I had a near miss when I was in Greece with my ex.
We were messing around in the sea and stuffing wet sand into each others pants. I ended up with the most sand in mine and went out to deeper water so I could take them off to get the sand out. I was busy with that and mulling over how I would get revenge. I knew with an element of surprise and some imagination, I could overcome the physical size disadvantage. I was distracted with thinking, I will get revenge on my boyfriend by ambushing him and...., so I didnt see the speedboat heading in my direction until it was around 50 M away. I stuggled into my bikini bottoms and managed to get around 4 meters away from the boat whizzing by. This still gives me the creeps to think about.
Reply to this That's easy. I still think about it today: what I should have done; what might have been...
In the blog I wrote as a result of our experience my Mum thought I'd made it all up for the sake of a good story - unfortunately it was all true. Thankfully she believed it to be fabrication until we got home or she might have had a heart attack!
Trapped in the Back of a Drug Baron’s Van Waiting to be Murdered
Reply to this Being within minutes of death from malaria in the north of Mongolia when a village doctor finally got to me and saved me with a load of strong anti-convulsion drugs and antibiotics (see 2 most recent blogs).
Narrowly evading a kidnap attempt by anti-government rebels in a remote part of the Philippines (see "Through Mindoro's interior with tribes and rebels").
Reply to this Narrowly evading a kidnap attempt by anti-government rebels in a remote part of the Philippines (see "Through Mindoro's interior with tribes and rebels").
If you have a blog about that, would you mind posting a direct link to it here. I havent read it yet. 😊
Reply to this A coconut fell off a tree in India about half a second after I walked under where it fell. Well apparently the statistics of deaths from falling coconuts are quite high so I guess this qualifies as a near miss lol 😉
Another near miss would be when I was travelling with a group of people in a 4X4 minibus on Fraser Island, Australia. We were travelling along a sand track with a sheer drop to the side of us when another jeep came towards us. We veered over to the side quickly until someone in the front screamed 'STOP!' coz we were about to go over the edge. We stopped just in time and all climbed out to discover that the two wheels on that side of the minibus were actually
over the edge, and our climbing out could have tipped it completely.
Reply to this hehe sure will Mell 😊 how do you post it here though?
Debtravel - yeh falling coconuts usually kill or at least do serious brain damage, you're very lucky!
Reply to this A coconut fell off a tree in India about half a second after I walked under where it fell.
I used to avoid sitting and walking under coconuts growing above, when I remembered to. I didnt know they cause so many deaths. Now that I know that, I think I will remember more often not to be under them. This is probably the most useful travel safety advice I have read lately. 😊
Reply to this how do you post it here though?
Here is the code to make a hyperlink to your blog.
[url=http://TheRestOfTheURL.html]Name of the Blog
Reply to this sounds like you might be even luckier than me ed! looking forward to reading your blogs 😊 (I mean in a sympathetic way btw)
Reply to this Thanks Ed. 😊
I will read that blog tomorrow. If it happens to me when I am in the Phillipines, I will be glad I read about it. Well, maybe, depending on how scary it is and whether it has some escape techniques in it. 😊
Reply to this I have just been told the following.
more people get killed by coconuts each year than by crocodiles, sharks, snakes and spiders lumped together.
They look so harmless...
Reply to this it shouldnt happen to you, looking back at it i must have been absolutely crazy to go trekking in that area! Everywhere in the Philippines is safe other than a few tiny spots, just ask locals advice before you do any treks.
No escape techniques though. We were in a remote tribal village and there was a rebel spy there who tried to get us to walk with him to another village 8 hours away. He made this place sound so appealing that we agreed but our porters later told us he was a rebel and wanted to take us to their camp. So we walked directly to the nearest road, like 10 hours away! He was furious that we didnt go with him but was fortunately an unarmed informer rather than an actual rebel, but he set off to the camp presumably to inform them of our presence. It was the longest 10 hour walk of my life! On the way we missed a machine gun battle between army and rebels by a few hundred meters too...
Reply to this (in response to mell)... and they taste so nice!!! Wouldn't it be really annoying to go through lots of near-death experiences involving said crocodiles, sharks, snakes and spiders and survive them all, only to meet your fate from a coconut?
Reply to this Thanks for the reassurance, Ed. I dont like trekking anyway, so I should be safe. 😊
Why did the rebels want to take you to their camp? To try to get a ransom from your consulate? Apparently, consulates and governments are reluctant/unwilling to pay ransoms these days. Probably to discourage kidnappings.
... and they taste so nice!!! Wouldn't it be really annoying to go through lots of near-death experiences involving said crocodiles, sharks, snakes and spiders and survive them all, only to meet your fate from a coconut?
Some would find it embarassing, since it is not exactly a macho way to die. :D
Reply to this Actually these rebels were some of the "nicer" ones in the Philippines. They were New People's Army, well known for extorting money from business and political assassinations but not tourist ransoms. The ones in Mindanao in the South Philippines are much more dangerous
Reply to this The link isn't working correctly.
I fixed it, so it will work now. Thanks for pointing it out. 😊
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