Crossing borders

In the last two months I’ve crossed a few borders and every border crossing is the same yet different in many ways. The most fascinating so far is indeed the border between Tibet and Nepal. Leaving a country where every document is checked thoroughly as well as your bags (especially the Lonely Planet tends to get much attention from the Chinese customs) and you’re ticked off a list of Tibetan permit holders. From there on you cross “the friendship bridge” – the biggest oxymoron I’ve seen in my entire life. The bridge crosses a major rafting river and is the only connection between Nepal and Tibet for miles. You leave the archway on the Tibetan side and cross the 100 meter long bridge of friendship. On this short, but beautiful bridge you find around 15 Chinese soldiers armed with semi-automatic weapons – major symbols of friendship if you ask me. After spending a 100 meters in no-man’s-land you enter Nepal where there are no armed soldiers or soldiers in any sense and you literally have to go house hunting to find the immigration office. When you finally find this overcrowded little room, you fill out the forms, stand in line, pay the visa in USD, get a signature from the immigration officer (who is playing Tetris on the computer with his daughter) and of you go. Welcome to Nepal!

Entering Nepal coming from Tibet is an experience in itself due to the fact that the border is separating two worlds completely different from one another, and it seems to be keeping them separate as well. I’ve pointed out some opposites that came to my mind on the first few hours in the car on the way to Kathmandu. These are mere observations than facts, and in no way does it state that the one is better than the other. I thou feel that I visited the countries in the correct order, as it makes you appreciate the countries uniqueness more. You might find yourself getting disappointed arriving in dusty and brown Tibet after leaving green and tropical Nepal.

A swift comparison: Tibet and Nepal

Eating with chop sticks à eating with your right hand

Traditional clothing à more western clothing in addition to the saari

Yak à donkey/mule

Yak traffic jam à donkey/mule traffic jam

Begging children à playing children

Cold climate à humid climate

Straight faces à smiles

Brown landscape à trees

Stray ppl à ppl everywhere

Getting ripped of à more set prices

Desert à tropics

Tractors à Suzukis

Four-by-fours à motorcycles

Few English speakers à most ppl speak English

Cheap beer à expensive beer

Very good food à alright food

Hard and emotional haggling à easy and happy haggling

Guided tourists à “free” tourists

Flies à spiders

Pac of dogs à pac of chickens, hens and roosters

Monks à holy men

Clean streets (apart from the dust) à streets filled with garbage

Smell of yak butter à smell of sweat

Dirty, shitty, disgusting toilets à clean and inviting toilets

Off the top of my head. It seems like Tibet is getting dragged thru the mud, but it’s undeniable that it will always be an underdog to Nepal when crossing the border. The reason would be that after three weeks in the middle of nowhere in Tibet, civilization will always feel very welcoming and more homely. Then again, trying to explain what Tibet is like is in many ways the hardest thing I’ve done so far, because it truly is an experience and an adventure in a world that is closed off to the outside world and only open to those who walk the extra mile.

My advice is simple: make the effort