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Southeast Asia travel: A guide to overland border crossings
Locals leaving the Myanmar border town of Tachilek head into Thailand's northernmost border city, Mae Sai
Flying might be quick, but to really get a real feel for Southeast Asia, try rolling old-school and make your way through the region on the ground, where you’ll gain a better understanding of the varying landscapes and cultures across the region. There is a variety of popular routes. For instance, it’s possible to follow the Mekong River from China’s Yunnan province to Vietnam through Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.
But as with any form of adventuring, there are drawbacks. When traveling overland you will deal with a whole mess of border crossings, which can mean smooth sailing or a huge headache, depending on your level of preparation. Here are a few tips on how to make it across a land border with as little hassle as possible.
Manage your expectations
An overland trip can provide a window into ground-level daily life. That daily life may include bumpy roads, long lines and unexpected detours. Stu Lloyd, a senior director at the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), advises travelers to curb their frustrations and savor the melee.
“The border crossing is part of the experience of travel,” says Lloyd. “Enjoy the quirks of the moment. Most importantly, be patient and calm and expect to queue.”
Research
Make sure you know the visa information for each country well before your journey. Destinations such as Cambodia and Laos offer visas on arrival, whereas a visa to Vietnam must be arranged in advance. Plus, a few border crossings are not equipped to provide visas on arrival for destinations that usually offer them. If there is an e-Visa system, as Myanmar is reportedly working on implementing, apply for it online a few weeks before you leave.
Time it wisely
To avoid arriving at a crossing congested by a lengthy tour bus caravan, dodge the border’s busiest times. Long weekends and public holidays always inspire more travel, which can result in border traffic. Patricia Weismantel, product manager at Spice Roads Cycle Tours, has plenty of experience planning overland trips; she manages bicycling trips that cover 17 countries across Asia.
“At any crossing you can have the bad luck of arriving at the same time as a big bus group, which will mean long lines,” says Weismantel. “The best time to go is when the border first opens; usually there will be no big tour groups there that early.”
Mason Florence, executive director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, adds: “In general it’s best to aim for weekdays; at some border crossings they may charge a bit extra for ‘overtime’ on weekends.
“More importantly, try to arrive to cross borders an hour or two before they close for business — this is usually around 4:30 or 5 p.m.”
Be prepared
A little planning goes a long way when you are on a multi-country expedition.
- Make sure your passport is valid for at least six months. Otherwise you’ll be denied entry.
- Bring photocopies of your passport, travel documents, hotel bookings and visa information.
- Check that you have a few empty visa pages. If you do not have pages free for visas, you will have to go to your embassy to have extra pages inserted before you can enter the country, throwing a kink into your trip. Some countries, like Canada, don’t even offer their residents new pages so you’ll have to get a completely new passport.
- A few destinations have downloadable visa application forms on their websites. If you can fill out the paperwork in advance, you can shave some time off the wait at the border.
- Bring a few extra color passport-sized pictures of yourself, as they may be required for the visa on arrival. Double check the size of picture required; the dimensions differ from country to country.
- If you have not been issued a visa yet, have a pen on hand to complete the application paperwork. At most border crossings all you’ll find are some dangling strings minus the once-attached pens thanks to sticky-fingered travelers.
- Alert your credit card company that you will be conducting transactions in a new country so they won’t suspend your card for suspicious usage.
- Be ready to answer questions. Where are you going? What is the address of the place you’ll be staying? What is the purpose of your trip? How long do you expect to stay?
- Carry both local currency and U.S. dollars in small bills. Have the exact cash amount ready for the visa fee, as officials may not be overly eager to provide change.
Be respectful
The best way to speed through immigration is to conduct yourself with grace, calm and a respect for local culture.
“Just smile and be patient and alert,” advises Lloyd of PATA. “Remember you’re an ambassador for your own country as much as a visitor in the host country. Respect the local customs and dress appropriately. Body language and a smile go a long way.”
Get your tax back
In some countries, such as Thailand, tourists are not required to pay the Value Added Tax (VAT) on items above a certain value that they are taking out of the country. You will need to get a tax reclaim form when you purchase the item, then present a receipt, the item, and your passport when you leave the country. Make sure to get a stamp outside passport control before you cross the border. Note: the stamp must be issued the day of the border crossing.
Location, location, location
Not all border crossings are created equal. Some points of immigration are easier to traverse than others. For example, the fan-favorite point of embarkation for travelers from Thailand to Southern Laos is the Chong Mek/Vang Tao border. When traveling from Cambodia to Laos, however, you have only one option: the Veun Kham/Dom Kralor crossing. Check Southeast Asia travel website Travelfish.org for a handy list of the most popular and convenient crossings by country.
Look out for scams
Minivans, tour buses and border crossings are a breeding ground for touts looking to make a fast buck off unsuspecting tourists. Be polite, but be cautious and remember that if you are well-informed you make poor prey.
“Here I’ll take that for you!”: if someone offers to carry your bag, it’s not out of the kindness of their heart. They will probably slam you with a fee for hauling your duffel from the taxi to the curb.
Scam bus: a few tour buses are infamous for hosing tourists. The ride from Bangkok to Cambodia and the ride from Vietnam to Laos are particularly well-trafficked with these shysters. The bus drivers will do everything they can to stall the trip so you arrive at your destination after dark. Once the sun has set they can shuttle you to one of their buddies’ guesthouses. You’ll be so exhausted and disoriented you’ll happily oblige, and they’ll receive a commission on your stay.
Do your own paperwork: the forms are straightforward and there is no reason to pass your identification over to a stranger who may not return it and will certainly charge you for the unnecessary service.
Know what things should cost: make sure you know the exact visa fee as the border officials and tour operators may be looking to skim money off the top by inflating the fee. Calmly providing documentation that displays the official costs could save you money.
Above all, enjoy it
There’s a romance to traveling by land that is impossible to capture if you travel by air. On a terrestrial voyage you are literally following in the footsteps of ancient explorers. You don’t want a little border bureaucracy to put a damper on your overland odyssey, so be patient and prepared. As Florence of the Mekong Tourism Forum so aptly puts it: “It’s not about getting from point A to point B — it’s what happens along the way.”
Article by Merritt Gurley, cnngo.com
Dien Bien Phu-Luang Prabang Border Crossing (March-2012)
Panorama of Luang Prabang, north Laos, seen from Phu Si hill
Luang Prabang, or Louangphrabang is a city located in north central Laos. The city is well known for its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries. Luang Prabang is served by Luang Prabang International Airport with non-stop flights to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It is linked by Route 13 with Vang Vieng and Vientiane, and by Route 1 with Muang Xay. Route 13 also connects the city to Cambodia, which makes it very convenient for the border crossings and visa run. lemc6125 posted this on Thorntree (29-March-2012):-
We have just done the opposite route (from Dien Bien Phu to Luang Prabang) after taking advice from people on Thorntree.
The border is open and we found it simple to cross. We took a bus from Dien Bien Phu (Vietnam) to Muang Khua (Laos) which took about 8 hours, including a flat tyre change and processing visas at the border. This cost us 100,000vnd. The road is dusty and in the process of being upgraded, so there are a few delays. The views can be pretty spectacular.
We then took the slow boat down the river to Nong Khiaw, which took about 5hours and cost 150,000kip. (I assume you can do this ride the other way, as we have met people in Muang Khua who had come from Luang Prabang). That was a beautiful ride that I would recommend to people who want a bit of scenery with their transport.
There was the option to take another slow boat from Nong Khiaw to Luang Prabang, which would have taken 6hours and cost around 100,000kip, but we chose to save time and took the mini-van bus. It was quoted to take 4 hours but our crazy driver got us there in 2 1/2. This cost 40,000kip.
This was a nice way for us to do the trip over a few days and get to see the smaller towns which are just starting to get infiltrated by tourists. There’s not too much going on in either town (Nong Khiaw or Muang Khua) which gave us time to chill out a bit.
Hope this gives a bit of insight into another way to do the trip…
Nok Air offers bus hop for border crossing
Screenshot of Nok Air
BANGKOK, 28 February 2012: Nok Air will team up with bus companies to provide an overland connection from Udon Thani to Vientiane starting 14 March.
Restricted to just domestic services in Thailand, Nok Air will offer passengers travelling to Udon Thani, the nearest airport town to Nong Khai on the border with Laos, a bus service to the immigration checkpoint. It hopes to capture some of the visa-run traffic and attract travellers who want to visit Vientiane but need to save on the international fare.
The service will pick up passengers from the Bangkok-Udon Thani flight and transfer them to the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge checkpoint and then to Vientiane in Laos. It is not as seamless as it sounds.
Udon Keaw Tour provides the transfer from Udon Thani Airport to the Thai-Lao border checkpoint, in Nong Khai. Once passengers pass through the Lao checkpoint, they board a Trans Express bus to the Lao capital.
Passengers need to pay the Bt20 fee for transport to cross the Friendship Bridge and they have to carry their own baggage through the checkpoint to the Lao transit terminal.
Though the airline operates five daily flights, the eligible flight for the Fly ‘n’ Ride will depart Don Mueang Airport at 0600. Passengers should arrive in Vientiane at 1100. The actual flight is one hour, leaving four hours for the overland transfer.
On the return sector, the bus to the border will depart Vientiane at 1400. Passengers have two choices. They can depart on the 1545 or 1715 bus from Nong Khai to reach Udon Thani in time to catch the 1805 or 2045 flight. In Vientiane, the bus picks up and drops off passengers on Samsenthai Road.
To introduce the new service, Nok Air offers and all-inclusive fare of Bt3,200 while the standard fare is around Bt4,000. The service can be booked through its online channel.
When compared to a nonstop flight from Bangkok, Nok Air’s Fly ‘n’ Ride offers cost savings for budget travellers and is more convenient than Thai AirAsia that does not offer a bus service packaged into the fare.
But it is still a tiring and time consuming process for passengers. The main drawback is carrying luggage between buses. All passengers have to transfer to a bus that crosses the bridge only between the two immigration checkpoints. There is no one-stop shop for immigration. That is a myth cherished by government officials who head Mekong region tourism, but meaningless to travellers who need to queue twice with the their passports at either end of the bridge.
Thailand’s immigration is on one side of the almost 1 km long bridge and the Lao authorities on the other. Once through the passport checkpoints the passenger has to walk to the nearby terminal to board the bus bound for Vientiane.
It will exhaust all but very healthy and robust travellers, particularly during the hot season when temperatures soar to nearly 40 degrees centigrade.
There are only two airlines fly between Bangkok and Vientiane — Thai Airways International and Lao Airlines. THAI sells its online fares from Bt10,825, or Bt7,985 through its 52nd Anniversary promotion, but for travel from 1 May to 30 September. Meanwhile, Lao Airlines quotes a fare of around Bt8,000.
In addition, Nok Air will also strengthen its northeast network by adding an extra daily flight to Sakhon Nakhon up to two flights daily from one starting from 25 March.
The flights will depart from Don Mueang Airport at 0610 and 1320 and from Sakhon Nakhon at 0750 and 1520. While the present daily flight is operated by ATR, in the summer schedule the morning flight will be operated by a 150-seat B737 and the second with an ATR.
Nakhon Phanom’s capacity will be cut down to a smaller aircraft as the Boeing used for the twice daily service shifts to the busier Sakhon Nakhon route.
Source www.ttrweekly.com
How to Cross a Land Border in Asia
Border Gate at Cambodia
Most people will never cross a border by land; they’ll pass through a departure gate or fly over one at 20,000 feet. However, people who are on very cheap holidays will more than likely cross the borders by travelling overland, and this is a very different thing altogether. The vast majority of Asia backpackers will, at some stage on their trip, be faced with an overland border crossing. The first one is always a little tense because frankly… who knows what to expect? I know my first one between Thailand and Cambodia was, anyway…
Unfortunately, borders seem to attract the kind of people looking to make a quick buck from the unsuspecting backpacker.
To be brutally honest, a bit of common sense will get you through fine, but that’s something that often lacking these days… so instead here’s 10 simple tips to get you to the other side.
How to cross a border by land
1. Make sure you have plenty of small change
For visa fees, taxis, etc. at borders, cash from either side will usually do but make sure they are small notes/coins… obviously nobody at the borders will have any change! It’s also good sense to carry a little stash of universal notes like US dollars – the greenback is accepted everywhere.
2. People don’t want to carry your bags for fun
At many land borders there’ll be people keen to “help you out”, be it by carrying your backpack from one post to the next or translating at the desk… These are not “border enthusiasts” they are people out to make a living. I’ve seen a lot of backpackers surprised when their “new friend” asks for payment.
3. Treat the border like a wall
It may seem like a good idea to book your taxi or bus before you cross so you get the VIP seats or the best deal, 95% of the time it’s not. Whoever is selling the service knows that once you’re across the border you won’t be coming back. Think about it!
4. The only officials are the ones at the desks
Sometimes a border crossing can be quite full-on because a lot of people are trying to get your attention like bus touts, duty free sellers and porters. It’s easy to mistake a well dressed, helpful person for an official. Go to the desk/window first and take your backpack with you!
5. Plan ahead
Get yourself on the internet. Backpackers are posting information every day about current border status, scams and what to do/not do. It’s a great resource and regularly updated by backpackers and locals alike.
6. Be patient
A lot of overland border crossings can take time, lots of paperwork and the fact people often arrive by the busload. Getting frustrated is a big mistake! Get a book out… relax… chat to people.
7. Carry a stock of passport pictures
Most land borders aren’t hooked up with the same technology as airports so you’ll need a passport picture or two of yourself. If you don’t have them they’ll usually be able to take some, but of course at an inflated price! It’s just good practice to keep a few tucked into your passport.
8. One night’s accommodation
I’ve found it’s always a good idea to have enough cash for at least one night’s accommodation and food, simply because banks nowadays are crazy about card fraud and regardless of whether you pre-warn them or not, a lot of them will put your card on hold once it pops up in a new country when you’re trying to get cash out – at least until they speak to you.
9. Time difference
If there is a time difference, make sure you’re aware of it and that what time both border posts close. Both sides may well close at 5pm, but if the other side of the border is an hour ahead, you’ll be spending a night in no-man’s land.
10. Be polite and smile
Remember that for the people around the border, this is their job and their livelihood. Some snotty backpacker having a moan about the heat or how long it takes won’t help anyone. Practice a few words of the language on them, smile, then thank them. Treat them as you would want to be treated!
Borders can be a great place to meet other backpackers they are only daunting if you’re unprepared. Above all just use some common sense and a smile, under no circumstances lose your temper! Crossing borders is all part of backpacking and once you’ve got a few under your belt you’ll wonder what you worried about.
Article written by Terry Fletcher, beforeyoubackpack.com
Linda says:
April 16, 2012 at 7:55 am
hey guys, on enetering vietnam overland , do you have to have a specific entry point on the visa you have already obtained from the vietnamese embassy?
Regards Linda
In reply to Linda | Kuan says:
April 16, 2012 at 8:49 am
The international crossings are generally open to all foreign nationalities who are in possession of a valid passport and visa, while local crossings are open only to locals (on each side of the border) who are able to cross back and forth using some form of border pass. The most popular overland international border crossing from Vietnam to Cambodia is the Bavet/Moc Bai crossing. To Laos the Nam Phao / Cau Treo crossing is the most popular. While travel to China passes through both the Dong Dang / Ping Xian and Lao Cai / Hekou crossings — depending on where in China you’re headed.
Ranong-Kawthoung Border Crossing (Feb-2012)
View of Kawthoung port town
Kawthoung (also Kawthaung; previously Victoria Point) is at the southern tip of Myanmar, on the border with Thailand. Charter boat from from the docks at Ranong is a common way to enter Kawthoung and has been used by travelers in Thailand looking for to extend their visa-free stays in Thailand. Due to the frequent changes made to the visa policy, hoteldelta posted this update on Thorntree (3-Feb-2012):-
As situations oftenly change in Myanmar, here’s updated (February 2011) info for Kawthoung. You can stay up to 14 days in town when coming from Ranong (without Myanmar visa in passport). Price is 10 dollar. Smooth operation. Officer didn’t even try to get 500 bath.
As usual you can pay locals with Bath or Kyat. Standard rate is set to 1 bath = 25 kyat. That’s the equivalent of 771,75 kyat for 1 USD, which is fair and square and similar to current rate in Yangon. Some calculate 28 kyat for 1 bath. If you pay with bath you might get small change (like 5bath) in kyat (125 kyat). Good as souvenir or small tip. Up to you!
Russia sets up yet another border checkpoint
Queue of vehicles at the Storskog border station
Norway and Russia are introducing visa-free travel in the border zone to ease contact between neighbors. FSB border guard on the other side has set up yet another checkpoint on the road, making European record on passport control between two countries. There are now four checkpoints in 30 kilometers.
Travelers were taken by surprise when the new checkpoint appeared just outside Nikel on the road towards Kirkenes. Shouldn’t it be easier to drive between the two countries’ border towns? The new checkpoint was put in place after New Year. Asked by BarentsObserver for what reason, the border guard smiles and says “…because it is border zone.”
Russia’s border zone regime is getting more and more strict. 2012 makes new surprises.
Over the last few years, Oslo and Moscow have both highlighted the speedy development of neighborhood contacts across the border in the north and the need to ease border-crossing procedures. The agreement on visa-free border crossings is an important step to remove barriers in the border area, Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told BarentsObserver when he visited Kirkenes last year.
Also Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said to BarentsObserver when chatting in Kiruna last October that the new regime for visa-free travel will ease border-crossing procedures between Norway and Russia.
Driving the road between the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes and the Russian border town of Nikel shows another reality. There are few signs of removed barriers. The border bureaucracy is still comprehensive and the numbers of checkpoints for clearing your passport are more numerous today than during the Cold War when the Norwegian, Soviet border was said to be one of the most closed in the world.
Border-crossing exercise
Let’s make a virtual trip from Kirkenes across the border and see how it works in 2012. Destination is Nikel, the first Russian town on the road from Norway. Both towns are located inside the 30 kilometer border zone where locals are supposed to travel without visa requirement from May this year.
First you have to pass through the Customs and passport control at the two official border stations, out of Norway and in to Russia. Time-spending is unpredictable, depending on numbers of vehicles in front of you in the queue. When more people cross the border, the longer are queues.
After Russian passport control, you need to fill in the detailed custom declaration, obligatory for everyone driving their own car. In two copies. Then is the Customs check of your car before you are cleared to drive the 50 meters to the gate letting you out of the border station area.
From the Borisoglebsk border station you drive for some 20 minutes along the road in what Russia defines as a special outer border zone, where you are only allowed to drive in transit. The zone is outside of the still-existing barbered wired fence stretching all along Russia’s border to Norway and Finland, from the Barents Sea in the north to the Finnish bay in the south.
You then have to slow down and stop for your third passport control at the checkpoint located where the inner border zone area gate is located. A friendly, but still very formal border guard official approach your car and thoroughly cross-check your passport once again, including the passport of all your passengers. Then he opens the gate and let you through. Then you are inside the barbered wire fence. Welcome to Russia? Well, not yet…
A few kilometers ahead there is suddenly another gate, set up after January 1st this year. For no obvious reason you once again have to slow down and stop. The polite border guard at duty asks for your documents. And your passengers’ documents, meaning once again that you have to hand out your passports. By the book, the border guard look at you and confirm the photo in your passport corresponds to your whatever looking face in the dark polar night, and cross-check that your visa and immigration formula has corresponding stamps.
The border guard will then opens the gate and a few kilometers later you are free to visit your neighboring friends in Nikel, or simply visit the local shops or cafés.
Upon return; same procedures again, this time in opposite order. All in all, a return visit between Kirkenes and Nikel, you are stopped eight times requested to show your documents. Welcome to border-crossing exercise at Europe’s northernmost border between Norway and Russia.
Source barentsobserver.com
Phnom Penh-Chau Doc Border Crossing (Jan-2012)
The fishing village in Chau Doc
According to Travelfish, both slow and fast boat services are available at the riverine crossing linking Phnom Penh with the Vietnamese town of Chau Doc. When you arrive at the border, a fixer will generally gather up all the passports and head into the immigration office to do all the paperwork. You can accompany them, but it’s not essential. Cambodian visas available at the border. Vietnamese visas is not available at the border. JakartaBoy posted this on Thorntree (7-Jan-2012):-
Just before the new year, I headed across from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc by river. I took the Hang Cau boat for about $25 (memory fails!), buying the tickets the day. The Blue River Cruisers do the same trip in the same boats for about ten bucks more. The boat trip was great: for some reason, most of the tourist traffic comes in the other direction, so I had a boat that could have held 20 for four people: saw the same boats coming in the opposite direction packed to the seams. But I could spread myself out over the ship, including out the back in the open air. The cabin stunk slightly of petrol, but not unbearably.
Border crossing was a breeze. Kinda funny having around twenty immigration officers available to deal with four passengers, but then, maybe it’s different in peak hour. I got a visa for Vietnam the day before I set off just by asking my hotel receptionist in PP. He called an agent who whipped over on a motorbike and sorted it all out for me for no more than five bucks over the official visa fee. If it keeps me out of government buildings and queues on me holidays, that’s a bargain!
You can’t get visa on arrival at the border for Vietnam.
The process on the river was pretty lacksadaisical: the boat boy took all our passports and went off to the office, we were herded into a waiting room (with beer available from a coolbox) and the guy came back with stamped passports fifteen minutes later. No-one inspected bags or anything.
Mae Sai (Thailand)-Tachilek (Myanmar) Border Crossing (Jan-2012)
The Myanmar border control station in Tachilek
Visitors to North Thailand, expats who are semi-residents and those who wish to stay longer than their current visas allow, often make use of an interesting opportunity. It involves travelling to the town of Mae Sai, which sits on the Thai side of the border with Burma, (or Myanmar, to give it its proper name). From there, they cross the border, via the Thai and Myanmar Border Control posts, for a day trip (or longer – up to 14 days) to the adjoining Burmese town of Tachilek (or Tachiliek), before returning to Mae Sai later in the day….
For more info, read full article at Hubpages
Prek Cha-Xa Xia Border Crossing (Jan-2012)
The Ha Tien International Border Gate
According to Canby Publications, the Prek Cha/Xaxia (‘Ha Tien’) checkpoint is the nearest, most easily-accessed border crossing from Kampot/Kep. The crossing lies near the Vietnamese towns of Ha Tien and Rach Gia, which are the main jump-off points to Phu Quoc Island. The road from Kampot to the border crossing is, for the most part, in fair condition, taking about 1h15m-2 hours to traverse, though longer in the wet season. A tuk-tuk to the border costs about $15-$20; a car taxi is $20-$25 for a private taxi and $5/pax for a shared taxi; and a motorcycle taxi to the border costs about $7-$8. A traveller, nicknamed amtrakker, shared his experience on Thorntree (5-Jan-2012):-
“Crossed over the Prek Cha / Xa Xia border without incident. Had to wander over to the Cambodian immigration desk where a sleepy officer shuffled some papers, squinted cursorily @ my passport and made the requisite number of stamps (about 3 I think) before waving me on my way. Had to walk with my moto driver to another control point before getting back on the moto for the short minutes drive across to the Vietnamese border checkpoint, passing the sumptuous and aptly named HaTien Vegas casino amongst others that were situated in this no mans land.
Strolled into the modern immigration building under a large Vietnamese flag (yellow star on red background) and was met by a chap who gave me a health form to complete. After confirming I hadn’t got a fever, aches, pains or coughs, he prodded me with a temperature probe (well I hope that’s what it was!) and collected one US dollar for his troubles, before indicating I line up @ the nearby immigration counter.
There were a group of Vietnamese leaving and after they’d been processed (about 5 mins) had my turn to have my passport and visa carefully scrutinized, with more thunderous stamping of my passport – hope all the sensitive biometric data lasts the 10 years if it has to go through much more of this abuse! But only took 5 minutes and I was waved through – the screening machine seemed like it had not been used in a while. Had to walk to another border control point to show the guards that the necessary stamps had been placed on my visa, and I was back on the moto for the 20 minute trip into Ha Tien, the most noticeable first impression was of the conical hats, pyjama and ao dai dresses worn by the Vietnamese women, and the smell of fish sauce (one that lingers in the memory, a bit like durian!)”
A Popular Side Trip for Foreigners in China: Visa Runs
Erlian Station, Inner Mongolia, China
ERLIAN, China—Lisa Guetzkow, a 25-year-old American, is crossing the dusty border from China to Mongolia crammed into the front seat of an ancient Russian jeep that has a scarf for an inside door handle. She’s making a visa run. If it works out, she’ll be able to stay another three months in Beijing, until she has to dart across the Chinese border again.
Beijing and other Chinese cities are magnets for young expats in the way that Paris was after World War I and Prague was after the Cold War. The dollar is still strong, jobs are plentiful and the bar scene vibrant. “It’s not hard to teach English in China,” says James Schiffer, a 25-year-old Oregonian, who returned home last year after three years in China. “If you have a white face and a pulse, you can get a job.”
Many of the 20-somethings either have tourist or business-meeting visas that are good for a year, but require holders to leave the country every two or three months to be renewed—a requirement aimed at preventing visitors from settling down and taking jobs without the proper work visa. To get around that, young people make dashes to the border before their visas are set to expire, sometimes spending just enough time to get a foreign stamp in their passport before heading back to China.
Russian and Eastern European models have especially tough times on the border, say visa specialists in China, because the guards suspect they may be prostitutes. The models generally have tourist visas and can’t admit they are working, so many say they want to get back to China to spend time with long-term boyfriends.
Andy Parker, a British male model in Asia, says some of his female colleagues dress to the nines to impress the border guards that they have high-powered and well-connected Chinese boyfriends. But a Polish model in Beijing, who asked that her name not be used, says her agency gives the opposite advice: Dress down in jeans, plain tops and no makeup. “Look like a student,” she says.
One 29-year-old Californian who teaches social studies in southwestern China has taken 10-hour bus rides to the Laotian border and eight-hour trips to Vietnam for visa runs. Laid-back Laos is a snap, he says, but re-entering China from Vietnam can be a hassle.
Some visa runners have had their China guidebooks confiscated if the books have maps that mark Taiwan as a separate country rather than a province of China, he says. And during one crossing, a border guard grilled him about what college he attended. “Harvard,” he answered. Is Harvard’s president male or female, he says the guard demanded to know.
The teacher says he guessed male but the border guard knew better. Drew Faust had become Harvard’s first female president. He explained he was thinking of the years he went to college, an answer that earned him entry back into China.
Some try to avoid the hassle of a border run altogether by turning to visa agents who claim they have enough clout with local governments to get visa renewals or fresh visas for fees ranging from about $450 to $2,000.
One visa agent, who goes by the name of Peter, requires customers to check into a hotel with other expats and hand over their passports and other paperwork. Later he walks his customers through a local police station that handles visas and gets them the necessary stamps.
Mr. Schiffer, the Oregon native, was a customer of Peter’s when he sought a new visa. “Overall the entire experience reminded me of weed runs I would go on with friends back in the States,” he says.
Reached by phone, Peter wouldn’t give his last name. He also wouldn’t explain his techniques. “That’s the whole point of my business,” he said. “How can I tell you about that?”
China’s Public Security Bureau, which handles visas, didn’t comment on specific questions about visa runs, except to cite Chinese regulations.
Ms. Guetzkow, the 25-year-old American, chose Mongolia for her visa run because it was cheap and seemed romantic. She passed up the cheapest way to get to the border—a $40 overnight bus where 40 passengers sleep in submarine-tight quarters—in favor of a $55 morning flight. Her destination was Erlian, a Chinese border city, whose main road is decorated with green statues of dinosaurs in honor of dinosaur bones found nearby.
The border scene is chaotic. Drivers rev the motors of their beat-up vehicles, shouting in Chinese and Mongol for passengers to board for a 300-yard drive to the Chinese immigration center and then another few miles to the Mongolian equivalent. Travel blogs warn some drivers will stop halfway between the two buildings and extort expats to pay twice the usual 50 yuan fee ($8) to continue, but Ms. Guetzkow made it to the other side with no problem, happy she now had a Mongolian stamp in her passport.
She had hoped to ride a horse in the Mongolian city of Zamiin-Uud on the border. But the achingly poor town doesn’t appear to have a blade of grass—the dust next to the sidewalks is four inches thick—let alone a horse, although a yak wanders by. She settles for a photo of herself in front of a tree whose limbs are wrapped in blue scarves.
When it is time for the return trip to Erlian, she manages to convince a jeep driver to take her and a traveling companion for 70 yuan, instead of the usual 100. But at the Mongolian checkpoint, the driver has second thoughts, pulls a U-turn and heads back to Zamiin-Uud. “180 yuan,” he demands.
No deal, says Ms. Guetzkow, who then spends an hour looking for someone to take her and her companion for the usual 100. Word had spread instantly that 180 was the new normal.
Eventually, a female taxi driver agrees to ferry the pair for the usual price, and Ms. Guetzkow gets the stamp in her visa that entitles her to spend another three months in China. For her next visa run, she’s going upscale. She plans to go to South Korea and spend time on a resort island there.
Contributor Yang Jie, online.wsj.com