Adventure tubing warning, common sense or a really bad day

[laphanphon]

use a little common sense when on holiday, or you may have a really bad day, as this woman had. her husband, no life vest, and her, not using their heads, or doing there research, tubing in wet season on unfamiliar water

some highlights below, out of context, and insult to injury/death, she gets mugged the same day, along with insurance company denying claim, always there when you need them.

Husband drowns on honeymoon river adventure in Laos

A honeymoon ended in tragedy today when a woman found her new husband's body in a Laos river, three days after he went missing.

Floating down the river on giant tractor inner tubes is a popular activity in the region, described by the Lonely Planet guide as "one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit".

But the river they were tubing on had swelled dangerously because of the rainy season. All 20 tourists on the trip were separated and locals ran to the river banks with ropes and sticks to help them out. Everyone but O'Sullivan, from Cork, Ireland, was rescued. He had not been wearing a lifejacket.

After being pulled from the river herself, his wife drove up and down the river bank with the tour operator, stopping at bridges in the hope of throwing a rope to rescue her husband, but had to give up when it became too dark. On the way back to her hotel, she was mugged and her passport stolen by a man on a motorbike.

She spent the next three days searching for her husband, hiring boats and scouring the banks.

At 1:30pm local time today, she found his body in the river.

The Rough Guide warns readers planning to go tubing on the Nam Xong: "Before you grab your tube and race for the river, take note that a few people have drowned tubing down the river, which is swift in spots; it's quite easy to become temporarily separated from your tube. If you can't swim or are a weak swimmer, wear a lifejacket while tubing – the shops supplying the inner tubes should provide them."

O'Sullivan's brother John is travelling to Vang Viang to meet the authorities and bring his brother's body back to Ireland. Today, he criticised insurers who he said had refused to pay out on the $1,000 costs that were incurred during the search for his brother.

full story on link below:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/se ... livan-laos

[Khun Paul]

We see and hear so many of these stories, I do feel sorry for this woman and her loss, but so amny tourist leave sommonsense behind when they board planes.
As for the Insurance coy i wonder which one it was.

[Aardvark]

Don't think it matters KP, I'm sure in the fine print some where it would state that ALL necessary safety requirements should be met or the policy would be void. The Policy I use here in Oz which is underwritten by Loyds has a section pertaining to " Extreme Sports " and if not ticked would not cover you in these circumstances. Sad but a fact of life, or in this case.......

[Bower]

A few years ago we went on a family holiday to Cuba, no fault found, had a great holiday. This was the first time i had been on a package tour. We spent a day on a ranch,all my family ride and we were well looked after. However the Cuban rep asked us if we were British and told me that we must wear riding hats as we are British and the tour company insurance insist on it. We would have worn these hats anyway but we were the only nationality it was imposed upon.

[jamespipers]

They might lack of knowledge and they seem that they forgot to bring there commonsense. So, they just have to read some instruction on tubing.