Post: #1

Any cities where you felt unsafe/insecure just walking the street?

I remember on my first trip to Rio in '03, I felt a bit eerie walking around in Copa (away from the beach), but that's definitely no longer the case on this trip.

Post: #2

North Kivu, The Democratic Republic of Congo.

I was in the UN red zone during the war near Goma.

There was ZERO protection in the jungle. That shit was fuckin scary.
Luckily, we had a ton of weed to bribe the different groups controlling the road. Even paid for our accommodation with it!

But hey, all this danger doesn't mean you can't get laid!

Check out my WARZONE safety guide!
http://naughtynomad.wordpress.com/2010/0...ety-guide/

Post: #3

Your ethnicity will affect the amount of danger you face.

If you are not caucasian and go to Russia, there is a strong chance you will be attacked.

Post: #4

When I first got to Brazil I was always looking behind my back, even during the day. The first day I got there we saw a huge blood splatter in the middle of the street where someone had either jumped out or been pushed out of the 8th story in the appartment building I was staying in. I thought I was fucked at that point. After being there for a week though I let my guard down a little. By my second trip I really didn't feel much more sketched out than walking though a shady part of Las Vegas. There were certain areas I went to that were a little scary. Some places close to the favelas (Especially the favelas of Sao Paulo) and walking home late in Vitoria I got a little sketchy. I would walk home alone at 2 in the morning though. But all in all, I feel pretty safe in Brazil now.

Post: #5

Rio was scary at first. Even the good areas. People were getting robbed at knife point right in front of my hostel. But I loosened up a bit as my trip went on. I wouldn't be scared to go back. La Boca in Buenos Aires was a place I wanted to get the hell out of too before sundown. San Telmo also seemed sketchy.

Post: #6

Rio.

Post: #7

My Mexican roommate said he felt uncomfortable walking around Cape Town, pretty much one of the only places.

Post: #8

Bogotá - certain areas like the old town

Sao Paulo

Rio

Paris - suburbs and Gare du Nord

The most scary place I have ever been is Salvador de Bahia, especially in Pelourinho. That place, it seems that somebody could come and stab you just for the fun of it about every second.

The only place in the world where I have been mugged is in Bogota though.

Post: #9

(05-05-2010 04:24 PM)elguapo Wrote:  My Mexican roommate said he felt uncomfortable walking around Cape Town, pretty much one of the only places.

I hear J-Berg is super sketchy.

Post: #10

Yes Joberg is generally much more dangerous than Capetown.

The only places I've been scared enough that it ruined my experience were Caracas and Guayaquil, Ecuador. Both make Rio look like a picnic.

Post: #11

I didnt really feel unsafe in Rio, me and my boy were walking around late night on copa all the time with sketchy dudes and lil kids harassing us nonstop but it didnt really bother us much...you get used to it after awhile and learn the ways to avoid. Sao Paulo on the other hand bugged me out on more than one occassion.

Post: #12

Fes, Morocco. The city is basically a giant slum outside of the Medina. I was a bit scared walking around.

Bratislava, Slovakia. Lots of Neo-Nazis just sitting around looking to pick a fight. They don't like foreigners.

9th Ward, New Orleans (before Katrina; no idea what it's like now). Complete slum. Guys were banging on our windows when we stopped at stop signs.

5th Ward, Houston. AVOID. This neighborhood is being gentrified, but back in the day it was the worst of the worst. Dead dogs lining the roads and fields full of needles / used cell phones / God knows what.

Post: #13

Rio & Sao Paulo walking around at night

Medellin and Cali: certain areas just freaked me out, paranoia?

Moscow, St Petersburg, Riga: general vibe of these places

Post: #14

Caracas at night...criminals from the shanty towns that surround the city come out to "play".

Post: #15

Bratislava Slovakia was cool...never had a problem. But I am white and have family there. The skinheads I saw were security at one of the strip clubs and were more or less foot soldiers for the local mafia (wich are more or less just legit business owners, who may have a brothel or a small drug trade in the basement of a bar)

*Funny thing about Bratislava (or really any Eastern Country) is that most dudes don't work out like Americans do. Most guys are tall but thin. This is cool except the fact that in USA a dude with big bar muscle can still be a pussy. Over there, when you see a big dude, thick neck, big shoulders, chances are he's not a body builder with swollen but unfunctional arms - - - Unlike Americans, lifting for comesmetic appearance isn't as common, but lifting because you wrestle, play hockey, box or compete in powerlifting (all big sports in ex Soviet Countries) is more common. Like the skinhead bodyguards I saw..there were big but also scared up and very serious looking, not pretty boy big.

Bogota in the old town is sketchy. You want to be careful there.

Guatemala City...depending on where you go is very bad.

Post: #16

(05-05-2010 09:59 PM)Biz Wrote:  I didnt really feel unsafe in Rio, me and my boy were walking around late night on copa all the time with sketchy dudes and lil kids harassing us nonstop but it didnt really bother us much...you get used to it after awhile and learn the ways to avoid. Sao Paulo on the other hand bugged me out on more than one occassion.

Agreed, I felt much less safe in Sao Paulo. But on the other hand I did go to places I probably shouldn't have. The favelas in Rio that I was close to were still around somewhat decent parts of town. In Sao Paulo I remember going to a favela and as you are approaching it, the neighborhoods just kept getting worse and worse and worse until finally we were in the most sketchy neighborhood I've ever been in. All within two miles, some kids were buying coke, some kids right down the street were getting busted by Policia Militar, and right down the way from that, a car was on fire in the middle of the street. I remember thinking to myself, "this is the closest you get to hell on earth." This favela basically looked like it was built into a mine pitt. It didn't go up on a hill, it went down into a valley basically. Pretty intense shit.

lugging my huge suitecase through Sao Paulo on the bus and metro weren't much fun either. Me and my friend both look like gringos (As a matter of fact, he is Brazilian and looks more gringo than me). Nothing happened to us, but I was definitely not having fun, especially when we were walking through the madness that is Sao Paulo.

Post: #17

While I hardly spent anytime walking around Buenaventura (Colombia) it sure looked like an unsafe dump. All of the streets were flooded an it just had this all around gritty feel to it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/world/...ura&st=nyt

I also felt really unsafe walking around the Caracas area of Bogota late on a weeknight. This wasn't my idea.

Otherwise I felt pretty confident in cities and countries like Rio, Sao Paulo, La Paz, Lima, Quito, etc.

Post: #18

(05-06-2010 04:01 PM)jmb Wrote:  While I hardly spent anytime walking around Buenaventura (Colombia) it sure looked like an unsafe dump. All of the streets were flooded an it just had this all around gritty feel to it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/world/...ura&st=nyt

I also felt really unsafe walking around the Caracas area of Bogota late on a weeknight. This wasn't my idea.

Otherwise I felt pretty confident in cities and countries like Rio, Sao Paulo, La Paz, Lima, Quito, etc.

Damn, it sounds like anywhere with even the name Caracas is seedy. It's a shame, I hear the women of Venezuela are gorgeous too. But with so much American animosity and violence, I don't think I'll be visiting Venezuela any time soon. I was talking to a guy who said the only place he ever felt in danger during the day was in Venezuela and this guy has been all over the world. He said he got mugged at knife point in a crowded plaza in broad daylight, no one helped or even said anything (I probably wouldn't have either). The only time I ever felt in danger during the day was the time I went to the favela in Sao Paulo, but that is easily avoidable.

Post: #19

Actually I take that back. I used to be afraid to walk through the neighborhood just outside my house a couple of years ago in Las Vegas. Where I live is similar to the situation in Rio, where as we live in a very nice neighborhood, but just two blocks down is very seedy. 3 people had been shot and killed at the seven eleven in only 2 years. You'll be looking straight ahead and someone will yell out the window of their car, "What the fuck are you looking at! Imma fuck you up!" They've cleaned the area up a little. There are always tons of cops there. But yes, I felt more in danger walking down that street during the day than I did walking the two blocks by myself from my girls house to my hotel in Vitoria, Brazil at 2 in the morning. Or in Rio before 11 O clock by myself.

Post: #20

(05-06-2010 10:52 AM)Eric Wrote:  Bratislava, Slovakia.

Hell, even the name sounds harsh.

Post: #21

haha really? Bratislava is cool man, I was there like 10 years ago and loved it. I love Slavic girls.

Post: #22

saw some other people mentioning bratislava - i've travelled around CEE quite a bit and Bratislava is the only place where i actually witnessed violence; in other places there was more of a threat of it but never saw anything go down

was in bratislava for a weekend couple of years ago and went to this big club called Charlie's Bar which is a pretty nice place, not scummy or anything. while having a drink at the bar i suddenly saw a group of skinheads pounding two oriental guys - the only non white people there. nobody stopped them and bouncers werent anywhere to be seen.

just something to be aware of

Post: #23

Nowhere really

I find that feeling unsafe anywhere sends out a victim vibe which is what bad dudes are looking for and makes you a far more likely target.

I have travelled all over the world and, wherever I am I just walk around like I own the place.

Bogota is the only place where people have tried to mug me when travelling. If you want to mug me really you better have a gun or my inclination would be to fuck you up.

The 3 guys that tried in Bogota did not have a gun. They were not successful but, luckily for them, they ran.

Post: #24

St. Petersburg was uncomfortable for me....racism is out of control in Russia...

A good friend of mine goes on and on about how hostile Joburg is, as well. You don't want to let your guard down there. A lot a savage home invasions.

Post: #25

(05-07-2010 03:05 AM)zanetti Wrote:  saw some other people mentioning bratislava - i've travelled around CEE quite a bit and Bratislava is the only place where i actually witnessed violence

I got my ass kicked by a bunch of dudes once in Prague, but I basically antagonized them. Bratislava felt like a city where one could get their ass kicked randomly and for no reason.

That said, I'm sure it's not as bad as Mogadishu / Darfur / whatever. The thread is about places people have been that made them feel unsafe. I felt unsafe in Bratislava.