How to avoid being mugged ... and flying Roman babiesTravel Blog
The Age (Australia)
WORKING for a tour company in Europe, we were always told to warn our passengers about the flying babies in Rome. Granted, I'd never actually met anyone it had happened to (and still haven't), but we were trying to cover our arses.
We'd been told, by those highly reliable powers that be in head office, about a fairly sinister ploy being used by Gypsies in the Italian capital to rob tourists.
Typically, an old woman would approach a suitably gullible-looking tourist, and throw what appeared to be a baby wrapped in a shawl at them. The obvious reaction, of course, is to catch said flying baby, at which point a few well-trained hands (often those of small kids) would slip into the tourist's pockets and relieve them of their valuables.
Sometimes, muggings are as simple as a flash of a knife. Sometimes, they're as elaborate as the flying Roman babies. But regardless of where you are in the world, there are usually people out to get you.
Fortunately I've never been mugged, or had a plastic baby thrown at me, but I could think of nothing worse than being robbed while travelling. You spend all those months (sometimes years) saving for your big trip, only to have plans thrown into disarray by, usually, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I've written previously about the scams to cheat travellers out of a few bucks, but a few people have written in in the past few weeks asking for tips on personal safety, for avoiding the more sinister ways of losing your money. As one reader, Helen, put it: "In Asia, your biggest worry is someone scamming you on a rigged taxi meter ... European thieves and robbers are a whole different kettle of fish."
In my experience, there are two types of traveller-targeted robberies: the organised and usually deceitful crime you usually find in Europe's tourist hot-spots, and the more opportunist crime you're likely to encounter in poorer countries.
Rome is notorious for its pickpockets, and muggings in varying degrees of violence. If you're ever riding the subway or walking through crowded areas, it's a good idea to carry your bag in front of you, where you can keep an eye on it. I've met some pretty experienced travellers who've had their loads mysteriously lightened in Rome.
Also, women shouldn't carry a normal handbag. One of the scams I've heard of a few times is guys on scooters flying by and grabbing women's handbags as they go past. Don't wear one of those stupid bumbag things either - they practically scream "gullible tourist" ... and they look crap.
Although Rome's the worst, those tips are worth remembering for every European city. Another that's fairly obvious, but not always easy to achieve if you're travelling alone, is not to wander around by yourself at night, particularly if you're drunk. If you're going boozing till the wee hours, try to find someone from your hostel who's going back there at the same time as you. If you can't, grab a cab, even if it's only a short walk.
That's not to say you should lock yourself in your room every night if you're travelling solo. It's more a case of trusting your instincts. If a situation feels dodgy, it normally is. Get out of there as quickly as you can.
For general travel, always keep an eye on your bags. If you're catching buses, watch the bloke throw your pack in the luggage bin before you get on. Keep your day pack under your seat, rather than in the top racks where anyone can wander past and grab it.
I also like the little wire cables you can now get to secure your backpack. They're great when you want to, say, sleep on a train, or there are no lockers in hostel dorm rooms. Little things like that tend to discourage the opportunist robbers.
Despite all of those precautions, however, there's still a chance you could wind up in a dodgy situation faced with the prospect of getting mugged. If that happens, don't fight it. Is hanging onto your passport and a few traveller's cheques worth your life? I doubt it.
A friend of mine, whom I'll protect with anonymity, managed to get himself into a bit of a situation in Cambodia, but got away unscathed after handing over his cash. Taking up a local thug's offer of "smokey smokey" in Siem Reap, he'd jumped on the back of said thug's motorbike to go and collect the gear.
Oh, this was at about 3am.
In a great surprise to absolutely no one, he was then driven down a dark alley in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by about 20 people who demanded he hand over all the cash he had on him. He pulled out about $80 US, handed it over, and was promptly loaded back onto the motorbike and given a lift back to his hotel. Robbery with a smile!
A few people have asked me to list certain suburbs of big cities where muggings are more frequent, but I think that's a bit pointless - if it's just not your day, you're as likely to get mugged in Sydney or Melbourne as you are in, say, South Central LA.
So I'll leave you with the charming piece of advice an old tour leader once gave me in Rome: "Kick the kids, and drop the babies."
Have you ever been robbed or mugged? What's your advice for staying safe on the road?
Hope you're enjoying the Backpacker blog. There'll be a new one up on theage.com.au every Wednesday, for a bit of light relief to remind you of why you went to work in the first place: to save up enough money to get the hell out of here! If there are any good travel topics you think I've missed, drop me a line at bgroundwater@fairfax.com.au.
We'd been told, by those highly reliable powers that be in head office, about a fairly sinister ploy being used by Gypsies in the Italian capital to rob tourists.
Typically, an old woman would approach a suitably gullible-looking tourist, and throw what appeared to be a baby wrapped in a shawl at them. The obvious reaction, of course, is to catch said flying baby, at which point a few well-trained hands (often those of small kids) would slip into the tourist's pockets and relieve them of their valuables.
Sometimes, muggings are as simple as a flash of a knife. Sometimes, they're as elaborate as the flying Roman babies. But regardless of where you are in the world, there are usually people out to get you.
Fortunately I've never been mugged, or had a plastic baby thrown at me, but I could think of nothing worse than being robbed while travelling. You spend all those months (sometimes years) saving for your big trip, only to have plans thrown into disarray by, usually, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I've written previously about the scams to cheat travellers out of a few bucks, but a few people have written in in the past few weeks asking for tips on personal safety, for avoiding the more sinister ways of losing your money. As one reader, Helen, put it: "In Asia, your biggest worry is someone scamming you on a rigged taxi meter ... European thieves and robbers are a whole different kettle of fish."
In my experience, there are two types of traveller-targeted robberies: the organised and usually deceitful crime you usually find in Europe's tourist hot-spots, and the more opportunist crime you're likely to encounter in poorer countries.
Rome is notorious for its pickpockets, and muggings in varying degrees of violence. If you're ever riding the subway or walking through crowded areas, it's a good idea to carry your bag in front of you, where you can keep an eye on it. I've met some pretty experienced travellers who've had their loads mysteriously lightened in Rome.
Also, women shouldn't carry a normal handbag. One of the scams I've heard of a few times is guys on scooters flying by and grabbing women's handbags as they go past. Don't wear one of those stupid bumbag things either - they practically scream "gullible tourist" ... and they look crap.
Although Rome's the worst, those tips are worth remembering for every European city. Another that's fairly obvious, but not always easy to achieve if you're travelling alone, is not to wander around by yourself at night, particularly if you're drunk. If you're going boozing till the wee hours, try to find someone from your hostel who's going back there at the same time as you. If you can't, grab a cab, even if it's only a short walk.
That's not to say you should lock yourself in your room every night if you're travelling solo. It's more a case of trusting your instincts. If a situation feels dodgy, it normally is. Get out of there as quickly as you can.
For general travel, always keep an eye on your bags. If you're catching buses, watch the bloke throw your pack in the luggage bin before you get on. Keep your day pack under your seat, rather than in the top racks where anyone can wander past and grab it.
I also like the little wire cables you can now get to secure your backpack. They're great when you want to, say, sleep on a train, or there are no lockers in hostel dorm rooms. Little things like that tend to discourage the opportunist robbers.
Despite all of those precautions, however, there's still a chance you could wind up in a dodgy situation faced with the prospect of getting mugged. If that happens, don't fight it. Is hanging onto your passport and a few traveller's cheques worth your life? I doubt it.
A friend of mine, whom I'll protect with anonymity, managed to get himself into a bit of a situation in Cambodia, but got away unscathed after handing over his cash. Taking up a local thug's offer of "smokey smokey" in Siem Reap, he'd jumped on the back of said thug's motorbike to go and collect the gear.
Oh, this was at about 3am.
In a great surprise to absolutely no one, he was then driven down a dark alley in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by about 20 people who demanded he hand over all the cash he had on him. He pulled out about $80 US, handed it over, and was promptly loaded back onto the motorbike and given a lift back to his hotel. Robbery with a smile!
A few people have asked me to list certain suburbs of big cities where muggings are more frequent, but I think that's a bit pointless - if it's just not your day, you're as likely to get mugged in Sydney or Melbourne as you are in, say, South Central LA.
So I'll leave you with the charming piece of advice an old tour leader once gave me in Rome: "Kick the kids, and drop the babies."
Have you ever been robbed or mugged? What's your advice for staying safe on the road?
Hope you're enjoying the Backpacker blog. There'll be a new one up on theage.com.au every Wednesday, for a bit of light relief to remind you of why you went to work in the first place: to save up enough money to get the hell out of here! If there are any good travel topics you think I've missed, drop me a line at bgroundwater@fairfax.com.au.
1 comment:
I don't always agree with you, but I see that you are objective in your
postings. Despite the differences I still enjoy reading your posts and I
often learn even when our viewpoints are different. :-)
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