Borders

Entre Lagos is one of those dusty border towns that are fun to have experienced, but not particularly fun to be at. It's a confusing mess of ramshackle houses, empty buildings and sandy lanes. The Mozambican immigration is at the railway (which is apparently not in use) and from there a dirt trail follows the rails to the Malawian immigration a couple of kilometres away. The view over the plains from the rails are spectacular and a stark contrast to the otherwise bleak border crossing. It is possible to sleep, eat and change money in Entre Lagos, but the first two will no doubt be an experience.

The border crossing at Gembu - Banyo between Nigeria and Cameroon is really out of the way. It's located on the Mambilla Plateau, which rises up to about 2000 m above sea level. The road is a potholed dirt road, which passes several villages on the way (picture). Cows graze the otherwise mostly barren soft rolling hils which make up the plateau. Due to the high altitude it's nicely chilled up here.

Grense Jakobselv is considered the "End of Norway". It's not the most northern part of (mainland) Norway, but if you go any further north, you will end up in the Barents Sea, and if you go any further east, you end up in Russia. The beach is one of Norway's finest and seeing the midnight sun from here is just spectacular. There is an old stone church, King Oscar II Champel, built in 1869 to reinforce Norway's claim to the territory. The bumpy road to Grense Jakobselv literally runs along the Russian border and is apparently not open during winter.

Treriksrøysa is a point where the borders of Norway, Finland and Russia meet. It might not sound too crazy, but the journey you have to undertake to get here is. First you need to get to Kirkenes, which is far away in the first place. Then you need to drive to Øvre Pasvik National Park, which is a bumpy road, but sealed. Then follows a 19 km long potholed dirt road through forest and past lakes, and very close to the Russian border (your cell phone might switch to a Russian network). Then there is the last 5.5 km of beautiful hiking along a well marked path with sections of boardwalk. You feel very remote out here in the middle of nowhere, with only bears and Russia as neighbors (and the Norwegian military). However, do not cross into Russia, not even sticking your arm or peeing inside their territory, for heavy fines will follow (for there are cameras). It's alright to venture into the Finnish side and have a short peek. The actual mark for the border intersection isn't particularly mind blowing, but the adventure is.

The Khunjerab National Park is located to the extreme north of Pakistan along the border to China. It's best known for being home to snow leopards, but the huge national park (5,544 sq. km) is the natural habitat for several endangered species, like Marco Polo sheeps, brown bear, Blue sheep, Tibetan wild ass and Himalayan ibex. Due to the high elevation of 4,000 m or more, the flora is equally unique. The high altitude road crosses the Khunjerab Pass (4,693 m) before ending at the border to China, which is an attraction of itself.

The lowering flag ceremony at the border at Wagah between India and Pakistan has been going on since 1948. It's a wicked theateral show, where the border guards try to out-do each in down steering, shouting, and silly walks. It's a big attraction on both sides and there are stadium size sitting area on both sides (though the Indians is way bigger). When the border closes at 4 pm you are allowed to enter the sitting area. Both sides start to blast patriotic music on max volume out of big loudspeakers, while cheerleaders (males) are getting the crowd pumped. The actual flag lowering ceremony starts a sunset at around 5:30 pm and is free of charge. Times might change whether it's summer or winter, check before going, and remember your passport.

Crossing over the Parana River from Posadas, Argentina to Encarnacion, Paraguay, you get the feeling that you have crossed into another world. On the Argentine side the buildings are tall and shiny, the streets alive with people, lights and music and the roofs topped with bars overlooking the river. However as soon as you step off the bus after crossing the very elaborate Puente Roque Gonzalez de Santacruz Bridge, clutching your newly acquired Visa, the streets turn a red, dirt colour and the effectiveness of the Argentine garbage removal system disappears. With many border crossings in South America the landscape and scenery separating the two countries is quite similar and the feeling of entering a new, foreign state lacks. However crossing from Argentina into Paraguay gives you the feeling that you have caught the bus one stop too many leaving civilization behind you.

If you want to travel like a local through South America then this is the bus route for you. The Trans-Chaco Hwy is one of the only sealed roads that leads north out of Paraguay. Trying to find a timetable/ticket office for the route to Sucre, Bolivia from either Asuncion or Filadelphia, Paraguay is hard enough. The key to this journey is to be very, very patient. From Mariscal Estigaribbia (closest town to Bolivian border) the bus arrives at 4am and doesn’t leave until 5:30am due to passport control consisting of one man, grumpy from being woken up. From here the bus has the potential to stop 6 times, four of these stops for immigration, security checks and so on and the other two for break-downs. Make sure you give yourself a couple of days as the trip can take anywhere from 6hrs-36hrs considering how many times the bus breaks down.

The island of St. Martin is split into two sides, the French Saint-Martin and the Dutch Sint Maarten. The two separate sides are run as two different countries with different currencies (EU on the French and Netherlands Antillean guilder on the Dutch) though USD are widely accepted most places, and different language (French and Dutch/English). There are four border crossings, all open with no checkpoints whatsoever. Just some flags and a change in the the road condition (good on the French side, potholed on the Dutch) indicates that you have moved from one side to another.

The main border crossing between Mauritania and Senegal, at Rosso, is notorious for corrupt officials, hustlers and for being a dump of a town. This on both sides of the border. So why not cross the border 100 km to the east? Here are no hustlers and the border officials are friendly and helpful in all kind of matters (even if you have overstayed your Mauritania visa, as we found out). Best of all, the setting is a pretty colonial town. The border crossing itself is done by crossing the Senegal River in small pirogues from the renovated colonial port. Podor deserves a short visit in its own right and due to the scarcity of transportation here it's probably necessarily to spend a night regardless. One or two taxi-brousses go directly between the village of Leksaiba II on the Mauritania side, while transportation to Saint Louis from Podor leaves at first light. Alternative, it's possible to make the trip between Podor and Saint Louis in smaller stages in less than half a day.