Heaven and Hell: Sleeping in airports around the world

How broke would you have to be to spend the night sleeping on a squat toilet in a Chinese train station? Would you even think of it? Randy Y. not only thought about it, he did it.

“I was in Xi’an in western China when I ran out of money. I decided to put a blanket on a squat toilet and give it a shot… The smell really doesn’t bother me. I saved 4 CAD by sleeping there, so I guess it was a good idea.”

Randy’s account was posted on the website SleepingInAirports.net, where travelers share advice on free places to slumber. The website focuses primarily on airports, but also includes reports from people who have slept everywhere from a Mexican junkyard to the back seat of a rental car (after bribing the rental car agent).

Of course, there is no way to confirm the stories on the website, but if a majority say something to the effect of, “I’ll not say anything about the seats at the departure hall because they simply do not exist,” there’s a good chance they’re telling the truth.

The seat-less airport was in Moscow, voted the world’s worst airport. Visitors said the Moscow staff was “hostile,” the airport a “ghastly place, poorly lit, dirty, unsafe… A truly nightmare experience. Don’t even THINK about it.”

Los Angeles International Airport was fourth runner up for the world’s worst airport, and was the worst in the United States. One person wrote, “If I’d been forced to spend one more hour in LAX I would have jumped in front of a plane. Africa, Asia, South America… I’ve not been through a single airport in any of these developing countries with an airport as putrid as LAX.”

On a positive note, Seoul Incheon was the most popular airport, immaculate to the point of posting the janitor’s mobile phone number in the bathrooms in case maintenance was needed between hourly cleanings. Though they are expensive, the airport also offers sleeping rooms, shower, and massage services.

Posted by | Comments Off on Heaven and Hell: Sleeping in airports around the world  | January 19, 2007
Category: Notes from the collective travel mind

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