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Home Backpacking Lifestyle

March 5, 2016

10 Reasons Why I Shouldn’t be Alive

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Coming to terms with my adventures over recent years, let’s face it: I have been in pretty volatile situations and I should be lucky to still be alive. Yet not all of my escapes are related to troubled regions and ‘unsafe’ countries. Some on my list might come to you as a surprise. 

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10. I raced down Bolivia’s Death Road

Bolivia's Death Road
Bolivia’s Death Road, it is estimated 200 to 300 people died here every year.

‘El Camino de la Muerte’, it’s among the world’s most lethal roads. When I arrived to my hostel in Bolivia’s capital La Paz, a guest had cycled this road the day before and fell 20 meters down a steep cliff. He broke his back in two places and was still in hospital when I left two weeks later.

That never held me back though. I successfully raced down the road, which places my experience on Bolivia’s Death Road at number 10.

9. I got locked up inside an ancient Egyptian tomb

Horemheb tomb, in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt
Locked up inside the Horemheb tomb, the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (from more than 3200 years ago).

When I was attending a press event at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt I accidentally got locked up inside a tomb deep underground. Without phone reception and no one knowing of our presence, it could have ended up bad. Luckily me and the three others managed to shout for help and we were saved moments later. For this reason you can find this unique adventure at number 9.

8. Hitchhiking gone wrong in Ukraine

Hitchhiking into Ukraine, minutes before the ride from hell.
Hitchhiking into Ukraine, minutes before the ride from hell.

After successfully hitchhiking out of Transnistria, me and a friend had difficulties catching the next ride to Odessa, Ukraine. The only offer we got was by two young guys in an old Opel who did not speak any English. With little other options we got in and quickly realised we made a mistake.

The guys starting talking about huge amounts of dollars, drove like mad and did not want to let us out. The situation was getting out of hand quickly so I tricked them into riding to an ATM. After the car stopped we quickly jumped out and escaped from this ride from hell.

7. I needed a police escort in Colombia

Bogota police escort
A secret (and slightly failed) selfie while under police escort in Bogota, Colombia.

Unlike many other travellers I never enjoyed Colombia’s capital city. One of the reasons could be that I couldn’t even walk from a shop towards a nearby hostel without a police escort. The shop owner warned me about walking alone, even at day time. I was reluctant to follow this advice, yet I did see police patrolling on every street corner (no joke!).

In the end the only way the shop owner let me go was to ask the police to escort me to the next place. We walked a few hundred meters over empty streets and I’m still not sure what was up that day.

6. I had a bus accident in Peru

A truck crashed into the back of our bus in Peru. Luckily the driver managed to steer away for most of it.
A truck crashed into the back of our bus in Peru. Luckily the driver managed to steer away for most of it.

One of the most dangerous things about travelling is actually the travelling itself. Bus travel in some countries is very dangerous and I am lucky that so far I have never been involved in any serious traffic accident.

It got close in Peru though, when a loud bang woke me up after a rather sleepless night journey. In dense fog a truck had crashed into the back of our bus but luckily managed to dodge most of it at the last moment. A direct hit could have send us crashing down the cliff, it wouldn’t be the first time that happens in Peru.

5. I almost broke my neck in Australia

Town of 1770, Australia
Bodyboarding in Australia is more dangerous than it seems.

It might surprise you to see such an innocent activity at number 5. Fact is that I almost broke my neck in Byron Bay, Australia while bodyboarding in the ocean.

The accident happened while attempting to ride a huge wave. Before I could even surf along it already broke up near the shore. I nosedived and slammed straight with my head on the ocean floor. Immediately the same wave rolled over my legs, folding my body double, when I heard something snap. A week later I went for a scan in Brisbane’s hospital and needed physiotherapy to recover.

4. I escaped a violent curfew in Bangladesh

A newspaper in Dhaka reporting about the buses that were attacked that morning
A newspaper in Dhaka reporting about the buses that were attacked on the same morning as when I travelled.

In 2013 I travelled around Bangladesh during a period of political unrest. Attempting to force a nation-wide strike, one of the main opposition groups threatened to attack any bus that would still be driving through the streets of Dhaka after 6AM.

Because I needed to catch a flight, I had no other option than to take the only bus available to the capital. After 10 hours of a horrible night ride at breakneck speed, thankfully we safely arrived at 5:30am. The driver kicked everyone out and started making his escape from Dhaka as quickly as possible. That morning however 20 buses were attacked and set on fire as I saw on the news that afternoon.

3. I travelled Mozambique’s deadliest road

Another bullet hole in a bus parked at Junta. The driver told me the woman in the seat had died.
A week-old bullet hole in a bus parked at Junta, Maputo, which killed the woman in the seat.

Another country with political unrest is Mozambique. In a dispute with the government, the main opposition was almost daily targeting a highway killing innocent citizens in planned gunfire attacks. I have seen the actual bullet holes myself (see picture) and talked to the bus drivers about the incidents they had been in.

It seemed like Russian roulette, but I managed to travel Mozambique’s deadliest road under military escort. The hack is that I went two weeks after a truce was signed and no more attacks took place ever since. You can find my full story here.

2. I got stuck in Soweto at 3AM

Stuck in Soweto at 3AM with little options to get out.
Stuck in Soweto at 3AM with little options to get out. Then a fight breaks out.

While in Soweto, South Africa me and two friends met someone who wanted to show us his neighbourhood, visiting friends and several other places.

We thought it was a unique chance to see the real thing, though we agreed to return to our hostel (45-minute drive away) before dark. Yet due to some circumstances at around midnight we were still in Soweto when our ‘guide’ suddenly disappeared. For 2 hours we tried to reach him by phone, without success. We already started talking to bar owners if we could sleep there for the night. Then all of the sudden he showed up in a car as if nothing happened. We were happy because we could finally tell him to bring us home.

But he wanted to show us more places, and somehow we agreed because he was a good guy. We ended up from one small ghetto bar into the other. Driving over dirt roads through the pitch dark, deep inside the slums. There was no other way than to go with the flow since he was the only one who could drive us home. It was an insane party and everyone told us we were the first ever white people to show up there. People were very happy to see us and getting really excited.

Then a fight over a girl broke out between two guys. Bottles started flying overhead and people were getting stabbed. I saw people running around with serious blood stains on shirts, etc. I fled behind the DJ, people around me trying to keep me safe. Our guide, a former cage fighter whom everyone was absolutely terrified off, decided it was time to leave. He suspected people were getting guns and so we ran to the car and got out as quickly as we could.

1. I was held at gunpoint in Mozambique

A typical street scene in Maputo, Mozambique
A typical street scene in Maputo, Mozambique.

Police in Mozambique are notoriously corrupt. Extortion is part of daily life and one of the most common tactics for public police is to stop foreigners, ask for their passport and only giving it back after a bribe.

The way we prepared for this was to only carry a notarised copy of the passport and visa, no wallet and just a tiny amount of cash. Then one afternoon we walked passed a police man about 100 meters from our hostel. He called us, yet I refused to stop because I knew exactly what he wanted to do. I knew that the day before he already took passports of others who payed a hefty bribe to get it back.

I thought I controlled the situation. But the police man started running after us, shouting even more. “Keep walking, don’t look back”, I told my friends in a slightly nervous way. The police man overtook us, turned around and cocked his AK47. The sound of it shocked the people on the streets. It stopped us in our tracks while I was looking straight into the barrel of his gun.

What followed was a half-hour strip-search on all of us. The policeman started complaining about my camera, making it up that I needed a permit for it. Other corrupt police officers joined in, threatening to take us for blood tests, etc. We remained calm knowing it was all part of the scare tactics. Then the man with the AK47 changed his tone and asked us “how we were going to solve this situation”. A helpful local who had assisted us in the translations explained this was the moment we needed to pay a bribe.

We reluctantly gave him our leftover 5 dollars, which obviously wasn’t enough for him. But I think everyone thought it was taking too long anyway, so he kind of accepted it. We were let go and the morning after we left the city as quickly as we could.

Ps. It might not surprise you that I have no photo of the incident. Yet the picture above shows a typical street scene in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital city.

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I’m stepping out of the spot light! It’s bee I’m stepping out of the spot light! 

It’s been a wonderful and eventful three months of travelling around Africa and Saudi Arabia and a pleasure to share it all with you guys! But it’s time to get back to normal (working) life again, so that’s why I’m posting this from the comforts of my home in the Netherlands.

I might create some reels of my past adventures, but the pace of me using social media will drop significantly. As you might know, I don’t use Instagram that much when I’m not travelling. So the moment I will, you will be the first to know! 

Thanks all once again for following me and tagging along on my journeys around the world!

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#travel #instatravel #fuji_travel #wanderlust #picoftheday #travelphotography #exploretheworld #worldtraveller #everycountry #everypassportstamp #beautifuldestinations #traveldestination #backpacker #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #natgeotravel #passionpassport #nomadmania #aroundtheworld #jeddah #visitsaudiarabia #saudiarabia
What a great party at the 2023 Grand Prix Formula What a great party at the 2023 Grand Prix Formula One in Jeddah!

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#swedishhousemafia #saudiarabiangp #concert #performance #dj #visitsaudi #jeddah #travel #party #mood #disco #edm #dancemusic #electronicmusic #holiday #grandprix #saudiarabia #shm #mdlbeast #formula1jeddah
Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 in 2023 Travelling to Saudi Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 in 2023

Travelling to Saudi Arabia all by yourself? No tour guides or sponsored trips? Totally possible! I hired a car and drove 3.000 km from Riyadh to Jeddah!

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#adventure #tourism #visitsaudiarabia #travel #travelblogger #wanderlust #worldtrip #aroundtheworldpics
Wealth is not measured by how much money you have. Wealth is not measured by how much money you have. Neither by how much you travelled and the experiences you gathered. It’s determined by the number of camels you own.

How many camels do you have?

#camelmarket #saudiarabia #visitsaudi #visitsaudiarabia #market #animals #souq #travel #instatravel #fuji_travel #wanderlust #picoftheday #travelphotography #exploretheworld #worldtraveller #everycountry #everypassportstamp #beautifuldestinations #traveldestination #backpacker #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #natgeotravel #passionpassport #nomadmania #aroundtheworld
Where the road ends, is where the adventure starts Where the road ends, is where the adventure starts.

#saudiarabia #visitsaudi #visitsaudiarabia #independenttravel #tourist #travel #instatravel #fuji_travel #wanderlust #picoftheday #travelphotography #exploretheworld #worldtraveller #everycountry #everypassportstamp #beautifuldestinations #traveldestination #backpacker #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #natgeotravel #passionpassport #nomadmania #aroundtheworld #travelquotes
Is it safe to travel in West and Central Africa? W Is it safe to travel in West and Central Africa? Well, after two months travelling using public transport I came a long way and made it to my final destination!

Yes, I did get malaria twice and road transport is not always the safest. But never did I encounter crime, hate, violence, etc. Just smiles and curiosity.

It’s been mostly solitary travel though. I did not meet many other like-minded people on the road. In these regions, solo travel really means solo. Eating out alone almost every day. Going on hikes all by yourself. Staying in a hospital without anyone visiting you. Always paying for a double room by yourself.

But in the end, my two months here have been full of nice and memorable encounters. The tea guy at the bus station, selling amazing ginger lemon tea. The Ghanian woman who crossed the border into Togo with me. The young boy selling ice cream for absolutely no money. The local kid who offered me water when I was totally thirsty.

Soon I will leave this continent once again, but for sure the continent will not leave me. I’ll be back!

#ghana #togo #benin #saotome #gabon #cameroon #westafrica #centralafrica #africa #travel #instatravel #selfie #wanderlust #picoftheday #travelphotography #exploretheworld #worldtraveller #everycountry #everypassportstamp #beautifuldestinations #traveldestination #backpacker #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #natgeotravel #passionpassport #nomadmania #aroundtheworld #peoplephotography
São Tomé and the iconic Cão Grande. I guess you São Tomé and the iconic Cão Grande. I guess you all liked this photo from my stories, so why not post it here as well?

Have you been to Sao Tome? Did you do a self drive like me, on a motor? Or by car? With a guide? Let me know how you travelled around the island so others can read and learn about the different options! 

#saotome #paradiseisland #paradise #mountain #island #principe #saotomeprincipe #travel #instatravel #fuji_travel #wanderlust #picoftheday #travelphotography #exploretheworld #worldtraveller #everycountry #everypassportstamp #beautifuldestinations #traveldestination #backpacker #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #natgeotravel #passionpassport #nomadmania #aroundtheworld
People of Togo ❤️ #travel #instatravel #iphon People of Togo ❤️

#travel #instatravel #iphone11 #apple #iphonephotography #africa #westafrica #facesofafrica #humans #humansofafrica #wanderlust #picoftheday #travelphotography #exploretheworld #worldtraveller #everycountry #everypassportstamp #beautifuldestinations #traveldestination #backpacker #solotravel #adventure #adventuretravel #natgeotravel #passionpassport #nomadmania #aroundtheworld
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