Post: #1

After seeing a post about the shit hitting the fan in Everything Else and people getting a chance to jerk off to their Walking-Dead-murder-fantasies, I thought I'd take a chance to summarize what Robert Young Pelton, war journalist (read: conflict junkie) and sarcastic survivor of many an "oh fuck" situation across the globe, wrote regarding making it out alive from some of the worst hell holes on Earth.

I read his book "World's Most Dangerous Places" back in 2006 and it's helped me out quite a bit - from doing research with former guerrillas across Central America to getting accused of spying in China. I'd recommend it beyond all other books when it comes to traveling, but that's just me.

Surviving Revolutionary Places

Check in with the embassy or NGO’s when you arrive to facilitate your evacuation if needed. If no one knows you’re there, no one will go looking for you when you go missing.

Stay away from main squares, government buildings, embassies (yes, the same one you should check in at), radio stations, military installations, airports, harbors, banks, and shopping centers. All are key targets during coups and takeovers.

Don’t rely on ATMs, credit cards, or traveler’s checks.

Surviving Fundamentalist Places

Be careful of contact between sexes, behavior at religious sites, entering homes uninvited, or touching religious objects.

Don’t wear religious symbols, preach, or conduct religious functions without the permission of the local government. Don’t use expressions that mention god, allah, christ, etc…

Do read and understand other religions. Knowledge is power, use it well.

Don’t fake being a member of any religion, you will get tested.

Be clean and dress conservatively.

When in doubt, ask permission.

Surviving Mental Places

Book a tour with a local tourist company, then can intervene when you do something stupid.

Understand that the locals don’t see many tourists.

Be pleasant with the people who walk up to you and want to be your friend.

Don’t talk politics, sex, government, or religion. Talk about history, weather, geography, etc… Think “meeting your ltr’s grandma”.

Be careful pointing your camera. (I can personally attest to this one from my time in China.)

Surviving Brutal Dictatorships

Be nice when confronted by the people with guns. They’re running the show, regardless of who’s face is on the money.

Life is cruel. Unless you want to find out just how cruel it is, don’t stand up against the injustice until you’re home.

Most autocratic countries employ someone to keep track of foreigners. Look at the brightside, no one will rob you because you have new friends/guards watching your back!

Expect to have your luggage searched while you’re out. Those dudes you see at the restaurant today were the same ones at your hotel last night.

Any violation of the law (real or imaginary) will result in severe penalties. There is very little your consulate, lawyer, or senator can do to help you.

Surviving Corrupt Places

Understand that bribery is normal in a lot of countries. Being indignant will only cost you more.

Stay within well defined tourist routes.

Don’t overtly demand to know how much money they want. You won’t have any left if you do. Always offer your bribe as a gift to show your appreciation, to help out with the family, etc… And smile!

Surviving Poor Places

Accept that you’re rich and they aren’t. They make Nikes, you wear them.

Giving money doesn’t fix the problems you’re seeing. It does let everyone know you have money to hand out.

Surviving Terrorist Places

Know what’s going on in the world.

High traffic tourist areas in countries with poor security are ideal for attacks. If you’re Canadian or European, just remember that nobody is checking passports before blowing up a bus.


Contact people who have been there recently. Don’t trust the official government/rebels representation.

Don’t challenge the beliefs of your host.

Don’t misrepresent yourself. Keep your story straight. Remember that everyone has the internet and journalists will publish every detail of your life once your kidnapping makes CNN.

Don’t go too native until you’ve met the natives. No one likes having their culture mocked, even if it is with good intentions.

Learn or try to learn the local language, even if only to say “Thank you” and “Excuse me”. Learning “I love your beautiful country” can get you a lot further than, “What the hell are you trying to say to me?”

If confronted by someone who hates your first world self, ask them what they’d do if they were the president/prime minister of your home country. Ask for further explanations of your answer and say you’ll be sure to tell people that when you get home.

Remember that criminals and terrorists usually look for the biggest and loudest jerk they can find. (If you act like Little Dark in real life, you’ll get ban hammered in real life.)

Post: #2

When I first saw your avatar, I was wondering if you were RYP himself.

Post: #3

Have to check out that book you mentioned, been to quite a few dangerous places myself... East Kivu/DRC, Erithrea/Ethiopia border, Ciudad Juarez/Chihuahua/Torreon region, South Colombia. Nothing but fond memories.

Post: #4

Been there and survived. While a lot of us on here have combat experience mine was on a police advisory team, spending as much as 12 hours a day working in the Afghan Police compound and on missions with them.

Just a couple of rules apply. The biggest one is preparation. Know some basic phrases, who the dominant powers are, basic etiquette, and what behaviors or actions are likely to get you killed in that region. The other big one that I'll mention is always be respectful. In my own life, this rule has always served me well whether I'm in a combat zone or hanging out a local dive bar having a conversation with outlaw bikers.

Post: #5

Best way to travel to truly dangerous places: don't, unless you are in the military and ordered to by a superior officer.
It doesn't make you special, unique, cultured, or increase the size of your penis.
It just makes you stupid and potentially dead for no good reason.
A friend from college got really into war porn photography and became well known.
He eventually got betrayed by one of his fixers and turned over to some Islamist kidnappers. They beat the hell out of him at gunpoint and threw him in a dark hole for 3 months.
The only reason he didn't get executed on TV is because his family is rich and didn't involve any governments/law enforcement, his nationality is not American, and he had an Arabic speaking relative who was able to broker a deal through contacts of his for 800,000 Euros in cash.

Post: #6

(01-12-2015 02:41 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  When I first saw your avatar, I was wondering if you were RYP himself.

I am honored by the compliment.

Huey from The Boondocks was already taken, so I had to find something else.

Post: #7

I had to work in Caracas two times this past year. It wasn't that bad, although it was scary and I saw a robbery (which apparently is normal). That being said, they made sure that we had security and everything with our team.

The girls were way too nervous to meet off of Tinder though. It was kind of annoying because they were hot (obviously).

Central America isn't the same thing at all - I don't need a bodyguard, even in Honduras and El Salvador. They insisted on it for Caracas, which kind of freaked me out a bit at first. Of course, Caracas probably used to be the place to go for RVFers when I was in high school.

Post: #8

(01-12-2015 10:39 AM)elcidcampeador Wrote:  I had to work in Caracas two times this past year. It wasn't that bad, although it was scary and I saw a robbery (which apparently is normal). That being said, they made sure that we had security and everything with our team.

The girls were way too nervous to meet off of Tinder though. It was kind of annoying because they were hot (obviously).

Central America isn't the same thing at all - I don't need a bodyguard, even in Honduras and El Salvador. They insisted on it for Caracas, which kind of freaked me out a bit at first. Of course, Caracas probably used to be the place to go for RVFers when I was in high school.

When I was in San Salvador it was during a huge spike in violence (which is saying something considering...) The whole city would practically shut down at night. Hard to get a cab, restaurants and stores would close. Metrocentro would be completely empty of shoppers, even the dudes selling dvds on the street would find a place to get to. This was when crime was really rising and people hadn't adjusted to it yet, and long before the gang truce helped keep things relatively stable.

Post: #9

Riding in cars in China scare the shit out of me. People look at me putting on a seatbelt and laugh at me. I look at them as if I really give a fuck. The mountain side rides are even scarier. you can see the edge of the mountain side and they switch lanes like maniacs. OP I know you have been there (in China) before, but man.... when you get way out there it gets worse. Have you driven or rode around in the countrysides like that?

Guns and violence doesn't bother me as bad because I feel as if I have way more control than if I was riding in a car. I have had guns pulled on me in the US, dealt with killers dope dealers, drive bys, etc. Growing up in the 90s made me kinda numb to certain shit. Outside the US, it just doesn't affect me as much as it probably should. My adrenaline does not even spike.

I once saw a mugging in progress when I was in college and I actually ran after the two fucks after I saw them knock some poor kid out cold. I was wearing my BJJ gi with my black belt on because I was coming back from practice and I remember telling this poor kid how sorry I was for not being fast enough to get there to stop them. They ran behind a dark alley and I was too tired to catch them thanks to practice. I think he even peed on himself. I felt bad for years. The cops were surprised I even chased those guys in the first place. May sound crazy but if I were born in Meiji era Japan I would have made a good samurai. In many ways I have always looked for an honorable death and I never felt like I was going to live as long as I did when I was a kid in the first place. I think I would still be surprised if I made 50.

Post: #10

I didn't do much traveling by car when I was in China except for taxis.
Ho.
Lee.
She.
It.
I don't know what a drivers test consists of in China... I can't fathom why some people even bother having decent cars there. Every day on the road is a game of russian roulette.

I'll post a follow up about traveling in dangerous places next covering taxis, motorcycles, buses, etc... Having your chicken bus catch fire in Guatemala and mosh pitting your way out is a good reminder of your fragile mortal state.

Post: #11

(01-12-2015 07:17 PM)TravelerKai Wrote:  The mountain side rides are even scarier. you can see the edge of the mountain side and they switch lanes like maniacs. OP I know you have been there (in China) before, but man.... when you get way out there it gets worse. Have you driven or rode around in the countrysides like that?

Do the mountain side rides look like this?










A taxi in Mexico drove me through one once. Never again.

Post: #12

Yes! Exactly like that. I wanted to throw up at certain points.

Post: #13

(01-12-2015 07:50 AM)VolandoVengoVolandoVoy Wrote:  Best way to travel to truly dangerous places: don't, unless you are in the military and ordered to by a superior officer.

To a point. There are other situations where the payoff can be worth it but those are few and far between......for example, if you get hired to provide security for an agency that's operating in such an area.

Post: #14

Absolutely no drugs or alchohol. You can't afford to have your judgement impaired or get arrested.

Post: #15

Is there a cross, off to the side of the road, on that second to last photo?

Post: #16

^^^ those photos look exactly like the Karakorum Highway between Pakistan and China.

Post: #17

(01-13-2015 12:23 AM)Chaos Wrote:  ^^^ those photos look exactly like the Karakorum Highway between Pakistan and China.

yes, I'm think about China first time^^

Post: #18

Chaos and Sp5, this is your thread. I climb, hike, dive and fuck, but take it away.

I will be doing some world class spelunking in April though.

Post: #19

ALWAYS READ UP ON THE LATEST NEWS REPORTS

Last year I had to go to the most dangerous city in Colombia, a rough port on the Pacific coast called Buenaventura, by far the biggest shit hole I'd ever been to. I arrived late and missed the boat to take me to a beach town, so I ended up spending the night there, which was December 31st and I ended up meeting some girls and going out partying all night. I met another girl while I was there and ended up going back a couple of months later to visit her, when I arrived I noticed that there was a lot of soldiers on the streets and when I checked into the hotel, the guy who knew me from before said "welcome back, but what are you doing here, didn't you hear what's going on in Buenaventura?" The president of Colombia had mobilized thousands of troops to the city a few days before to combat the ongoing gang warfare that was plaguing the city (and still is), these fuckers were chopping each other up and dumping the bodies in the ocean and body parts were washing up in the city's harbour. Needless to say, I met up with my girl and we got the fuck outta there the next day!

Post: #20

I should have included you as well scotian in my previous post!

Post: #21

For a little perspective...

Post: #22

(01-19-2015 12:43 PM)Osiris Wrote:  For a little perspective...

Sorry, how do you read this map? I'm not sure I understand it.

Post: #23

(01-19-2015 12:43 PM)Osiris Wrote:  For a little perspective...

There's no perspective here.

They are comparing countries to cities.

U.S. has a murder rate of 4.7 per 100,000. Honduras 90.4.

Individual cities cherry picked in the US make it seem much worse than it is, and using entire countries make it seem safer.

I'd also bet in countries like Cambodia, listed at 1.8 (though listed at 6.5 by the UNODC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cou..._country), it is much higher but that shit never gets reported because police/generals/politicians are in on it, or just in general the higher ups don't give a shit what happens to the poor people and who is actually keeping accurate stats on any of this?

Post: #24

Mostly when I go to really dangerous places, I roll in armored SUVs and have a PSD with me. It still sucks, maybe even more because that makes you a more obvious target. It wasn't my choice, probably another dumb decision driven by liability issues.

My main thing is hard thick reinforced concrete or steel overhead protection when mortars and rockets are falling.

Otherwise, a bottle of Jack D and staring at the ceiling trying to stop imagining the rocket coming for you.

Post: #25

I used to run down Route Irish in Baghdad frequently to make booze runs at the airport. Always in a soft-skinned vehicle, sometimes armed, sometimes not.






Good times.