Well I have had the pleaure of having some friends over for dinner, or should I say they had me for dinner.....

The hostel that I stayed in in Belfast seemed to have a little problem that I did not notice until it was far to late...After my first nights sleep at this hostel, when i showered i noticed two red marks on my back, the were not to itchy, i figured they might be zitz and i did not pay them much mind...well at 4am this past Monday, the day I was suppose to leave Belfast I woke up in a very uncomfortable state, ITCHY AS HELL!!! I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, i was covered from head to toe in bites from something, my face, arms, legs, waistline, just completley covered...i was a regular buffet for these little bastards. I went back to my bed and searched with my lighter to find out what had done this to me and what I found looked like this http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/graphics1/bedbug3.jpg

BEWARE FOLKS, they can lurk where you don't know, i don't know how to protect yourself from these monsters when you staying in a hostel be just becarefull.

I look like a freak with all these bites on me, i had to hide my face on the plane and have been to 3 doctors since I got home 2 days ago, I am off work and taking 3 different types of drugs for how bad this is. The only thing I have going for me is that it happened on the last day of my trip!!!


Here is a link to learn more about Bed Bugs

Oh yes please check the Hostel Penalty Box for the review of this hostel

Woooaaa. :mellow:
I'm sure you'll heal up on your own, but how long will that take?

Well i can't go to work like this, so i will be off until Monday...should be cleared up by then...My boss is not happy :angry: :angry:

hehe this sux but your post was kinda funny. WHen you were taking a shower and you thought the bites were zits...hehe

okay i'm done laughing cd. and your right at least it happened on your last day. Imagine you had this at the beginning! :o

I've seen the outcome of bed bugs. Was in a hostel room in nice, france. the girl sleeping in the bunk beside me woke up with her legs covered in bites. The hostel owner denied it was from his bunks....stupid man...anyways for my duration of my stay i was terrified. nothing creepier then bugs in your bed.

hope you get better. :wub:

Dang...I´m feeling your pain, brotha. I had a few on my feet and ankles at a place in Mexico, and that sucked! I can´t imagine what it would be like with bites all over my legs :o Now, I always wear socks(the ankle high kind) when I´m in a hostel bed. Good feeling feet are necessary while you´re backpacking ;) .

Bed bugs in our beds. It´s the gamble that we take when as budget travelers.

This is one of the reasons why I try to budget enough money for private rooms on my trips. It could mount to several hundred dollars more overall, but in the end, you´re much less likely to encounter these little bed devils. Many of the hostels that I´ve seen that had tons of beds in one room, also had some serious MadMax looking dudes, that probably hadn´t seen a shower in several weeks, and are no strangers to super guerilla style survival(sleeping in parks/streets for days, etc...). These are the guys that bring in those little bed freaks. They normally can´t afford to stay in privates, so they settle for the cheapest beds.

Hope you get better soon, dude :P A few beers each day may help to alleviate the pain ;)

Wow, that really sucks, Canadian Dude. Hope you get better soon!

It's a coincidence, I was going to post a query about bed bugs on here because I'm a little worried about the little critters on my Europe trip. I'm going in Oct, so I'm not sure if their more prevalent at certain times of the year / weather or not - but I suspect they're a year-round problem.

I did speak to my Travel Doctor about bed bugs and he did mention a couple of things:

* Obviously if you can avoid or minimise the chances of coming into contact with the critters, like TravelPunk said with pricate rooms etc.

* If you do suspect bed bugs, move your bed (if possible) away from walls. They like to hide in wallpaper and can climb the wall, I would assume.

* Leave a light on, as bed bugs are more active in the dark. I know I have no problems sleeping with a light on but some people may... but it's an option especially if you're in your own private room and you can sleep like that.

* And sleep in sheets impregnated with permethrin to further reduce attacks. I think you can buy detergent like permethrin and wash the sheets in it and dry them before you sleep in them - but as a backpacker in a hostel, it's a little inconvenient. But I do believe there are also permethrin products that you can just spray around your bed and mattress etc as a precaution to kill the little buggers.

Apparently, permethrin acts more as a killer for bed bugs, fleas, ticks etc rather than a repellent. It kills on contact and is safe, colourless, odourless and biodegradable.

Well, that's all the info I've got on the critters. Hopefully, I don't come into contact with them, but chances are...

Dude, thats good info!!! I wish I had of thought of it before i went!!! Hopefully with this information others will not go through what i have gone through. I think the worst part about it was that for the 250 or so bites i got...i felt only 1, thats right, only 1, and thats the one that woke me up to find my body covered in red bites. :angry:

I am on Steriods and Synthetic Hormones, and I am getting better, my face has cleared up and my wrists or not to bad , still itchy though, my waist line and legs are still bad.

Thank God for free heatth care, i have been to 3 different doctors in 3 days!

Great info on the bugs! CD I hope it heals up for ya with a quickness.

GROSS to the MAX but GREAT REPORT, CD, and "Glacier" good tips about bedbugs living in wallpaper, getting a private room, and leaving the light on. I'd never heard of permathrin befoe but will definitely look for it and keep it at our hostel style hotel, The Townhouse near the Manila airports and beachfront resort on Boracay Island. Every wet season between June and Nov we have problems with mildew type odors in our rooms since they're not as occupied as during the winter months. So we wash the walls with vinegar followed by bleach diluted in water; actually one of our Canadian guests from the northeast turned me onto that tip about the vinegar. To my knowledge we've NEVER had a bedbug problem but it's good to be prepared with that permthrin; where's the BEST place to buy it in bulk?

Hey Glacier, I seemed to have missed your posting (was in LA for almost a week)- Great tips!

PhilB, Man...if all hostel owners took as much care about their visitors like you do, there wouldn´t be a Hostel Penalty Box! Thanks for taking care of the travelers to Boracay Island in the Philippines B)

i have heard that you can bring lavendar essential oil (smells good too) and use a cotton ball to rub it all over your mattress to ward off bed bugs - it's pretty cheap, a $5 bottle should last a months trip.

Really? Good frick'n tip, joan! That $5 is great insurance...just ask Canadian Dude :huh:

that's fuckin' funny as hell!

damn, i miss tony being on the boards... all these months without him. :crybaby:
it's crazy some of the newer folks never had the chance to experience him as a regular poster... sad.

Yeah Joan it is pretty sad. But when the Godfather gets some free time he will be back. :)

This might be a good investment to bring with you for a quick pre-sleep spray down.

http://www.e-bug.net/cgi-bin/store/commerc...rds=Lice+Killer

Check it out

Bed Bug Kit #1
Our Bed Bug elimination kit contains 1pt of Suspend SC, 1lb of Drione Dust, two 13oz aerosol cans of Claire Lice Killer, one Hand Duster, and a Chapin pump-up sprayer. You save $20 by ordering this kit.

$144.45


I would love to see some one pull one of thes out of their pack :lol:

seriously thought thanks for the warnings and good info.

and yes this thread is two years old.

so you're saying i should not have purchased kit 1? :unsure:

And now we have this from Reuters

Apparently bedbugs are enjoying quite the renaissance in the American hotel industry, which means it is only a matter of time before the catch a transatlantic flight and start thoroughly infiltrating europe.

Did anyone ever try the lavander oil thing yet? does it work?

i think joan's done it and i assume she wouldnt reccomend it if she hasn't...but it's only 5 bucks really where's the harm in trying it anyways? and yeah, where do you get this permethrin stuff? (preferably, if u know of any stores that are also in CAN) I do NOT want shit loads of bites when i go..... :huh: