience. Did you give a review of the rental agency?😁
You seemed to handle the Situations with aplomb.
When you checked the rentals, did you check for Jack etc?

toddr13 · 46-50, M

@Gusman I do, and they never have the tool kit. I know Mercedes, Jaguar, and Land Rover all have tool kits for the cars, but never in a rental. You'd think that with the rural roads and generally bad conditions of tires that they tend to get away with running that they'd have some facility to put on a spare. I do bring a tire depth gauge and make sure that the tires are not in the danger zone or I refuse the car.