Pocket Guides #12: Border crossing essentials

Rule number one: push the very British concept of queuing out of your head and ride straight to the front of any line.

Take your time to suss out your surroundings and make sure your bike is as secure as possible: borders are a magnet for a strange array of characters, and foreign travellers on big bikes attract them all.

Using fixers at borders can be a more efficient way of getting yourself through. They will charge, but if you gain a few hours and avoid tearing your hair out, then it can be money well spent.

Accept that part of the system may be under-the-table payments to the man with the stamp. If it’s only a few dollars, taking a stand on principle and refusing to pay can mean a prolonged and tedious experience.

There’ll always be variation on a theme to get your passport stamped: fill out a tourist visa, or go to a different office to buy a stamp. In any event, border officials are significantly better at pushing people across countries than they are private vehicles.

Before leaving home check all your documents. Make sure the chassis number on the V5C (the logbook) matches your bike, and that the name on the V5C is the same as on the passport. Have your original documents to hand and carry sufficient colour copies for every entry and exit.

Certain countries also require a carnet de passage: an import/export guarantee that the bike will leave the country you’re entering. In the UK, you can get one from a new carnet issuer called CARS (www.carseurope.net).

Some borders will also check for food and you’ll find yourself dumping dairy products, fresh meats and fruit in the bin. A good way to ward off a search is to have smelly laundry at the top of panniers.

Another amusing procedure you may find is bike fumigation, which is supposed to prevent insects getting into the next country and consists of a man spraying insecticide over the wheels of your bike.

Just when you think you’re done, there can be a final police check of all your documentation and then another by the security man in charge of raising the barrier.

Once through, ride far enough away for people not to bother you, then stop to double check all your documents.