Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask what the scariest thing ever to happen to you abroad was?

221 replies

RainbowBriteUk · 13/09/2021 16:49

Mine was unknowingly walking in to a cafe where only men where allowed in the Balkans and they just all stared. Some quite icily. I just turned on my heel and walked out!

OP posts:
vixeyann · 13/09/2021 20:15

We were 14 on a school trip to France staying in uni halls. Keys kept going missing from the reception (mostly unlocked and unattended!) and people were getting into rooms. We were all so shit scared 4 or 5 of us piled into a room each night. We were definitely staying wrong side of the tracks. They took us to a fair that was on and someone had their purse nicked and as we we were walking home numerous men in cars shouted out 'slags! - we were wearing jeans and 90's cool Reebok or Ellesse t-shirts!

EileenGC · 13/09/2021 20:17

My dad being extremely violent with my mum in a country where I knew the police would do nothing if I called them. We - the children - were dual nationals of that country and they would’ve arrested my mum (as my dad would’ve claimed mental health issues and her attacking him) and we would’ve been refused our right to go back to our home country. So we would’ve been left in the sole care of my dad. In that dump of a misogynistic country.

Not a single neighbour would’ve helped (as that’s exactly what my grandma used to suffer from my grandad, the town was ‘used’ to it) and asking for help would’ve actually ended up much worse than just putting up with it. I still shrug at the memory.

LastToBePicked · 13/09/2021 20:20

In Delhi on my own, I’d been out for a meal and was walking back to my hotel in the dark when a group of three men started following me and getting closer and closer and trying to talk to me. At first we were surrounded by other people but as we got closer to the hotel it get quieter until it was just me and the men. When we got within 20 metres of the hotel I bolted for the hotel entrance and got back unscathed. At the time I don’t think I was that scared (I was used to people treating me as a bit of a novelty, wanting photographs etc in a harmless way) - but a few weeks later the death of the girl in Delhi who was gang raped was reported, and I realised retrospectively how much danger I could have been in.

ancientgran · 13/09/2021 20:22

In March 1981 I was flying to a north african country. Due to the relationship between that country and Britain I couldn't fly direct. Getting on the plane was a nightmare as checkin was stampeded by men trying to check in because another flight was cancelled. Eventually a security man helped me as I kept getting pushed to the back of the queue. I was travelling with 2 small children.

Well I got on the plane, sat down and was relieved all was well. Suddenly armed uniformed men stormed down the plane and started grabbing men and dragging them off the plane. That day a plane was hijacked, I think it was in Pakistan. I assume they'd had a tip off about a hijacking. Maybe there was confusion or maybe my flight was going to be hijacked as well.

notacooldad · 13/09/2021 20:24

Mine was unknowingly walking in to a cafe where only men where allowed in the Balkans and they just all stared. Some quite icily. I just turned on my heel and walked out!
That happened to me in Albania and Romania.

Mine is probably having five guns pointed at me by airport security in a country where I didnt understand the language. That shook me up but until the misunderstanding was resolved!

user1471592953 · 13/09/2021 20:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PoorCatto · 13/09/2021 20:35

I was about 8. In gran canaria. A group of women grabbed me away from my mum and forcefully put a coloured braid in my hair. When my mum tried to take me back they burned her with lighters and beat her up because she didn't pay them. Luckily a security guard from the shopping mall heard our screams and scared them off.

Snoken · 13/09/2021 20:38

Walking down the street in Nice and a man came up behind me and pulled me into the bushes. I managed to fight him off, I think he was high as a kite, and run. It shook me up though. I was also in Nice on July 14th when the terrorist attack happened, luckily I was in the port area and not on the promenade.

AnnaBegins · 13/09/2021 20:43

In Russia, hadn't realised there were 2 airports in Moscow, and was late for my flight. Got a taxi to the domestic airport, and the driver demanded something like the equivalent of £500 for the 10 min ride and locked the doors. Eventually got away with paying him around £60, got out, had missed my flight and paid hundreds for a new one.

In the States on a university trip, some of us had our wallets stolen on day 1 before we'd even been taken to our accommodation, so our wallets had all our money in. We later learnt that the venue we were at, where we'd been told our bags were in a locked room, hadn't bothered locking the doors and then had a dinner for homeless people in the next room... Don't know if it was just incompetence or an inside job.

eekbumbler · 13/09/2021 20:45

Watched a film with 13 yr old son til 11pm, said - bedtime, go get a drink.

Heard the most terrified scream ever, he came running in saying there is a man in the house.

There was, he'd walked in on a burglar. Went to Crown court as prolific, son gave evidence - guess what? Cunt was let off.

Sleepyteach · 13/09/2021 20:57

Almost being arrested whilst travelling in Africa and having to bribe the police officer. We were in an organised group and we’d gone out to this karaoke bar, our guide had copies of our passports and we were supposed to have them with us at all times. A couple of us decided to go back to the hotel, as we got in the cab a police officer knocked on the window and asked to see our ID, which we didn’t have, tried to call our guide but got no response. Then he wanted to arrest us, we asked if there was an on the spot fine we could pay instead, which happened to be the exact amount I had in my purse minus what we needed for the taxi home. I added it up once we were back at the hotel and it totalled about £2!! Same trip, and scary for other reasons not from a personal safety perspective (and also heartbreakingly sad) we were on a public bus, the kind that ran through rural areas a couple of times a week and people just piled into it, it wasn’t unusual to have 30 people in a transit minibus that should only seat 15, on this particular journey a group carried a man on who was very unwell and said they were taking him to the nearest town (about 3 hours away) to a doctor, the healer in their village had tried but nothing had worked, and they really couldn’t afford to see a doctor which was why they’d left it so long. He was dead before we got to town.

RAFHercules · 13/09/2021 21:05

When I was 17, I went to Spain with my friend on holiday (1989). One night she went off with a lad that she had met in a nightclub. She had a BF at home so hooking up with someone else wasn't ever in the plan. I was so worried about her and thought she had been kidnapped.
I started to walk back to our hotel to report her missing as I knew people there. I was quickly surrounded by a gang of Spanish lads on mopeds touching me up. I was absolutely terrified.
A lovely Dutch lad appeared and chased them off, he insisted on walking me back and promised that he would help to find my friend. He walked me right back to my hotel room, then pulled out a knife, pushed me inside the room and well you can imagine the rest.
Friend returned in the morning bragging about her one night stand and wondering why I was "sulking".

StillWalking · 13/09/2021 21:07

Nearly drowning whilst learning to scuba dive in Egypt.

Notafootballfan · 13/09/2021 21:09

My friend took ill in Croatia. They took her away in an ambulance and said I'd have to make my own way to the hospital in a taxi. "Which hospital are you taking her to"? I asked. "There's only 1, the taxi driver will know". Got in the taxi. "Where to"? he asked."The hospital", I said. "Which one, there are two". He dropped me off at the one most likely, at a set of buildings and waved his hand about and said "Over there".
Went into a building. Deserted. Upstairs, down corridors. All deserted. It was like being in a nightmare. Back into the car park. Deserted. No one to ask. Stumbled over some waste ground and found the hospital building.
Wouldn't give me any information about my friend or how she was doing. After a few hours I went and asked again. They let me in for 2 minutes to see her. They discharged her later on that night, but wouldn't let her go until the bill was paid. They sent me off again in the pitch dark to find the administration building.
Not as scary as some of the stories, but not an experience I'd want to repeat.

kateluvscats · 13/09/2021 21:10

As much as people moan about the UK I feel so glad and lucky I live here.

Notafootballfan · 13/09/2021 21:12

I should have stipulated it was in Dubrovnik that the ambulance crew said only had one hospital

PurBal · 13/09/2021 21:15

I guess I did it to myself but travelling in an armoured vehicle with a lot of armed guards near the Kyber Pass (Afghanistan-Pakistan border) realising that no one would be coming to rescue me if we got stopped by the Taliban as the area was considered too dangerous by the UN, against FCO advice etc. However, we did pass a school and the faces of those children remain with me. A child’s smile is a universal language.

OnthePiste · 13/09/2021 21:15

On a coach coming down the steep mountain round from a ski report in the early hours. Coach lost traction on black ice and started sliding sideways towards the sheer drop. Most people were asleep and did not see what was happening. Coach hit the crash barrier and ground to a halt. All I could see was the drop..in true MN style I was shaking and crying! The driver was in shock as was the ski rep.

I honestly felt my life flash before me, I have never felt such terror!

Sinthie · 13/09/2021 21:18

Strolling back to our hotel alone in a quiet Thai holiday resort because my husband and I had forgotten the money to pay the restaurant bill was one of my scariest experiences.

It was a very short walk in what I thought was a safe area - 5 mins or so. I subsequently found myself alone surrounded by dogs that wouldn’t let me pass. Seconds later my husband arrived in the restaurant owners’ car after he’d told him where I’d gone, and they’d told him it wasn’t safe. I don’t know what I’d have done if they hadn’t come. I’ve never been scared of dogs, but they were very threatening in a pack…

shazshaz · 13/09/2021 21:20

Found myself in the middle of a gunfight in Prague, with absolutely nowhere to hide. I just crouched there waiting for it to be over - Went back to the campsite with a story to tell, only to find my friends had been in a fight - they got held up at knifepoint but managed to fight the attackers off.

Then when we were backpacking in Egypt we hired a taxi to take us on a 10 hour trip and the taxi driver kept falling asleep and weaving over the road. One of us had to sit up front & hit him every time he nodded off. He used to drive in the middle of the road and honk the horn & flash the lights as he went around a corner - if he got a reply then he would drive back onto the correct side of the road! We tried to talk him out of driving back straight away, but he did and crashed his car & put himself in hospital for a couple of weeks.

PlanDeRaccordement · 13/09/2021 21:21

We’d just moved to Florida and decided to take a nature trail....only to meet a wild Alligator. It was only 2m away and floating in a bit of an inlet. We unfortunately had woken it up and it looked at me directly in the eye and I could see it deciding whether or not it was hungry and whether it was worth the effort to try and snap up one of our DCs. I internally panicked but calmly shepherded the DCs on down the trail, me staying between them and Alligator. But conscious we couldn’t run because that would trigger its predator reflex. DH was in the lead and had walked past it not even seeing it!

IsabellesMissingSock · 13/09/2021 21:28

@Forgothowmuchlhatehomeschoolin

I was in Vegas when the guy shot and killed 60 odd people September 2017. Very scary.
That was early October. I was there too.
DontStepOnTheMomeRathz · 13/09/2021 21:29

Paris is absolutely beautiful.

But I never ever felt safe walking the streets there. It was intimidating. I wouldn’t rush back.

Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 13/09/2021 21:30

Bloody hell @RAFHercules, I'm so sorry that happened to you.

Mine was nowhere near as bad as half of these, but being in a little shanty town in Egypt at the start of the first Gulf War, was scary as hell. Surrounded by armed guards at the airport and escorted onto the last flight out before they shut the borders and airports.

inigomontoyahwillcox · 13/09/2021 21:32

@OnthePiste

On a coach coming down the steep mountain round from a ski report in the early hours. Coach lost traction on black ice and started sliding sideways towards the sheer drop. Most people were asleep and did not see what was happening. Coach hit the crash barrier and ground to a halt. All I could see was the drop..in true MN style I was shaking and crying! The driver was in shock as was the ski rep.

I honestly felt my life flash before me, I have never felt such terror!

Bloody hell - terrifying! Reminds me of the time we were in a coach on the way up to the Cameron highlands in Malaysia with what seemed to be a circa 80 year old ex racing car driver at the wheel and a ravine (with only an occasional flimsy looking crash barrier) a metre or so from the tyres. I was actually grateful I was badly ill (stomach) on the way back down a few days later as it distracted me from the terror of looking out of the window.