Travel question - what do you do when conditions aren't ideal?

(Note, I made this a poll to provide some suggested options, but please, ignore the options if you feel they aren't relevant or you don't like polls!)

I like to travel, and I like to take photographs, but I don't travel specifically for the purpose of photography. Quite often I'll end up somewhere where conditions aren't ideal for taking photos, either because of the weather, large numbers of people, etc. Because I tend not to stay very long in any one place I want to make the most of my time, which often means visiting places in the middle of the day when the light is most harsh. Anyway, having spent time following some of the excellent photos on this forum, I was wondering what more experienced photographers do.

Below is a small example - earlier in the year I had half a day free in Beijing, and having never been there I went to the Forbidden City. Middle of the day, flat grey skies, large crowds of people, etc. I'm happy I saw the place, but the photos were not great.

So what do you do if you're in a place and you don't think conditions are very good for taking photos?