Edd Posted January 27, 2010 Posted January 27, 2010 Evening, I'm off to Riga early Friday for my mates stag weekend that I've organised. Anyone on here beenand can offer any advice on anything worth doing while we are there or places we must go? Chcked the weather and it was -23 and snowing today Also read up about how stag do's get targetted etc etc Wish me luck Quote
scruffythefirst Posted January 27, 2010 Posted January 27, 2010 Let us know how you get on, I'm sorting a stag do to Wroclaw in May for a mate. Quote
mark.anson Posted January 27, 2010 Posted January 27, 2010 Evening, I'm off to Riga early Friday for my mates stag weekend that I've organised. Anyone on here beenand can offer any advice on anything worth doing while we are there or places we must go? Chcked the weather and it was -23 and snowing today Also read up about how stag do's get targetted etc etc Wish me luck My best mate went on a stag do to Riga couple of years ago. He said they didnt have any specific trouble as such but said the place felt intimidating and he could wait to get back. And he's a handy lad too and not easily intimitated. Hope you enjoy it. As long as you stay to the popular pubs etc and exercise common sense you will be ok. After all theres a few places in this country I would avoid too. Quote
Edd Posted February 1, 2010 Author Posted February 1, 2010 Let us know how you get on, I'm sorting a stag do to Wroclaw in May for a mate. I will never in my life go to Riga or any russian linked country again! The place is very intimidating. It comes across like most people want to rip you off and steal from you. We managed to get:- multiple muggings one severe broken arm (happened on the friday but not realised until today!) the groom to be got hypothermia and frostbite in his fingers quite badly due to falling in the snow lots and getting very cold passing out in wet clothes - this was just after he had been mugged/injured and had his phone stolen someone thrown in back of police wagon resulting in breaking someones glasses for doing nothing but walking home drunk! I got mugged too and reported it to police by phone at the hotel (to get crime ref for insurance) and ended up being taken on my own to a police station without a proper coat (they told me it was round the corner but drove me 4 miles away) or money/phone then got interrogated (about being mugged!) by 4 different people yet they never asked me what phone i had nicked or to describe the muggers. then i was asked to sign a police report in latvian to which i refused so they said they'd get a translator in which was another hour late. I was very uneasy about this all and very concerned about it!! I eventually got released from the station as i refused to wait for a translator and asked if i could come back the next day which they eventually agreed and said i had to be there at a set time when the translator would be there and said i was free to go but I had to walk back to the hotel without a coat (it was snowing and -25) and no money and not knowing my way back. Plus the police took my passport when i got there so was very nervous but did get it back when i left. Was not happy at all and wished I hadn't f*cking bothered reporting it stolen. I did get home eventually after a 1hr 15 walk but was f*cking cold and felt like crap. Suffice to say I did not go back for my appointment and feel lucky to be home!fortunately 02 have agreed to replace my phone on insurance without a ref number as i told them the story above and they agreed to authorise the claim. There are also several other stories which I wont go in too We were a group of 10 people who are all 29-35 and were well behaved imo but still had these problems as the locals see you as cash cows to milk, rob and harm. We all walked away feeling like we had been intimated the whole time and lucky that worse didn't happen. The regular clubs still rip you off with dodgy card transactions but nearly all of us knew this had happened a lot so used cash only and no cards in pubs/strip clubs etc Google riga stag stories if you fancy reading some real horror stories! Quote
scruffythefirst Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Sounds like a normal night out with the crew in Aberdeen! Were you all dressed in stag style T-shirts etc or have a guide? Quote
oldman Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Best place for a Stag do IMHI is Epping Forest Quote
mark.anson Posted February 1, 2010 Posted February 1, 2010 Let us know how you get on, I'm sorting a stag do to Wroclaw in May for a mate. I will never in my life go to Riga or any russian linked country again! The place is very intimidating. It comes across like most people want to rip you off and steal from you. We managed to get:- multiple muggings one severe broken arm (happened on the friday but not realised until today!) the groom to be got hypothermia and frostbite in his fingers quite badly due to falling in the snow lots and getting very cold passing out in wet clothes - this was just after he had been mugged/injured and had his phone stolen someone thrown in back of police wagon resulting in breaking someones glasses for doing nothing but walking home drunk! I got mugged too and reported it to police by phone at the hotel (to get crime ref for insurance) and ended up being taken on my own to a police station without a proper coat (they told me it was round the corner but drove me 4 miles away) or money/phone then got interrogated (about being mugged!) by 4 different people yet they never asked me what phone i had nicked or to describe the muggers. then i was asked to sign a police report in latvian to which i refused so they said they'd get a translator in which was another hour late. I was very uneasy about this all and very concerned about it!! I eventually got released from the station as i refused to wait for a translator and asked if i could come back the next day which they eventually agreed and said i had to be there at a set time when the translator would be there and said i was free to go but I had to walk back to the hotel without a coat (it was snowing and -25) and no money and not knowing my way back. Plus the police took my passport when i got there so was very nervous but did get it back when i left. Was not happy at all and wished I hadn't f*cking bothered reporting it stolen. I did get home eventually after a 1hr 15 walk but was f*cking cold and felt like crap. Suffice to say I did not go back for my appointment and feel lucky to be home!fortunately 02 have agreed to replace my phone on insurance without a ref number as i told them the story above and they agreed to authorise the claim. There are also several other stories which I wont go in too We were a group of 10 people who are all 29-35 and were well behaved imo but still had these problems as the locals see you as cash cows to milk, rob and harm. We all walked away feeling like we had been intimated the whole time and lucky that worse didn't happen. The regular clubs still rip you off with dodgy card transactions but nearly all of us knew this had happened a lot so used cash only and no cards in pubs/strip clubs etc Google riga stag stories if you fancy reading some real horror stories! I feel a bit guilty for not making my earlier reply a bit more forthright as to my mates experience when he went. It was somewhat similar to yours albeit not quite as bad. Mind you he went with about ten lads from the local gym who are all built like brick****house's so that probably helped. All you can do now is put it down to experience! I hope the guy with the boken arm is OK Quote
Edd Posted February 1, 2010 Author Posted February 1, 2010 No we decided to keep it low key in terms of t shirts due to reading reports of problems in riga with stag parties! the stag p****d the bed both nights although he does now claim this was down to the hypothermia since seeing the doctor Quote
Buzz Billsberry Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 Who decided to go to Riga? lessoned learned. Always play safe with stag nights and go somewhere that is a bit different but not too far off the mark but keep away from the eastern block countries for sure I just heard so many bad stories Buzz Quote
FW500 Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 Quite interesting. I've been to a number of Eastern European countries without any problems although not specifically Riga. I'm planning a drive down to Prague, Bratislava and back up through Krakow and through Hamburg in the Westy this year. My biggest concern will be Slovakia but even this is probably considered Central Europe nowadays anyway. Quote
frubpato? Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 Dont worry about Slovakia, remember the capital Bratislava is only 30 miles from Vienna! Best thing to do in Slovakia is to praise them in relation to Czech - its a cheap trick but does wonders. From my experience English skills amongst young people are reasonable as they didnt have to do Russian at school. There are some good roads heading up towards Poland and the Tatra are great for quiet roads but the quality is a bit variable Quote
Edd Posted February 2, 2010 Author Posted February 2, 2010 Who decided to go to Riga? Guilty as charged Although it was a group decision and half the group had been to Riga before, although agreed things had changed. like everything, it is another life experience not to be repeated Quote
Cleggy the Spyder Man Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 Edd - sorry to hear about this - least you all made it back to live another day Scruffy - been to Wraclow many times for the Speedway GP me and my m8 always get incredibly drunk and we have never had any problems whatsoever - the local girls are stunning to look at but don't expect strip bars etc that are so common place in prague all I would say that it is great if you stick to the main square, but if you stray away from that the area gets a bit rough and I would not want to go away from the centre drunk at night I would say the place is well suited to a small group as long as you dont get silly but you do need to be careful Quote
scruffythefirst Posted February 2, 2010 Posted February 2, 2010 Cheers Cleggy, I was planning on staying around the square, got any hotel / apartment reccomendations? No strip bars? That might be a bit of a problem Quote
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