My stepdaughter, Ursula (Ursi for short) has been traveling in Nepal & India since October. She went all on her own, at the tender age of 18. That show guts, I think.
She’s was having a fabulous time in Nepal. She did the Annapurna trek, bungee jumped (the video almost gave her dad a heart attack!), explored Katmandu, and met all sorts of interesting people. The perfect GAP year experience. I have to admit, I was a little envious.
Then she went to India, which is a more difficult place. She had a love/hate relationship with the place (her words) until a few days ago, when it turned to hate.
She had just withdrawn a largish sum of money (to save on bank fees) when she had a very common travelers experience. The bump and steal on public transportation. While getting off a bus, a woman bumped into her aggressively and stole her money belt, out of her tote bag. She lost all of her cash, her passport, and all the ID that she had on her. The police were disrespectful and mean to her. I understand that there is resentment towards “rich” westerners, but come on, she’s a kid!
We have sent her scanned copies of all her documents and are waiting to hear what the consulate says about how long a replacement passport will take. It’s hard to be across the world from her when she is in need. Thankfully, she is with a couple of friends she met up with there but they will be moving on to Thailand on the 11th. Her mother was planning to meet her for Christmas break, so she’ll be arriving on the 18th.
Poor girl. I hope this doesn’t sour her on traveling in developing countries, they are often the most mind opening and life changing experiences. I think that she is an incredibly adventurous and brave young woman. Hopefully, when the emotional rollercoaster has settled down, she will chalk it all up to a live lesson and continue to explore the world.
I know quite a few people who have been victims of the bump & steal, or other methods of thievery. Have you ever been robbed while traveling? If so, what happened and do you have any advice for Ursi?
I was robbed in La Paz, Bolivia: bagpack with all my stuff, camera, notebook… The police was awful and they told me right away they couldn’t do anything for me. I got a paper for my insurance company though and got some money back. It was actually fun to buy clothes, toothbrush and everthing else on the street markets of La Paz. I had a friend there who helped me through the experience but it was not very nice.
A few days after this happend to me, a girl who stayed in a hostal down the street from mine was murdered when she went out to buy cigarrettes. I felt REALLY lucky, because all I had lost was just stuff….
A year later me and my then boyfriend (now husband) were robbed at gunpoint at a beach in Central Chile. That was actually the most scary experience of my entire life! But I still travel, I am just more carefull in some situations.
Nancy – that sounds terrible! I live in Spain and am really shocked to read your story! I perceive the police here as correct and even nice. But I live in Catalonia (Northern Spain) and machismo is not as severe here as in Southern Spain.
Erin: I really hope your stepdaughter will not lose her interest in travel because of this experience! She seems to be an amazing and brave girl!
I was robbed on a train in spain (not in the rain)
never to take anything lying down, I cracked the case (I speak Spanish fluently) and had the guy arrested and then watched as the police kicked the @#%^ out of him. Scared the wits out of me. I was yelling “hey, go easy. Stop hitting him”. The machismo in the police would not let up.
I was in my early twenties.
Yikes. I had not thought of it for a while. Think I will lock my girls up.
Your stepdaughter looks lovely! I bet she thinks you are a cool cat.
The same thing happened to my dad in Paris! Tourists are targets around the world.
What a brave girl and what a wonderful experience. Hopefully she can put it behind her and continue on this fabulous journey!
Oh, how awful! Poor thing… I haven’t done much travelling (yet) so I’ve not had this kind of experience. I hope, as you said, that she’ll be able to maintain a happy attitude about travelling… it’s good that she has friends to meet up with, and that her mum is coming. But, BALLS!!! Suck.
Oh poor girl! That sucks. I’ve done a bit of travelling but I luckily have never had anything like that happen to her. I’m happy she has some friends over there! She is beautiful! Oh and tell your hub I gave my mom the same heart attacke with a bungee video…she didn’t talk to me for a few days!