Things can go from bad to worse...

[Canadian Dude]

Good mornig t-punkers.

In the afternoon yesturday I was walking down the canal near the Bull dog, when I was approached to buy some street drugs from a dealer. I , was quite polite and refused, he was a little pushy, but polite aswell, i thenoffered him a little bottle of Canadian Club that i had in my pocket from the plane, to which he was very happy to take. I spoke to him for the better part of an hour and found out that his name was John and he was born in South Americe but lived her for 32 years, I also found out that he is a welder by trade. It was a good conversation, he also gave me the heads up for all you Bacpackers out there to not by from street dealers, they are only out in the streets for themselves and that they sell more baby powder than coke and more wax balls than crack, to quote him, Why would these tourists buy on the street what the can buy in a coffe shop? ( he was refering to hash and weed and shrooms)...FYI, right from the horses mouth. I finished my talk with John, thanked him for the advise and went on my way.

This mornignI awoke at 4:00am and could not get back to sleep, I tossed and turned but no luck, so i got dressed to go and see if I could find a 24 hour breakfast place...it was very quite in the streetsat the time of the morning people here and there but no many at all compared to the night before...i passed the pizza shops i had passed the day before and i swear that the had the same pizza's in the windw!!! ewwwww!!!

I could find now where to eat, other than pizza so i gave up and headed back to my hostel, i made the mistake of walking down a streeet that did not have enough light or enough activity...I was not really paying attention to where i was and i was starting to get tired again. I head a Psst! out of one of the door ways, i just kept walking, the Psst turned into a broken Hey You!, To which I ignored...I just want to get off that street and i was not far from where another more busy street would intersect, i felt a hand on my shoulder so I spun around and went to punch who the hell it was, but with my poor cordination and his being a short ass, i missed and he gave me a shove to the ground, He told me he had a gun to which i never saw and he wanted me to buy all his drugs...I tld him al i had was 10E that was going to buy breakfast with, i was able to get up off the wet ground, but this was still a sticky situation...i had my back to he street intersection so I was unable to see a 2 more figures enter the alleway, I heard a voice that sounded really familiar, " You will back off him NOw, he is my friend!!" The drug dealer said he was just kidding and turned walking away in the opposite direction. I turned around and there was John who I had met over 13 hours before, he asked me what the hell i was doing here alone at night, i really did not have an answer, he told me the guy prop did not have a gun, but prop would have stapped me for the 10E i had. He said even the biggest tourist is not safe on some of the streets at night, just to stick to where there are people. I could not thak him enough, i tried to give his the 10E to go buy a coffee on me for him and his friend Ashmed, but he refused, he said he enjoyed our conversation and considered me a friend. He walked back with me to my hostle and that was that. Man I can tell ya one thing, don't judge a book by its cover, John was a very ;arge heavy set man who would scare then pants of off any one, and he helped me out and, and the ratty little guywas the one doing robberies...man thats nuts!!!

[zorbey]

wow dude, u were lucky! thanks for sharing, ill definetly keep in mind that stuff like this happens. can you tell where this happened?

----oh wait amsterdam, right? silly me.

[travelpunk]

Holy crap, dude! Thanks for that report! Tell your friend John that all Travelpunk.com´ers thank him for watching your back! You´re right, you really can´t judge the book by it´s cover.
That must have been a pretty freaky experience, bro. Glad to hear that you´re now out of harms way. That´s it, I´m bringing Dio with me the next time I travel somewhere shady! I´d hate to be the thief in her path. She´ll whomp some ass !
Don´t ya just hate those days when you´re super hungry sooo early in the morning, got no food, and everything is closed. Mannnn, Those are the days that you really wish they had a Denny´s in Europe


Do you carry a weapon on you for situation like this? Maybe a swiss army knife or something? It could come in handy.

Be safe, dude

[upstatecb]

Do you carry a weapon on you for situation like this? Maybe a swiss army knife or something? It could come in handy.

I'm all for self defense but I think sometimes people can get themselves in worse situations with having their own 'protection.' From what I've heard most people have their weapons turned against them in many situations.

CD - Sorry to hear about all of this. Amazing twist of fate too. Tell us more about how you offered him the Canadian Club. I'm having trouble picturing the scene...

[Canadian Dude]

Well, these dealers are all over the red light district, you have to speak to them wether you like it or not, normally it would be no thank you, but i just wanted to talk to the guy, so when he offered me some drugs, i politly refused, and then asked him if he would like a drink, he looked at me kinda curious like, so i pulled the bottle from my pocket and showed him, he took the bottle but i guess he trust me as much as i trusted him, he gave me back the bottle and told me to take the first drink, so i cracked it open and downed a bit, he took the bottle back and finished it off. Like i said, he turned out to be a great guy, and really intersting.

I was trying to get an official heads up from one of the dealers on a caution for tourists and what happens when tourist fall into the trap of buying from street dealers, and i got the low down, so mission accomplished!! B) B)

I am in Nijmegen now, i left Amsterdam this morning, i ran into John on my way to the train stn, ( i swear this guy does not sleep), I thanked him again, and went on my way!! I gave him a Canadian Button as a small token of his help.

[llemus7]

good to hear that everything worked out great for you in that situation CD. But you should have known better than walking in a not so lit area. John seemed like a good guy, and its true what you say dont judge a book by its cover.

Well CD, have fun on the rest of your trip, and becareful on where you walk from now on.

[Diorama]

oh no that suck! Dude sorry to here about that. At least you learned from it/ right?

And that's why you should have paid for my plane ticket there, cuz i could have been your body guard. But don't worry TP understands how important i am. So tp where are we going next? oh don't worry i'm sure your girlfriend won't mind.

seriously though, take care cd and stop trying to get the insider info on drugs! I can assure you that i dont need that info... :P

[CincyLSD]

yo cd, glad to hear you made it out ok...

[voyd]

Ha, same type thing happened to me and my friend (separately) in the Red Light District. This is apparently a VERY common ploy.

I was at the end of the street and this black dude tries to sell me some dope. I brush him off and keep walking for a few blocks. He keeps pestering me the whole damn way. I keep brushing him off. Finally, he gets angry and threatens me with, "Look, I've wasted all my time here, you better make this worth my while!" (I'm thinking to myself - G*DDAMN you got some f*ckin nerve BYCH - YOU've been wasting MY time AND your own.) He was skinny and not too intimidating tho, so I just walked away a little faster and he finally dropped off.

But my friend actually got threatened by a gang (to get stabbed) and ended up giving them his money.

Moral: Avoid the shady-lookin' characters at the ends of the street. They will threaten you with violence (bluffing or not) and they sell fake shyt anyways. So, I would just try to avoid contact/confrontation and try to keep your distance.

[travelpunk]

I hate backing down and feel like a coward if I ever do so. However, when in an unfamiliar place that appears seedy (like a lot of parts in the RL District), I just try to avoid shady individuals altogether. Most are easy to spot, so if you can do so, choose another route to walk. Streets with more people and well lit, even if it´s a longer route home. Also, when walking in unfamiliar territory, act like you know where you are. Thugs like lost indivuals. Put on your Bobby Deniro face, with a Clint Eastwood squint, and keep your hands centralized(incase you have to quickly block a punch or anything else coming atcha). Basic stuff, I know, but whatyagonnado

Just in case! For FYI. Most fights and just about all rapes, end up on the ground. Here are a couple of links to sample video clips that will show you a few techniques on how to fight/protect/defend yourself should you happen to find yourself in a dangerous situation. The clips are from the official world famous Brazilian Gracie JuiJitsu Academy near Los Angeles. I can vouch for the tips as I once studied there for 6 months.


WOMEN! Watch this clip on how to defend/protect yourself from a possible rape- RapeSafe quick video tips

General- Sample clips that really do work (You´ve seen them used on the Ultimatef Fighting Championships- Sample clips


Be safe and stay alert

[upstatecb]

When a shady person approaches me, I usually just ignore them. Sounds like it's nearly impossible in the RLD.

CD - My question is why did you turn to punch ? Is it assumed in those areas that if someone is on you like that then they are on the attack ?

[Canadian Dude]

I did it because of tone of voice, and they way i was grabbed, i can asure you it was not a friendly grab, it was a grab to spin me around. I should have thought more of the situation before I reacted, but you know what they say, you never know how you will act unless your put into the situation.

[Hayley210]

Whoa CDude, thats scary stuff! Hope I dont ever run in2 anything like that! But hey, I didn't practice judo 4 7 years to get me arse kicked!!! Watch your backs dealers!

[waterboy716]

thoroughly enjoyed the story

[PlayPal]

Damn, the RL district sounds really hospitable...Thanks for the tips though everybody. I'm brand new to backpacking, so it's nice to feel at least a little bit informed before I head over.

[TimmyJames1976]

wow, i'm heading to a-dam in june, and it's my first trip to europe...good to know. i live near philadelphia, and was always getting "if you go inot the city" tips, so this may help some people out, and i may actually employ when i go overseas. what the tip states is that you should carry a money clip in addition to your normal stash of cash, but in the clip you have a $5 with two or three$1's underneath for some bulk. You can make that Euros intsead of dollars of course. so the idea is, if you do get attacked, you can throw the money clip with the very small amount of money in it away from the two of you and yell at the guy, something like "there ya go, you want my money, there it is." That can give you some distance and a chance to make some get away moves while somewhat appeasing the thug as well. it's not fool proff, but its not a bad attempt at an out. just an idea.

[BroadAbroad]

I experienced an attempted pick-pocketing on the bus in Rome. Although I pride myself on my street smarts, I couldn't believe that I could ever be a victim. I'll tell you the best thing to be when anyone messes with you in a public place--A LOUD AMERICAN! Loud Americans are obnoxious, even to Americans & it got the perps off my ass! These thiefs can be sneaky. I heard stories from people I met that they had money stolen from one of those neck-holder wallets. How do you not feel that?!?! I don't know, but all I can say is...

1. Money belts are GOOD (the waist type)
2. Padlock your backpack (carry key in money belt)
3. Have "fake" stash in pocket or sock...so if you do get cornered, you can act like "that's all I have." I met someone who did this.

BUT---most important is to HAVE FUN! So many people told me when I took off solo for my month-long journey "BE SAFE BE SAFE BE SAFE!" With some common sense...you can be. Hope this helps some.

PS, by the way: A-Dam felt really safe & homey. Just don't respond to anyone offerring you "Charlie" in the Red Light.

[manuelgat]

I wonder how could they write that the red light district is a safe place to walk through!I have read it in a lot of guides in amsterdam!The first time I've been there 3 puertorican boys approached me and a friend of mine at 5 PM among all the people strolling and closed us to the wall shouting us to give them 100 of their old value (approx 80€ now) for their protection.Of course the protection they were talking of was from theirselves!
I gave them the money for I was just arrived and a lot of money with me and I've been lucky they haven't taken it all!
The very bad thing is that a lot of people just passed by and didn't do anything just looked the other way!
This is just to beware people that amsterdam red light district is not safe during the day as they want you to believe!
Anyway always safer than the night when i advice nobody to go out for a stroll in the centre or in the damrak!
I love amsterdam that's why I only stay in the leidseplein area at night which is much safer than dam square nearbys!