Fraud
Running into trouble abroad is not particularly difficult. Avoiding it is a bit harder. Tourists have to put up with rude behavior from hotel staff, medical workers, and rental station employees. Lately, our compatriots are increasingly encountering the "delights of national healthcare" in Turkey. For example, a vacationing compatriot arrives at a resort but falls ill. He goes to a clinic, talks to a doctor. And upon leaving, he is presented with a bill for several thousand dollars. He puts his medical insurance on the table, but the medical staff tells him that they know nothing and have not signed any contracts with his insurance company. And the tourist has to pay. Because if he doesn't pay the bill, his passport won't be returned and he won't be released from the clinic. Last year, more than 30 such cases were recorded in Antalya alone.
Another form of fraud flourishes in Egypt. For instance, for the full experience, you might want to rent a jet ski to speed off into the horizon. But often the scooters break down in the capable hands of our tourists or even crash. Sly rental station workers realized they could make good money from this and simply force you to pay for repairs of damaged equipment, presenting exorbitant bills. And our people don't realize that the scooters are insured and the locals' demands to pay for repairs are completely unjustified.
Theft
No one under any circumstances wants to become a victim of thieves. But theft, alas, is a fairly common occurrence, especially at resorts. In the same Egypt, you will be fleeced if you forget to declare all the valuables you brought. It's no secret that hotel staff are not always perfectly honest. So sometimes video cameras, cameras, and mobile phones disappear from rooms. If your loss was not previously declared, you won't see any compensation from the hotel.
In South Africa, a suitcase can go missing on the way from the airport to the hotel. How does that happen? No one knows. Except the thieves themselves, of course. They also steal in Europe. The most popular places for pickpockets are the capitals and major cities of Italy and Spain. Pay attention to groups of Gypsy children. With a noisy crowd, they will rush past, seemingly accidentally bumping into you, and then you'll find you've lost your wallet and other valuables.
In public transport, museums, and popular tourist routes, be especially vigilant. Hold your bag tighter if you find yourself on a warm sunny day on crowded Piazza di Spagna or at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Don't gawk at the monument to Cervantes in Madrid or at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
Thieves in the Czech capital are no less skilled. Don't daydream on Wenceslas Square in Prague, don't let yourself relax in shops and public transport. Pickpockets are also active in restaurants. While you're getting acquainted with local cuisine, they're checking the pockets of your coat. However, this phenomenon is common here too.
A separate story for those who are not afraid to risk their property in blessed Naples. Due to almost total unemployment, crime flourishes in this port town. Here, as in many other places in Italy, thieves use motor scooters for their own gain. A perpetrator slowly and sadly approaches unsuspecting individuals on a motor scooter, snatches a handbag from their hands, and speeds away.
Just don't think that if you've rented a car, you're exempt from precautionary measures. On the contrary. A motorized thief armed with a stick with a hook will pull bags and briefcases from an open car window while you're stuck in traffic. And will also speed away with your belongings. So when entering the city, despite the heat and lack of air conditioning, it's worth closing all windows.
Moreover, during twilight and night hours, you should not stray from the beaten tourist paths into dark alleys and narrow streets. There you can indeed run into real trouble.
Traffic Violations
Serious danger awaits those who prefer to travel around Europe by bus. Since our travel agencies do not always provide compatriots with new vehicles, they often break down, get into accidents, etc. Statistics sometimes yield surprising data. For instance, did you know that Belgium has the highest number of road traffic accidents per capita in Europe? It turns out the Belgians do not strictly follow traffic rules.
We cannot fail to mention Egyptian bus drivers, who instead of a decent trip from one city to another stage a "Formula 1," and each imagines themselves as at least Schumacher. Such races often lead to collisions and casualties among civilians, especially tourists.
The situation on Nepal's roads is also troubling. Here, drivers are also quite negligent about traffic rules. But they can be understood – there are no dividing lines or traffic lights on the roads of this country, and pedestrian crossings do not exist in principle. Moreover, the disorder is worsened by a large number of road users, including cyclists, motorcyclists, cycle rickshaws, and cattle, particularly sacred cows.
Tourists Get Blown Up
As paradoxical as it may sound, our compatriots prefer to vacation in the most troubled countries in the world. Take Turkey or Egypt, for example, where several explosions have occurred in recent years, in which domestic tourists were among those injured. Also on the list of countries with unstable internal political situations are Algeria, Bangladesh, Israel, Iraq, and Sri Lanka.
Without a piece of paper you're...
If while staying in another country you find yourself without a foreign passport, you must contact your home diplomatic mission. In exchange for the lost document, you will be issued a certificate proving your identity and giving you the right to return to your homeland. To be on the safe side, find out in advance the address and phone number of our mission and consular offices in the country you are traveling to. Before the trip, you should also make photocopies of the main pages of your foreign and internal passports and take them with you. It is advisable to keep the copies separate from your document packet during the trip. For issuing a return certificate, as well as for other consular actions, the foreign mission charges a consular fee.
Death penalty for cough drops
Drug possession is a crime that can cost you your life in at least five countries: China, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Keep this in mind when traveling there on vacation. In addition, in the UAE, drug use is punishable by imprisonment for 5 years. If your first aid kit contains narcotic-containing medications, the fact of their presence is equated to drug use. And punished accordingly.
There are situations where a tourist may simply be set up. To avoid this, the Foreign Ministry recommends that when crossing the border, you do not agree to requests to carry someone else's luggage under the pretext of excess weight, etc., and also do not accept letters, parcels, or other items from strangers for delivery, which could be used as hiding places for moving narcotics.