Post by ozgringo on Dec 15, 2016 14:23:25 GMT -5
From www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/travellers-stories/i-was-mugged-at-gunpoint-by-the-worlds-friendliest-criminal/news-story/1193befd8a4e47a9a964858bbd46f4fc
"IT’S NOT often that you hear someone describe the guy who robbed them at gunpoint as a good bloke.
But that’s exactly how I’d describe the thief who held up my boyfriend and I in Bogota, Colombia recently.
Allow me to elaborate.
We were walking back to our hostel after a night out involving a few too many tequila shots.
Until then, we’d spent nine months travelling throughout South America without even the slightest incident.
We felt confident — smug, even — that we were streetwise enough to handle ourselves in the continent.
Until said tequila shots were downed, and suddenly we forgot the fact that we were walking through the historic but seedy La Candelaria district. At 3am. Alone.
We also neglected to notice the heavily armed cops lining the street as we left the bar, and somehow failed the recall the signs plastered all over the hostel virtually begging guests to catch a taxi instead of walking around the area at night.
In our defence, we’d only just arrived in the city after spending a crazy number of hours on a bus, the hostel was only 800m away, and we had walked to the bar without dramas, so we thought we’d be fine to walk back as well.
Big mistake.
Almost as soon as we turned a corner away from that reassuring swarm of cops and their weapons, we were approached by a rough looking guy mumbling something.
I assumed he was selling bootleg DVDs or chewing gum like most other people who pester you on the street in South America, so I said a polite but firm “no, gracias!” and continued my conversation.
But the guy kept following us and mumbling, lifting his shirt a couple of times, and suddenly, I saw my boyfriend hand over a wad of notes.
I thought it was odd that my boyfriend was feeling so generous towards a complete stranger all of a sudden — and then I saw the gun.
He wasn’t trying to sell us anything. We were being mugged. At gunpoint.
But here’s where’s the story gets strange: apart from the whole gun thing, our mugger was a total gentleman.
Yes, he hissed at my boyfriend to be “mas rapido” as he fumbled with the cash, but he also let us keep the wallet and all our cards.
Another case in point: after we handed over our money, he pulled my boyfriend’s phone out of his pocket.
Fuelled by tequila and the thief’s nice-guy persona, I tried to grab it back, and we explained in broken Spanish that we needed it for directions back to our hostel.
Instead of shooting us on the spot like your regular armed criminal, the man shrugged, handed back the phone — and shook my boyfriend’s hand.
That’s right — he sealed the transaction with a courteous handshake, as if a mutually agreeable business deal had just taken place.
As the guy walked away, I started laughing hysterically. Partly due to relief, and partly because it had been one of the most bizarre experiences of my life.
If you’re reading this and feeling put off about travelling to Bogota or Colombia, please don’t be.
It’s an incredible city and country filled with some of the nicest people in the world (including the criminals, apparently).
And the whole incident was completely avoidable — it only happened thanks to our own stupidity, after all.
Staying safe and in possession of your belongings in Bogota is as simple as it is in any big city anywhere in the world: don’t carry valuables or lots of cash with you, don’t walk in dodgy areas alone at night, and if you are held up, hand over your belongings immediately without arguing (advice we mostly ignored that night. Sorry, mum).
All in all, we only lost a grand total of about $30 Australian dollars.
But hey — we gained a fairly great story to tell.
Alexis Carey is currently travelling the word for a year with her partner. You can follow her travels on Instagram @the_gap_year./ "
Very lucky they meet the world's friendliest criminal.
"IT’S NOT often that you hear someone describe the guy who robbed them at gunpoint as a good bloke.
But that’s exactly how I’d describe the thief who held up my boyfriend and I in Bogota, Colombia recently.
Allow me to elaborate.
We were walking back to our hostel after a night out involving a few too many tequila shots.
Until then, we’d spent nine months travelling throughout South America without even the slightest incident.
We felt confident — smug, even — that we were streetwise enough to handle ourselves in the continent.
Until said tequila shots were downed, and suddenly we forgot the fact that we were walking through the historic but seedy La Candelaria district. At 3am. Alone.
We also neglected to notice the heavily armed cops lining the street as we left the bar, and somehow failed the recall the signs plastered all over the hostel virtually begging guests to catch a taxi instead of walking around the area at night.
In our defence, we’d only just arrived in the city after spending a crazy number of hours on a bus, the hostel was only 800m away, and we had walked to the bar without dramas, so we thought we’d be fine to walk back as well.
Big mistake.
Almost as soon as we turned a corner away from that reassuring swarm of cops and their weapons, we were approached by a rough looking guy mumbling something.
I assumed he was selling bootleg DVDs or chewing gum like most other people who pester you on the street in South America, so I said a polite but firm “no, gracias!” and continued my conversation.
But the guy kept following us and mumbling, lifting his shirt a couple of times, and suddenly, I saw my boyfriend hand over a wad of notes.
I thought it was odd that my boyfriend was feeling so generous towards a complete stranger all of a sudden — and then I saw the gun.
He wasn’t trying to sell us anything. We were being mugged. At gunpoint.
But here’s where’s the story gets strange: apart from the whole gun thing, our mugger was a total gentleman.
Yes, he hissed at my boyfriend to be “mas rapido” as he fumbled with the cash, but he also let us keep the wallet and all our cards.
Another case in point: after we handed over our money, he pulled my boyfriend’s phone out of his pocket.
Fuelled by tequila and the thief’s nice-guy persona, I tried to grab it back, and we explained in broken Spanish that we needed it for directions back to our hostel.
Instead of shooting us on the spot like your regular armed criminal, the man shrugged, handed back the phone — and shook my boyfriend’s hand.
That’s right — he sealed the transaction with a courteous handshake, as if a mutually agreeable business deal had just taken place.
As the guy walked away, I started laughing hysterically. Partly due to relief, and partly because it had been one of the most bizarre experiences of my life.
If you’re reading this and feeling put off about travelling to Bogota or Colombia, please don’t be.
It’s an incredible city and country filled with some of the nicest people in the world (including the criminals, apparently).
And the whole incident was completely avoidable — it only happened thanks to our own stupidity, after all.
Staying safe and in possession of your belongings in Bogota is as simple as it is in any big city anywhere in the world: don’t carry valuables or lots of cash with you, don’t walk in dodgy areas alone at night, and if you are held up, hand over your belongings immediately without arguing (advice we mostly ignored that night. Sorry, mum).
All in all, we only lost a grand total of about $30 Australian dollars.
But hey — we gained a fairly great story to tell.
Alexis Carey is currently travelling the word for a year with her partner. You can follow her travels on Instagram @the_gap_year./ "
Very lucky they meet the world's friendliest criminal.