All in a day on the border

There are so many different knicks and kicks that arouse people when they are traveling. Of course there are the core contributors from the azur bays, white sands, hospitality and the prospects of a good photo. For me, one of my kicks oddly enough is those hectic land border days. Crossing borders is always a little stressful, exciting and unpredictable, that's why I like it.

On this occasion the border was between Malaysian and Indonesian borneo, between Sabah and Kalimantan. It's more of a water crossing than land crossing but the fact that I didn't swim through immigration (luckily) allows me to constitute it as a land border.

A bus from Semporna to Tawau (a very comfortable hour) was made all that bit sweeter by drinks and candy, courtesy of the driver. Once we found the ferry in Tawau which serves as the Malaysian exit point, Mayhem ensues. Putting my trust in the kindness of strangers, we were dragged to and fro to places where we needed to sign something, buy something, get something, pose for something and dispose of something. The fun begins! The boat was overcrowded and I must include here that I'm well usedto overcrowding but this was a little on the sardine side of things. The crossing to Nunukan, the Indonesian island that serves as an entry point takes only a few hours and once the boat docks, the little space that was left inside is filled with people grabbing bags and transporting them to some magical land. So with a firm grasp of my bag, we get off the boat (dry) for immigration. Cue a bag search and a friendly but quite precise interrogation. All done!

Shuffled onto another speed boat for the 5 hour trip to Tarakan. Stopping for a toilet, water or food doesn't seem to be an option. Hold it! There were further break downs, craziness and all in all merriment as the boat chugged across the open seas.
All in a days border crossing. Tarakan then takes the form of any port town or entry point. It's not the prettiest but it functions. It had the pleasure of introducing me, on day one to the 'Hello Mister.' A phrase I continue to hear on a minute by minute basis in Indonesia. Time to move on.