All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian – 10
By Nitin Gairola
Just like millions in India and around the world, I recently saw Shah Rukh Khan’s Bollywood hit called ‘Dunki’, which is a Punjabi word for ‘Donkey Flight’. This ‘Dunki’ or ‘Donkey Flight’ refers to the arduous cross-country land and sea route which many misguided youth take to illegally emigrate from their home country to a more developed foreign land (like USA, Canada or UK) in the hope for a better life. These people cross one border after another not the way we do, i.e., on a flight and with a proper passport and visa, but with the help of cunning agents and border officials who with their contacts ‘slip’ these people from country to country till they reach their destination. Such people always remain ‘under the radar’ in their destination country as they don’t have legal papers to do proper jobs.
However, what struck me is the mindboggling hardships these people can endure to traverse through scarcely marked jungles and deserts with a seriously high risk of injury or death, simply because they don’t have the credentials to get proper jobs in other countries via the legal route.
Of course, most of us travel for leisure or adventure just as I do and, in my travels around the world, I did happen to cross quite a few interesting borders on land and some of them could be termed as dangerous borders. I thought I should illustrate a few of them for you, since these are places where almost no one goes including writers from travel magazines and, hence, the readers do not have any firsthand authentic accounts of these parts of the world. I do feel such places can provide us with a wider view and a different perspective of seeing our planet, the good and bad of it.
South Sudan:
South Sudan is the newest nation of the world that was founded in 2011 when the country of ‘Sudan’ (in Northern part of Africa) was split into 2 countries – Sudan and South Sudan. Unfortunately, ever since then it has remained a hotbed for ethnic violence and famines are still a reality, with peace seeming a bit distant even now. In 2016, I was visiting Uganda and Rwanda and had added South Sudan as well, not knowing that the civil war was escalating at that time. Luckily, I was far away in the South and not in the main population centres and quickly made my exit back into Uganda. What I saw was extreme poverty and very young children walking on their own towards Uganda to hopefully cross over into a more peaceful country.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
DRC is a country in Central Africa that was called Zaire earlier. It used to be a Belgian colony in the 19th century under the cruel reign of King Leopold. DRC is a resource rich country when it comes to minerals, but severe corruption has caused it to be a very unstable place. During a Gorilla trekking tour, I was informed that a lot of animal poaching (Gorillas particularly) happens in these parts. Hence, we have to pay around 500-750 USD per person for the trek to fund border security guards who come along with us as we view these incredible mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat.
Syria
We all know of the well documented conflict in Syria which has destroyed the homes and lives of millions. This country has one of the highest populations of migrants who fled the war and went to European nations and some to Canada, seeking asylum. I had some very poignant interactions here, especially when I met a group of school girls who were distributing white roses as a symbol of peace. In another place I had a conversation with a Syrian teenager who had lost his parents in the conflict and had to resort to begging. The UN refugee camps were all over, reminding me just how lucky most of us are, including me, to live in peaceful and prosperous nations.
Palestine
This country has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons. Both their Gaza and West Bank borders along with Israel are some of the most heavily patrolled and monitored ones in the world, which give the eerie feeling of a large open air prison. The border area I went to was a non-volatile one wherein a river forms the line between West Bank (governed by Israel) and Jordan and since it’s a holy place for Christians (Bethany), you can see devotees dip their feet in the same river, but from opposite sides. And while it looks peaceful, there is an underlying tension in the air above that holy land.
Guatemala
Moving away from Africa and Asia, we have the dangerous small countries between Mexico and Panama that form part of the North American peninsula (Meso America) that links it to the continent of South America.
This area has dense rain forests which, like the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, form the perfect refuge for those who seek to conduct all sorts of nefarious activities, including illegal migration. I had the strangest border crossing into Guatemala, as I was first taken in a jeep to a river bank, then taken on a boat (with 2 other tourists) across the river by locals, before we reached a hut where the passport was stamped after they had asked for a 5 USD ‘bribe’ (since Guatemala visa is supposed to be free on arrival for those with a 10 year US B1/B2 visitor visa). There was no one around to question the border official and I just wanted to get out of that spot.
(Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home.)
