Don't take it too personally when the shooting starts. They are almost certainly not shooting at you - and if they are, it is even safer since the level of marksmanship is so low (at least in all street shooting I have been caught up in) that you are almost invulnerable. Hollywood never comes to your aid at such moments. You would have thought that the rigorous early training we all get at the movies in both armed and unarmed fighting would have got into our reflexes. But it is all so much more muddled when it happens. Far from knowing when and where to duck, I could never make out where the fighting was coming from or which side of the wall or handy car to duck behind.

As for hand-to-hand fighting, far from the balletic, clearly defined choreography of cinematic bouts, it is generally a messy, confused affair in which everyone gets puffed, or sick, or falls over in a shambles of misunderstood intentions. Nor is there that crack on the jaw to let you know who is being hit when. So it is even poor in terms of spectator interest.

As a reporter, it is usually my job to be there and see what is happening. This means I cannot follow my own best advice, which is to get out.

Sticking around is the easy bit. It is the next stage of events, which sets in during and after the street blocks, cordons, summary arrests and general paralysis as order is imposed on a troubled area, that presents the visitor with new problems.

Communications with the outside world cease, public utilities go wrong and airports close. This is the guaranteed scenario. So forget the bullet-proof vest you wish you had thought of and get on with the practicalities. The first and best rule is worth observing before you leave home - never pack more than you can run with. Always include a smaller, lighter bag such as an airline bag, because if things get really nasty you need something handy with a shoulder strap to pick up and clear out with in a hurry.

Essentials

If you are in a situation in which something is likely to happen, it is worth keeping this bag packed with essentials. Do not run about with suitcases - you can't do it for long.

Always bring in your duty-free allowances if you know things are likely to get tough. Even if you are a non-smoking, teetotaller who hates scent, cigarettes, alcohol and perfume are the stuff of which bribes and rewards for favours are made. And as banks close or the money exchange goes berserk, they may end up as your only bargaining resource. And remember that drink is a useful stimulant, as well as a solace. If I have to stay up all night, I do it on regular small nips of whisky.

The next bit of advice will seem absurd at first, but you will regret having laughed at it if you ever get into one of those long-standing, semi-siege situations that sometimes happen when you are stuck in a hotel that either cannot or will not provide for you. Take one of those little aluminium pans with a solid fuel burner, so small it will slip into your pocket. You can boil water at the rate of quarter of a pint to one solid fuel stick, which is about the size of a cigarette. The whole thing is available from camping shops relatively cheaply. If you take a few tea bags or a small jar of instant coffee, this will not only help if you are a caffeine addict but also help to win friends and allies in an hour of need. Serve it up in a tooth mug, but don't forget to put a (metal) spoon in before you pour in the boiling water, or you'll crack the glass.

As the water supply will either shut down completely or turn a threatening colour, it is just as well to have a means of making water sterile. And at the very least it provides a shave. If things look ugly, it is a good idea to fill the bath. You can keep filling it if supplies continue, but you cannot get water at all if they really stop. Not only do you then have a means of keeping the toilet in a less revolting state, but you can also wash yourself and stave off thirst (boil or sterilise the water first, of course). I always like to carry a small box of biscuits, although this is nothing more than a psychological trick to reinforce feelings of self-sufficiency.

If things get really hectic, nobody in a hotel wants to know about you but they get rather interested in your property. It is a great time for getting everything stolen. I came back from Prague in 1968 with scarcely a thing left. What is yours suddenly becomes theirs. So remember that overnight bag and carry it with you everywhere.

Whether you should try to look less conspicuously foreign is a moot point. War correspondents usually get themselves kitted out in a sort of quasi-military get-up, and where there are women soldiers, as in Israel, I have too. If nothing else, it meant I could fill my taxi with girl soldiers and let them get me past the road blocks with their papers. But when I found myself in action before I had time to change, I was told afterwards by a captured sniper that it was my pretty pink blouse that had saved me. He'd had me in his sights and liked the colour, so he couldn't bring himself to shoot me.

You are much more likely to be holed up in your hotel, however. If things are exploding under fire, it is as well to get any movable glass down on the floor, draw curtains and blinds against window glass and drape mirrors you can't take down with blankets and towels. Glass is the biggest danger you face. Locate the fire escape, and if it's remote get yourself somewhere else to stay either in the same hotel or elsewhere.

Identity in a crisis

It is always worth trying to pretend you are from a country they are not having a row with, although local knowledge of nationalities is always limited, so don't try Finnish or Papuan. This is for occasional use when they are running around looking for someone to duff up. Hit the right nationality and you are so popular they won't put you down. Crowds are very emotional and the least thing sends them one way or the other.

Women are still quite often treated chivalrously in the Middle East. In some countries, I found that to get through road blocks I could simply say I was an 'English Miss', without having to hand over my passport with the damning word 'journalist' in it. What echoes it evoked, why they were so responsive, I never quite found out; but I liked to think that I had some modest affinity with those amazingly bossy English women, from Hester Stanhope onwards, who have travelled undaunted in the Middle East. Certainly I found that Muslim sentries were unable to challenge me. I always walked straight through, looking determined.

Another useful tip for visiting women in tricky situations in Muslim countries is to apply to visit the chief wife of whoever is in power. There is always a go-between who will arrange it for a sum, escort you there and help generally. As women in harems are bored out of their minds, they are usually delighted to see another woman from the outside world. If they like you, and you must make sure they do (that's where the duty-free scent or your best blouse or scarf come in), they will do a great deal to help. They always have more power than is generally believed.

Keep calling

While ordinary communications often stop altogether, it is a good idea to tell your family or company to keep on telephoning you from the outside. So often I have found it impossible to get calls out, while incoming calls made it.

You can always try the journalist's old trick of getting out to the airport, picking a friendly face about to board whatever aircraft is leaving and giving them a message to take.

One belief I have always held, which may not necessarily be true but has always worked for me, is that befriending a taxi driver can be extremely useful. They are a much-maligned lot. What you do is to practice your basic physiognomy - a derided skill, but it's all you've got - and pick a driver you think you can trust. Then use him all the time, paying him over the odds of course. Take an interest in him and his family, and you will find a friend.

A taxi driver not only knows where everything is and what is going on, but can also act as interpreter and spare hand. Explain what you are trying to do and they soon enter into the spirit of things. One taxi driver in Cyprus virtually did my job for me. Not only was he fearless, he was also accurate.