Hola from country number 23. For people who were wondering why I didn’t post anything yesterday, there is a reason for everything. We , travel bloggers only talk about the glamorous part of traveling. But we, as hard core travelers know that there will be bad days too. Yesterday was one such bad day.
Portugal just did not want me to leave. I had planned every hotel, train and bus booking . Only thing I did not plan was how to get out of Algarvae. After all there were ample buses. But what I forgot was that it was a Sunday. Apparently there was only one bus and that left too early.
Finally after much hullabaloo and a very expensive private transfer , I finally reached Huelva, Spain just in time for my train to Madrid.
Now comes the fun part. I reached Madrid and decided to take the cab to my hostel. The cab driver did not know the place. So he dropped me at one side of a Plazza and told me that it was on the other side.
My phone was not working. So I spent the next 45 minutes- 1 hour trying to get directions to the hostel. Finally, I got there, only to realise that someone had stolen my wallet. Don’t ask me how. I was tired, lost and hungry. I was not careful and someone managed to do it.
Luckily we always take extra precautions. I had extra cash stored away and I managed to pay for my hostel dorm room ( I had paid only a part while booking).
It was already 11 pm by then. The first thing I did after I stopped panicking was to go to the police station to report it. There they made me call Visa to cancel all my cards which took me a really long time. By the time I finished filing my report, it was 2:30 Am. Thankfully Madrid does not sleep. I informed my family over Whatsapp post all this and went to sleep. By the time I woke up, my very powerful brother in law had already transferred cash.
So does that mean I pack up and go back home. No definitely not. I have decided to take it with a pinch of salt. Forget about the whole thing and go back to enjoying my trip. In midst of all this, I realised that it is, after all a great world with too many good people.
The kind receptionist at my hotel who helped me at the time of my crisis. The tourist relationship officer and the police officers at the police station who were patient with me and helped me when I broke down in front of them. The UAE money exchange. My family who knew exactly what to do ( there are really too many accountants in my family).
It makes for a good story. After all how many of you can say that you spent half a night in a police station? That reminds me I have to eat something. Here is to more such travel stories and also hoping that I don’t get robbed again.
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Book Accommodation
Booking is my go to resource for booking hotel accommodation and I use Airbnb for booking my homestays. I also compare prices on Tripadvisor always. Another one I always use is Expedia.
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Book Tours
I do go on a lot of day tours especially when I am traveling solo and love going on road trips with my husband.. Depending on convenience, my choices are Viator or Getyourguide.
Wow that was some experience!
Yes it was. 🙁
That must have been really tough!
Yes it was quite tough. But managed to get back home in one piece.