`Did you pack the bag yourself? Do the entire contents belong to you?" The questions are simple. They almost seem impudent and are often greeted with derision by holidaymakers. It brings an unwelcome serious note to overseas travel.

On a clear day, John from Munster (that's not his real name), flew out of Medan, Sumatra, with three friends. They were destined for Kuala Lumpur on the last leg of a round-the-world-trip and thought little of the region's reputation for drug-trafficking.

Without a second thought John, like everybody else, replied with a firm "yes" to the questions.

The end of the rainy season signalled the end of the sticky moisture-laden air which they had experienced in Australia.

John told The Irish Times: "After landing, we carried our rucksacks and gear to customs, where officers at the gate were searching the luggage of each of the passengers."

On seeing and checking their Irish passports they were waved through and walked out into the clear mild heat which follows the monsoon.

Rather than using a taxi from the company which clearly had a monopoly at the airport, they were convinced to take one from the back of the air terminal by a rival trying to get a cut of the business. John said this possibly saved them from injury or even death.

After taking the short trip and checking into a hostel, they decided to freshen up.

Tim (which is also not his real name) opened the flap of his bag and found a paper parcel, roughly the size of an A4 page, which he had never seen before. He opened it and found a brown powdery substance weighing about a pound along with a quantity of crystals.

Tim was sure it was heroin, possession of which carries a mandatory death sentence under Malaysian law.

"I didn't believe it was happening to us," John said, "everybody around me was losing their heads as we realised what could happen to us." Their hopes of enjoying the Chinese New Year dissipated as panic and fear for their lives set in.

A third member of the party, Mark (not his real name) kept his cool and began to flush the contents of the bag down the sink. After checking that the coast was clear he took the crystals which were left and shoved them in a bin on another floor in the hostel.

"We quickly checked out of the hostel and decided to take a train to a neighbouring city to wait until our flight out of there," John said.

Although shocked by the find, they presumed they were now in the clear. However as they made their way to the station they noticed a man following them.

"There was nobody else on the boulevard so it was easy to notice this guy meandering behind us. He eventually caught up with us and struck up a conversation with me," John said. "I was quite used to people approaching me and asking for money from our time in Indonesia but it was quite strange for it to happen in Malaysia. He asked me where we were going and so on - nothing really suspicious."

It was only when the man turned up at the station that they began to suspect something was going on. Thinking back on the incident now, John said: "We realised that we probably gave him the slip in the airport by not leaving in a taxi from the normal rank.

"After getting something to eat and looking around we saw that he was still hanging around and decided that he was probably after the package," John said.

They took a taxi back into the city and not realising there was an Irish embassy there, they rang the British embassy for help.

"Two people turned up after a few hours and they couldn't have been more helpful. They made us go through all our bags to make sure there wasn't any trace of anything else."

They contacted the Irish ambassador and he arrived to pick them up and brought them to the embassy. They stayed there overnight until they could fly out the next morning. They know that they were very lucky. John and his friends have nothing but praise for both the British and Irish embassy staff.

When contacted by The Irish Times the director of the Irish Travel Agents' Association, Mr Brendan Moran, said there were no guidelines for people travelling through areas in which this might happen. "We tell people to be vigilant, but that is all we can do."

Similarly, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said they were constrained from telling people that an area was dangerous because it would draw criticism and hostility from the countries' governments and tourist boards, as it could seriously damage their tourist figures.

"Did you pack your bag yourself?"

Maybe the questions aren't so insignificant after all.