Azat Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 I have many great stories and will add some later, but I am going to start with my worst story. Just because it is so funny. 3 years ago I went to Armenia for the first time. I was going to my cousins wedding. Because of work and family responsibilities I could only go for 9 days. My sister and another cousin went 3 days prior to I and they were going to stay a bit longer. 2 days after I was to leave the country, my sister and cousin were suppose to go to Moscow for 2 days then to Geneva for another 3 days. Long story short... On the day of my departure I offered to bring 2 suitcases back and that way I could take back all the things that the girls did not need and they could travel light to Moscow and Switzerland. So Azat with 2 huge suitcases arrives at LAX. Well, I had forgotten that on my forehead it says "Always check this looser at customs". I get to LAX, pick up the luggage and immediately am approached by a customs rep who asks me to go to a room to be checked. I question him a bit why they want to check as I travel all the time(At that time I was on a plane at least every other week if not more often) and internally am getting a bit upset as I feel that they always discriminate against me as I have NEVER done anything shady, but always, and I mean always, get checked. First suitcase gets opened and it is gifts and my clothes and laundry that I am bringing back... He is looking at each item in the suitcase and questioning me on what it is. Including shirts, and pants and stupid things that he knows what they are, but is just being an ass. I am starting to run short on patients, but am not saying much. This is the smaller of the 2 suitcases. Then the second one is opened and this is all my sisters and cousins clothing and stuff that they did not need anymore that I am bringing back. :) So he is taking out dresses and blouses and such and asking me what they are. Initially I was saying "that is my sisters dress", or "my cousins pants" but after a bit I have no patients for this idiot so my answers switch to "That is my skirt" and "ya, that is my bra, a bit tight on me but still looks good". So now he is a total ass as well and calls the supervisor over who starts to question me. I told the guy the whole story and he walks back and advises the agent to continue the full search. Arggggg... Just when I think we are done the guy opens a drawer from the desk where he has my suitcase and takes out rubber gloves. My eyes just about pop out of my head as I am thinking that I am going to get strip searched, maybe even a cavity search(I am kind of excited now. No I am not. Just kidding, actually am really scared now) I have to tell you what happens next later on as I am running out of time and need to get ready for work... Hhehe. Na, I will tell you guys now. He put on the gloves and took the shaving kit that I had with me and started to go through that. (ahhh, what a relief) He then found a small piece of lint in the corner of the kit and takes out a tube to check for drugs... Not positive for drugs and at that time(almost 2 hours have passed since the plane has landed at this time) he said "Sir please start packing your bags. I did notice that on the customs document you had put 2 bottles of alcohol and you are actually bringing in 7".(so sue me, I did not want to pay the customs fee) then he told me "There is a substantial charge for inaccurate information on the form, but since I have kept you here for so long you may just go home" Ahhhh, what a relief. Anyways, got to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 LMAO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Hmm... I once brought in 10 cartoons of cigarettes and declared them. Only 1 or 2 are allowed, but nothing happened, they probably didn't read my declaration. Another time I brougth 2 rolls of basturma and a plastic bag full of other food like lavash, dried fruit and stuff like that, all undeclared. There is a $1000 fine for that, luckily they didn't check, but I was very nervous so I decided not to do it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sev-mard Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Being a broth(a) I get checked everywhere I go all the time. But I came home from Japan during the Winter vacation of 2001, right after 9/11 and I got stopped and/or searched: 1.) Leaving Japan 2.) Arriving in LAX 3. Leaving baggage claim 4.) Boarding on my way to Vegas for New Years 5.) When I landed in Vegas 6.) Boarding when returning to LA 7.) And yes....on the way off the plane in L.A. The only time I didn't get stopped and or searched was finally leaving the country and heading back to Japan. I mean they had me take my shoes off, hands above head. I had the worse seats because i was always like the last guy on the plane. Everytime time they said "You have been randomly selected for our search" Random my vor!? Everytime! I can laugh about it now, but then it was a royal pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ED Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 My best travel was in 2002 going to Armenia, I had a ticket with Virgin airlines, so they were late by 2 hours from LAX, and I had a connecting flight in London with British air, they said (virgin) I have to wait or fly out tomorrow, no way! made a scene "cant miss this flight I'm businessman and I have to be in Armenia tomorrow or I'll sue you" long story short Virgin booked me with British air which was leaving in 50 min, 1st class all the way to London, was wonderful and got pampered with those beautiful English flight attendants. The worst part coming back, now British was late arriving at Heathrow about 20 min, and there is a 50 min gap to connect with Virgin air, now, for those who never been at Heathrow, know how claustrophobic this place is, congested and hard to find anything, from terminal 3 to terminal 4 it takes 40 min and this is by bus and loooooooong walk. So I missed my plane for LAX. Ended up alone at Heathrow for 1 day, now British wont pay for hotel and virgin is not responsible. had a heatted argument with British air, I gave up I was tired and wanted to rest as soon as I could, now, I have to go thru customs, those Indian agents are funny I tell you, till I made them understand I was on fire. Virgin lost my suitcases and all the brandy was broken inside. For those who never flu thru Heathrow, don’t it’s a nightmare Tomorrow I should fly to Munich Germany, all paid for by my customer, this is going to be one trip I'll enjoy for sure, but then again you never know what will happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armat Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Ed please tell us the best part of your trip like limo rides in Armenia... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 That's funny Azat, I've always been checked travelling to LA as well... First dogs, then that x-ray thing. They never opened my bags though. Oh and I was "strip" searched once, with my clothes on, at Schiphol (I thought this was a bad name for an airport until I landed at Zvartnots) because my steel-cap doc martins beeped when I walked through the metal detector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 ... Oh and I was "strip" searched once, with my clothes on ... Hmmmmmmm Please explain in detail. This sounds like a technique that could home in handy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 My worst travel was on a train from western Ukraine to Murmansk (Russia). I was with a friend and a lot of luggage. We had to switch the train in Moscow. On the way to Moscow a gypsy family without tickets joined us in our compartment. They had 3 really nasty kids. They were all pigs, very dirty and smelly. Yet they had no problem traveling in 2 sits all 5 of them. The gypsy man learned that we were Armenian and told me that he had been in Yerevan years ago, that Yerevan is a very beautiful city, and that he had stolen a nice car from there. He was telling it like a great achievement from his heroic past. It was a long trip, I couldn't sleep well at night because of the smells and kids' noise and being worried that these gypsies might steal something from us. My friend was not bothered somehow so he slept well. One weird incident happened, the wife came out of the compartment to change her clothes as if she was ashamed to do it in our presence. Actually there were more people outside of the compartment than inside, that was weird. The husband got furious and they were quarreling in their language for a while, the wife was talking back and yelling non-stope, then the husband kicked her in the head and she shut up. That was pretty ugly. When we were crossing the border there was a short stop where Russian soldiers were checking the train. They saw my luggages and were suspicious of the contents, they decided to purge me out of the train to check my luggages and my identity. I was quite pissed because that meant I would have to wait for the next train in the middle of nowhere, so I got angry and complaining which didn't help my case at all. Luckily the gypsy man came to my resque by convincing the soldiers that I was an innocent poor guy and didn't mean to offend them in anyway, etc. Those gypsies know how to sweet talk and convince people, so I was left alone. Anyhow, we got in Moscow, we had no tickets for the second half of the trip, and there were no tickets to buy. We stayed in the train station for two nights checking the ticket box for tickets every half hour as they had said there would be, eventually we found tickets and we were all set for the continuation of the trip. But it was not easy, we couldn't go to a hotel because we might miss tickets, we were practically homeless. On top of that this was the time when some denominations of Soviet rubles changed, I had a lot of cash in those banknotes. If I didn't change on time I would loose all of it. And I was only allowed to change them at the place of my residence, Armenia, which was practically impossible. So I was searching for a Moscowite without money who could do it for me as there was a limit on the amount of cash one could change. Finally I found a more-less trustworthy looking alcoholic who was collecting empty bottles around the station, he exchanged my old banknotes with a small fee (a bottle of vodka ). On the way back afther 2-3 weeks I was travelling alone with the same luggages, I got cold and sick in the train. I was drinking tea and sweating all the time. The trip was mostly OK except when I woke up at night from a conversation between some young men with scars and black-eyes. These guys had joined me in the compartment while I was asleep, they were discussing my shoes. Luckily my shoes were nothing worthy so they decided not to steal, and they probably didn't notice my luggages as I had stuck them deep inside the storage box. I only traveled a few hours with them to Moscow. Finally I got back to Ukraine undamaged and without losses and went straight to bed. That was hell of a trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armat Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Sasun J,you seemed to had a colorful experiance.Your post almost read like a book. ok people aren't you so nagative? I mean thread also says "your best" so?where are the best experiances or is it that we humans only remember the worst and forget the best.(take my lost sentance with a grain of salt) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gevo27 Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 So Azat with 2 huge suitcases arrives at LAX. Well, I had forgotten that on my forehead it says "Always check this looser at customs". ... azat if i looked like this, i would get stripp searcvhed everytime as well!!!!! http://wtc.acmecargo.com/wtc-pics/osama-bin-laden.jpg --- Long quote fixed. --Sip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armat Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 My best trip was with my newly wedd fresh spanking wife off to Greece and Italy for two mouths. We were in heaven. Many great experiences we shared in Greece. That country is magical. I learned to ride a moped in Saturini and spent a whole week in the island bathing the sun semi nude and eating grapes and partying at nights. One Greek travel agent loved us so much that she placed us in first class hotel and restaurant meals without extra charge. Greece is truly breathtaking and probably the finest people on earth. Imagine five million tourists in Athens in summer and Greeks not showing any rudeness or anxieties. I asked direction zillion times and each time everyone politely made sure I got it all correctly. Try that in Paris… I can go on and on. One memory is really beautiful. We were in a small commuter boat going from one island to next and all of sudden the captain picked up a Bouzouki and started singing and playing in the middle of the sea. That was pure spirit and that man was a true poet… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 My best trip was with my newly wedd fresh spanking wife off to Greece and Italy for two mouths. WTMI !!!! (Waaaaay too much info ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 ok people aren't you so nagative? I mean thread also says "your best" so?where are the best experiances or is it that we humans only remember the worst and forget the best. Armat jan I never had a fully satisfactory trip, I don't travel much anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armat Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Sas jan I will call you up next time something cool comes up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamavor Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 (edited) Try that in Paris… I was misstreated once in Paris, only because I spoke English. Later, I explained to the waiter that I'm Armenian! " Armenie.... Oh, my Friend! Why don't you tell me from the very begining!!" Edited March 10, 2004 by gamavor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted March 10, 2004 Report Share Posted March 10, 2004 Sas jan I will call you up next time something cool comes up. That's a good idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gevo27 Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 I was misstreated once in Paris, only because I spoke English. Later, I explained to the waiter that I'm Armenian! " Armenie.... Oh, my Friend! Why don't you tell me from the very begining!!" everybody loves Armenians.. except Armenians i swear.. lol.. its sad.. i mean.. everyone i meet that goes ohhh your armo.. yeah i have couple armo friends, you guys are so nice people, great food blah blah blah.. but when you hear an armo, they say.. ahh.. barev aper.. laaav hajogh.. lol.. hmm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maral Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Ok picture this,me and a 6 month old baby,you know it's gonna go bad right? We get put in frist class because my husband is friends with the ticketing agents husband...ok so we're in first class....Ted Danson(actor from Cheers)and his first wife and girls are sitting next to me.... We take off....the baby starts crying...AND DOES NOT STOP till we get to Logan Airport(Boston)....I take her to the bathroom so I can give the people who paid more then I did a break...so what does the baby do...yup....she threw up on me....not pretty at all....I had this comfy red velvet outfit on,barf doesn't look pretty on any color velvet I found out...I come out,ready to tear my hair out and anyone who looks at me...Ted Dansons wife makes a baby toy out of two plastic martini glasses and drink stirrers....she taped them together and made them safe and pretty for the baby....so nice of her....I don't think Ted Danson likes me anymore We we got off the plane I thought about asking for a pic of the actor and my baby,but t hey all ran away from me very fast!Can't understand why though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Maral was that you? I actually have had similar experiences(yes more than one) and thus feel that people should never have children. (just kidding) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Upon returning from each and every trip that I have taken I have come home thinking that it was a great trip. With that said I should mention few of the most memorable trips. Best trip that I have ever been on. Armenian in 2000. It was my first time in Armenia on 19+ years. There was not a single moment during that trip that I did not enjoy. Highly recommend it to everyone. I travel a lot for the sake of art and museums. Certainly cities like London and Paris(although I am not a huge fan of Paris) , Amsterdam, Madrid*, NY, DC offer incredible museums with just magnificent art. The true art lovers paradise is Italy. Rome and Florence that are nothing short of open air museums. However the art that they hold within their museums cannot be matched with any museum in the world. So my trip to Italy in 1993 was most amazing. Most fun trip and the place that I want to visit again is Spain. Madrid, Barcelona(one of my most favorite cities in he world)Toledo. So many great cities and so much to offer. Spaniards are among the friendliest people in the world. In Madrid one should not miss the Royal Palace and the Prado and Baron Theissen museums. A sunny afternoon strolling through the Parque de Retiro, Madrid's huge park(near the Prado) was a daily must while I was there. Lunch at any of the outdoor cafes on Plaza Mayor a must. A one day-one night trip to Toledo, A+. In Barcelona one should visit the Picasso museum, the Miro museum, The Dali Museum, the Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell(if you love Gaudi), Las Ramblas(including the wonderful marketplace along it) has to be a daily walk, In fact to get the essence of the city we stayed in the Gothic Quarter-Barcelona historical district so I was "forced" to be on the Rumblas many times per day. Food is good throughout Spain and it's rare to find a bad meal or bad service. Tapas Rule!!! I can talk forever, but someone please stop me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Gevo jan, I take the sheets off my head and trim the beard when traveling so it is not as bad... ok couple of more airplane stories. I was traveling to Vancouver for a quick 3 day rejuvenation trip year and a half ago. I get to the airport a bit early to go through all the security crap they have now. Go through metal detectors(1st security check) without the alarm going, I am asked to go see one of the security guys who does the wand thing(2nd security check) on me. mind you at this time I was an Executive Platinum member of American Airlines so I do not even have to get a boarding pass or anything. Just swipe my card at the gate and board... Have coffee at the starbucks and goof of till it is time to board. I am in cattle class. As I get to the gate and swipe the card and am now trying to board the plane(about 5 feet from the plane door a security guard pulls me over and asks if they can do a quick check(3rd check). She mentions that it is nothing but a "random" check. She does the wand thing as well, checks my carry on and thanks me and I board the plane. We sit and are waiting for the plane to taxi off, all of a sudden they open the plane door again and 2 security guards are walking down the aisle. Being the idiot that I am I start thinning in my head "There must be some ahole in this plane who is either a criminal or has caused a major alarm to go off because I have never seen them reopen the doors and Airport cops coming into the plane." Sure enough that ahole turned out to be non other that Azatik. They ask me to take my carry-on go out with them for questioning. one leads me and the second behind we walk out. They ask me few quick questions, look in the carry on and do the wand thing again(4th check) and apologize and ask me to go back in. Now I am walking down the aisle with each and every passenger in the plane scared of me and giving me dirty looks. Get to my seat and sure enough some jerk has taken the place of my carry-on so I have to force my carry-on under the seat and we take off to WONDERFUL Vancouver. Vancouver as always was so great that I completely forgot about the hustle of getting there within 2 minutes of getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Second plane trip story. I am coming back from Jersey to visit the family. Have done this trip so much that by looking out the windows and the terrain I could guess how close we are to LA. We go past Vegas and are over Palm Springs area when the Capitan comes on the speakers and says "Ladies and gentleman, this is Capitan MosJan(may have been some other name), we are about 20 minutes from landing at LAX, unfortunately we have to make an emergency landing." Holly crap. Emergency Landing? that the hell does that mean? he continues "One we get to the airport you will notice many emergency gear ready for us and the runway is being closed for us. The flight attendants will instruct you what to do next" Oh my goodness. Now I am thinking that I am going to frickin die in a stinking plane crush. Flight attendants instruct us to take off out shoes and make sure all the aisles are clear. I am sitting in one of the emergency exits so they come and tell us how to open the emergency exits(plane travel scared #1, if you cant get a first class seat, get an emergency row as they are wider.) in case it needed. As we are 2 minutes from landing they instruct all of us to put our head between our arms and crouch down. Then the flaps come down lots of wind resistance(common to slow down th plain) first the rear tires hit the tarmac then the front and we come to a very smooth stop. All emergency gear approach us, but do nothing. After a 10 minute stop right on the runway we taxi off and exit the plane. This was the first time in my life that I was scared that we were really going to die, and one of the few times that I was THRILLED to be in LA. Oh yes, the moral of the story" Never get on a plane with MosJan as the pilot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armat Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 everybody loves Armenians.. except Armenians i swear.. lol.. its sad.. i mean.. everyone i meet that goes ohhh your armo.. yeah i have couple armo friends, you guys are so nice people, great food blah blah blah.. but when you hear an armo, they say.. ahh.. barev aper.. laaav hajogh.. lol.. hmm.... Gevo jan, may be that is true in LA but here in the East coast NY, Boston, Rhode Island Armos greet each other joyfully and always with a smile. You should see our annual church concert turn out. Huge! We get animals for kids, bands, games, great food even none Armenians join in. Anyway LA is the worst environment for just about everything including your perception of this country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sev-mard Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Anyway LA is the worst environment for just about everything including your perception of this country Hey hey, it's not that bad........well maybe kind of. But there are good things to living in L.A., but if you're too "L.A." for your own good, it's definately a bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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