Best and worst travel memories? (page 2 of 4)

Out of all my memories, I’ll share this one:

for the best , here it is: last summer in Egypt, in Luxor, my bus was driving along a diversion canal parallel to the Nile, heading toward the Valley of the Kings. Suddenly, to my right, a strange shape made a triangular wake on the water’s surface—a crocodile, in the wild! All the guides said we’d only find them at Lake Aswan, much farther south... then a second crocodile! 🙁 My worst memory? 🙁 The rest of the story... because 300 meters farther up, in the direction the crocs were heading, three kids around 5-6 years old were swimming in the canal. I’ll never know how the story ended, though I hope it had a happy ending!

You gave me chills with that crocodile story! When I think about it, everyone kept saying there weren’t any downstream from the dam, so I swam peacefully in the Nile at Luxor and then at Elephantine Island in Aswan for several days. 🙁

It’s true that the day before we arrived in Aswan, an engineer tinkering with his outboard motor by the Nile had just been eaten by a huge crocodile—but that was just on the other side of the dam, upstream.

Hey Chil,

The worst (well, the worst ones since it happened twice): a layover at Roissy when just two snowflakes on the runways cause flight cancellations. No information, a free-for-all among travelers trying to rebook on other flights, and the aggressiveness of completely overwhelmed staff. After 12 hours in that hysterical fishbowl atmosphere, you start to lose it. And one thing’s for sure—Air France will deliver your luggage 72 hours late. The best: there are so many. Maybe that first dawn on the Niger River in Bamako. 5 a.m. The river and its banks bathed in golden light. Pirogues glide by, barely rippling the water’s surface. Occasionally, a fisherman casts a net that unfurls and sparkles. Absolute silence.

Old thread but one that’d be worth reviving!

It's true this is a great discussion—so mldiane57, why not keep it going???😉

Here’s my contribution: one of my best memories: a few years ago in Cuba, I arrived on foot, alone, at a spot with a lookout point. Of course, there was a guy selling fruit juices and other things to all the tourists who arrive by bus, snap photos of the stunning landscape, and leave after 10 minutes. I wanted to buy an orange juice, but the vendor refused to sell me one because I only had pesos and no dollars. I walked off to sit in the grass a little farther away and was completely mesmerized by the beauty my eyes and heart were discovering. After about an hour, the guy came over with an orange juice and a mango. I told him I still didn’t have any dollars to pay, but he said he was giving both to me for free.

Worst memory: actually, I don’t have a worst memory, just a few that could’ve gone badly but ended up being pretty funny. Still in Cuba. The people hosting me in Santiago told me they had family who could put me up in some other city I can’t remember, and that their son would be waiting for me when I got off the bus. So I arrive in this city whose name I’ve forgotten, a guy is waiting at the stop, I ask if he’s the son whose name I’ve also forgotten, he says yes, and takes me to some people I hand the letter from the family in Santiago to. A few hours later, while out for a walk, an elderly woman approaches me, asks if I’m Beatrice, then tells me she’s the sister of the people in Santiago!!!

The choice is tough, but here we go!

The worst: When I woke up in a dingy room in Peshawar back in 1974, with nothing but a few clothes and about $100 in my pocket, after being robbed during the night by a roommate (a Spaniard, that b@$t@rd!). Passport, Kaboul-Paris flight ticket, and the rest... gone!

The best: A week I spent with a half-Thai, half-Chinese family on the beach in Ko Pha Ngan in 1981, long before the big crowds arrived 🙂🏴‍☠️

True, it’s a great discussion,

the +

Back from Laos and Cambodia, Stop in Kungtep at Pai’s aunt’s place, Mokata/karaoke night and rock café (mainly Carabao) The phone rings, Pai’s dad needs emergency surgery; Holiday season means all flights, VIP buses, and sleeper trains are fully booked. We end up taking a 2nd-class seated train: 11 hours on a hard bench, Tough on the back, but what an experience! Packed to the brim, even the dogs travel with the same calm as the humans. Across from us: A modest couple who smell of the rice fields, weathered, with calloused hands, The woman has a very gentle look, she spends the whole time worrying about her husband’s comfort. Not submission, tenderness. Several times she buys drinks or food and, each time, asks me, the well-off Farang, if I want to share with her. You said *sharing*?

the negative:

On that same train, the same day, leaving Bangkok, a couple filming the slums along the tracks. They spend a lot of time watching the footage and laughing—about what, I don’t know and don’t want to know.

Let's go!

The worst: Crossing the Bronx on a Saturday night in a small van... stopped in front of a gang car blockade, we had no choice but to speed around it. In Kanchanaburi, Thailand: a drunk German starts violently insulting a Thai police officer, ending with a "Heil Hitler"... the officer had his hand on his belt, ready to draw. I don’t dare imagine what would’ve happened if his friend hadn’t intervened. Super tense moment.

My best moment: An evening spent in Quebec—no doubt about it, the cousins know how to savor life’s good moments.

Alright, let's go!

The worst (nothing too serious, I’d say I’m lucky): those two hours spent at the police station in Trivandrum, India, after getting robbed of $300 in my hotel... We went in as victims and left as suspects!

The best: tough choice, there are too many! A sunset on the banks of the Mekong in Laos, when the kids were playing in the river. A sunrise over Inle Lake in Myanmar, when the sky, water, and mountains blended into a grayish-blue, with only the stilt houses and fishermen on their boats standing out—balancing on one leg in that strange, graceful pose. The May Day protests in Sucre, Bolivia, surrounded by a hopeful crowd just after the president announced the nationalization of hydrocarbons. Swimming in the Galápagos when the sea lions decided to come play with us. The World Cup in Quito, with the city in celebration mode. And above all, the encounters—so many but unforgettable...

Hi Sozal

Chile is far away right now, he’ll tell us about his best and worst memories when he gets back... I’ll quote what he says in his profile:

A project: IRKUTSK-BEIJING in 2008 to arrive at the Olympics and watch the swimming events (still by bike).

Hope he made it safely and is having a blast!

Oops, I just saw him on the list of people online right now...

attending the swimming events (still by bike)

Is that a pedal boat?

To get back to the actual topic, which is, admittedly, pretty nice, here are my memories. The best: when my wife asked me in Quepos (Costa Rica) to have a child with her, and I fulfilled her wish a few days later in Playa Flamingo (Guanacaste - Costa Rica). The worst: my wife disappearing for two days during a dive at Pulau Payar in Malaysia during the tsunami.

... "when my wife asked me in Quepos (Costa Rica) to have a child with her and I fulfilled her wish a few days later in Playa Flamingo (Guanacaste - Costa Rica)."....

... Why wait a few days? 🤪

... so, feeling reassured now? 🙂

Yeah, it's not inherent...

A sunset on the banks of the Mekong in Laos, when the kids are playing in the river.

One of the moments I’d love to experience in two months...

One of the moments I’d love to experience, in about 2 months...

Anyway, I hope it happens for you...

Have a great trip in this beautiful country

I can't pick just one best memory... plus, the question brings back so many things...

A worst one first: being held hostage by protesters in Côte d'Ivoire in 2004 for 8 days! The fear of my life!

So many best ones: hiking in the cirques of Réunion Island 30 years ago, learning about France's World Cup victory in '98 while sipping an apéro at 11 PM, soaking in a natural pool in Landmannalaugar, Iceland; facing a multitude of different animal species grazing peacefully on the Kenyan savanna under a flight of thousands of pink flamingos; stumbling into a sort of cinema in Harlem and attending a gospel mass; exchanging a glance and a hug with an elderly woman in Laos who told me full of regret, "Ah! France!"; drinking tea on a low wall with an Uzbek grandpa...

Want more?

okay, I'll play along with this little game

worst memory back in 1996, I remember driving 5,000 km to meet a girl in Vancouver. Total flop, and it ended with the cops and sleeping outside in the cold.

best memories a recent one Christmas 2007 in Pakistan with Sufi musicians and fellow travelers from all over the world

in 2005, an unforgettable memory Hossam, my Palestinian host in Damascus, had asked me to bring back some soil from Palestine for his parents, who’ve been refugees since 1948 and were originally from Tiberias near the Sea of Galilee. They want to be buried with a bit of soil from their homeland when they pass. I promise him, and when I return from Palestine to Damascus, I call them. I can feel how moved they are by this offering. His mother starts crying as she takes the soil in the palm of her hand, explaining the history of this land to her little granddaughter sitting beside her. His father isn’t there—his gaze is distant. Memories are flooding back. His face shows no emotion. I imagine him later, in private, crying silently. And me, trying to make myself invisible, sinking deeper into my armchair.

hi there

I’m reviving this discussion that had kind of fizzled out…!

my two worst travel memories:

🙁 November 2005, in Aleppo (Syria) A Syrian teenager, probably excited to impress his friends, starts groping my chest as I walk by—even though I was with someone. So embarrassing.

😠 April 2008, in Bandipur (Nepal) Despite my best diplomatic efforts, an 8-year-old boy starts spitting at me because I refused to show him the digital screen on my camera and the photos on it. So embarrassing.

my best travel memory:

🙂 February 2000, between Mandalay and Bagan (Myanmar) The slow boat drifts down the Irrawaddy from dawn till dusk. The impressions, landscapes, and faces of this golden country have stayed unforgettable for me.

A thought for this country, devastated since by a recent and terrible cyclone...

Alright, I'll play too! Best memories: my kids (ages 3 to 7!) taking a hip-hop class taught by an Indian guy at a hotel in Mamallapuram!!! We were laughing our heads off—he was so serious! His friend even filmed the scene: my kids over the moon, their dad and I blown away! A stay in the Thar Desert with a camel herder who sang opera pieces in German and Italian, perfectly and with a voice worthy of any tenor at La Scala—absolutely mind-blowing, I’ll never forget it.

Worst: A Māori meal in Rotorua (New Zealand) where I was invited to take part in their warrior ceremony! I never figured out how much of it was playacting or serious, but I was terrified for my life! Having our passports confiscated on the Bakassi Peninsula (Cameroon), surrounded by dead-drunk Nigerians, boats transporting drugs between Cameroon and Nigeria, under the Kalashnikovs of the Yoruba! In those moments, you think, "This is it!!!" I was six months pregnant—did that save us? I don’t know, but I had stomach pains for days, burned by adrenaline and an acetone crisis!!!