immigration hall and give priority to commercial traffic in
the customs office so a couple of foreigners on motorbikes
will have no priority. At a remote rural post, customers
may be few and you may be a pleasant distraction from a
boring day.
In the same vein, pick the time for your crossing. If you
know the border will be busy on Monday morning when
many locals are returning from a weekend visiting family,
don't cross. It seems obvious, but we still get caught out
now and then. Ask the locals, they will know which time
is best.
Once the crossing site and time are settled, you need to
plan your crossing day. If possible, close-up on the border
and stay nearby the day before. This will allow you to be
first in line when the gates open and have plenty of time to
sort any problems.
The night before you cross, lay out your documents for
exit and entry, package them in a way that makes them
easy to access and hard to confuse. You will need original
documents for registration and ownership so have these
in protective sleeves to avoid damage. If you know you will
need photocopies, have them made and ready. Make sure
you have enough cash in the local currency to get all of the
administrative stuff done. This might include additional
photocopies of approved (stamped) documents or parking
fees or maybe just tips to make sure your bike is secure
while you are inside the official buildings.
You will also need local currency for the country you
are entering as there will often be administrative charges
or insurance costs at the border.
There may be an ATM located at the frontier but more
often a gaggle of money changers are eager for your busi-
ness. So, make sure you know what rate is reasonable for
a border exchange (check retail exchange rate at a bank in
the country you are leaving) and have a small amount of
hard currency ready and separated from the main stash.
Don't change more than you need at the border as you are
unlikely to get a good rate and, of course, keep your main
stash well hidden.
One final preparation before you arrive at the border is
to sort out your navigation for once you cross. These plac-
es are often chaotic market towns where you won't want
to be hanging around examining maps and programming
your GPS.
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