TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Chill Out Room
-- Traveling
Pages (2): [1] 2 »

Traveling

So, with the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall coming in a few days, I just got to thinking. Are there places that you visited that were in any conflict or had serious restrictions? Like East Germany with the wall, North Korea with the separation, etc. What were your thoughts when you experienced it first hand for the first time?

i hear sushipunk's arse is quite the war zone. still though, im unaware of any travel restrictions he's imposed.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN i hear sushipunk's arse is quite the war zone. still though, im unaware of any travel restrictions he's imposed.

On topic, I've never been anywhere that had travel restrictions or 'conflict' as such, but South Africa was a bit of an eye-opener. I guess you could say they had travel restrictions of sorts though, ie. don't travel anywhere after dark, or you'll be killed/raped/worse. They don't stop at most red lights at night time, because of car-jackings, they just slow down, look both ways and keep going

Edit: That was in Jo'burg and Durban though. It's better down in Cape Town.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN i hear sushipunk's arse is quite the war zone. still though, im unaware of any travel restrictions he's imposed.

I'm not surprised you've inquired. Just make sure you get your travel insurance and immunisations in order beforehand. I learnt that the hard way.

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated I'm not surprised you've inquired. Just make sure you get your travel insurance and immunisations in order beforehand. I learnt that the hard way.

Not that hard.

quote:

Originally posted by Sushipunk It's better down in Cape Town.

cape town, eh? where about the uk is that?

LOL pKC hilarious

quote:

Originally posted by Sushipunk On topic, I've never been anywhere that had travel restrictions or 'conflict' as such, but South Africa was a bit of an eye-opener. I guess you could say they had travel restrictions of sorts though, ie. don't travel anywhere after dark, or you'll be killed/raped/worse. They don't stop at most red lights at night time, because of car-jackings, they just slow down, look both ways and keep going Edit: That was in Jo'burg and Durban though. It's better down in Cape Town.

I heard the same thing from 2 former coworkers, and my brother in-law's boss.

My bf and I were hanging out with my dad a few weeks ago and we drank quite a bit and my dad always opens up about his past when he drinks and he told us a story about his first time "on the other side" aka in West Germany - his first time in a communist-free zone:

I think he said it was around 1978.
He went with his cousin Basia (my godmother) and her husband Wlodek. He was absolutely amazed at all that he saw. Stores that had everything you could imagine, as opposed to the meagrely stocked depressing stores back home. He approached a lot of sales people asking "how much am I allowed to buy?" and they laughed and answered "as much as you want"

Anyway, Wlodek was always obssessed with cars and car mechanics and his 4-year-old son was already apparently picking that up as well. He found something in one of the stores that he had never even imagined to have existed: a remote-control car. He was completely baffled, having never seen anything like that before. He was so excited to bring it home to his son - it was one of several things they bought that they had never seen before (along with bulk amounts of food and clothing). Anyway, when they were crossing back into East Germany, the guards absolutely ransacked their car, searching everything. They let everything in with the exception of this remote-control car. The guard looked at it like "WTF is this? You can't bring this into our country. Get rid of it, or we will get rid of it for you"

My uncle Wlodek was so pissed because he really wanted his son to have this incredible toy. So they drove a few miles back from the border and he took apart the toy, putting one piece here, one piece there, hiding little pieces of it in clothes pockets and such.

They drove back to the border and got the same guard, and I guess he didn't search their car as intently because they got through with everything. Once back home, my uncle was able to put the remote-control car back together and apparently it worked perfectly.


(disclaimer: I totally didn't do this story justice. My dad is an amazing story-teller and his version was captivating beyond belief)

I was in Kenya during the unrest following the 2008 election, but I can't say that I saw anything ostensibly related to it in my time there.

That is crazy. With this whole anniversary of the fall, I want to visit North Korea. Just to experience it for myself. That way if/when they reunify while I am alive, I can visit later to see how it has changed.

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter I was in Kenya during the unrest following the 2008 election, but I can't say that I saw anything ostensibly related to it in my time there.

Were you there during the elections?

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter but I can't say

were you on a secret govt mission?

quote:

Originally posted by gehzumteufel Were you there during the elections?

No, a few weeks later.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN were you on a secret govt mission?

A secret government vacation, actually.

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter A secret government vacation, actually.

hope you didnt come back with the secret govt AIDS!

quote:

Originally posted by gehzumteufel That is crazy. With this whole anniversary of the fall, I want to visit North Korea. Just to experience it for myself. That way if/when they reunify while I am alive, I can visit later to see how it has changed. Were you there during the elections?

good luck getting a visa.

you pretty much have to go to china and bribe an official to be able to enter the country...i know, i tried and it was just too much money to go to a country that i would not be allowed to be alone in.

arb, did you have sex with a kenyan chick while you were there?

I'm DYING to go to North Korea. I know people who have gone and found it fascinating as an insight into human psychology. Unfortunately I've got a US Visa (not just a visit stamp) in my British passport and I don't really want to spend the rest of my life in a DPRK concentration camp as being related (and married to) the infidel. When my passport requires renewing (or I 'lose' it) I'd certainly look to make a trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Sushipunk On topic, I've never been anywhere that had travel restrictions or 'conflict' as such, but South Africa was a bit of an eye-opener. I guess you could say they had travel restrictions of sorts though, ie. don't travel anywhere after dark, or you'll be killed/raped/worse. They don't stop at most red lights at night time, because of car-jackings, they just slow down, look both ways and keep going Edit: That was in Jo'burg and Durban though. It's better down in Cape Town.

I found driving in South Africa required a little planning. Driving through the townships if I saw a redlight ahead I'd slow down ensuring I wasn't stopped as I got to the robot...

When we arrived it was early after an overnight flight from the UK. We'd just pulled out of the airport and were stuck in traffic with dozens of people milling all around the cars looking in at them. I had the worst feeling that someone was about to break a window and steal our bags off the back seat. Would have been a bit shit to have been ten minutes out of the airport and get jacked!

quote:

Originally posted by fbgdavidson I'm DYING to go to North Korea.

I think they could arrange that for you.

i went to the dmz and it was sort of cool, although you were not allowed to do things like look at the north korean guards at the border.

they pretty much have sk and nk guards facing each other.

the sk guards must be 6 foot or taller to be able to "intimidate" the north koreans that are generally way smaller than south koreans.

the coolest part of the dmz is that there is an ecosystem thriving in it because people can't live there.

quote:

Originally posted by Schadenfreude the north koreans that are generally way smaller than south koreans.

that's coz they dont get to eat.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN hope you didnt come back with the secret govt AIDS!

Only secret govt aides.

quote:

Originally posted by Slylele arb, did you have sex with a kenyan chick while you were there?

Not on that trip.

quote:

Originally posted by Arbiter Only secret govt aides. Not on that trip.

quote:

Originally posted by fbgdavidson Driving through the townships if I saw a redlight ahead I'd slow down ensuring I wasn't stopped as I got to the robot...

Haha, I forgot they call them 'robots' When we first got there, we were like "Wtf, what do you mean 'don't stop at the robot??'"

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN that's coz they dont get to eat.

supposedly the NK border guards are the most privileged and well fed citizens of the country.

reunification would happen if the 2 sides were not so far apart in terms of economics. SK is a thriving country in terms of finance, if they reunified it would probably kill their economy. Sk donates more money to NK than anyone else.

quote:

Originally posted by Schadenfreude good luck getting a visa. you pretty much have to go to china and bribe an official to be able to enter the country...i know, i tried and it was just too much money to go to a country that i would not be allowed to be alone in.

As long as I could afford it, I would pay a pretty penny. Honestly. Being able to experience something like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the few that get to experience it.

quote:

Originally posted by fbgdavidson I'm DYING to go to North Korea. I know people who have gone and found it fascinating as an insight into human psychology. Unfortunately I've got a US Visa (not just a visit stamp) in my British passport and I don't really want to spend the rest of my life in a DPRK concentration camp as being related (and married to) the infidel. When my passport requires renewing (or I 'lose' it) I'd certainly look to make a trip.

Will they not allow British entry? Or is the US? They have allowed a good few US citizens in.

Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright © 2000-2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.