22 hours later, we sat down to dinner. We had just crossed the Belarusian border and now found ourselves at the famous Intourist Hotel in Brest, which during Soviet rule served as one of few residencies for visiting internationals. “And when you’re in the elevator,” said our guide and logistics coordinator Yulia, “unless you want to spend some time, don’t forget to also press the button marked with what looks like an X.” This apparently means ‘operate’. In this new land, and for the next 30 days, we will be completely illiterate.

Having begun the day at 1am, team Yellow now exhibited fatigue and slight grumpiness. It was now 11pm, and we devoured our first Belarusian meal of mystery meat and potatoes to the backdrop of a thumping disco tech next door. It had been a long day. After finishing up the 3am to 9am shift in Poland (where I have never seen so many trucks which whooshed by creating constant headwind-like conditions), we then made the 3 hour drive to the border where we met up with BPR staff and teammates. To stretch our car-legs, a game of soccer-frisbee ensued with our Italian support crew. Then, we loaded the bus, and set off down the road to the border.

For those planning a trip a Belarus, here are some border crossing tips based upon recent experience:

• Avoid crossing the border on a large tour bus.
• If you must go in a large group, avoid having citizens of different nationalities (especially Kenyan, EU nationals pass more easily than Americans, but Russian citizenship is ideal)
• Avoid being with people who carry lots of expensive video equipment.
• Make sure to go well before or well after customs officials change shifts, which occurs in the evening at 7pm.

Due to the fact that we did not follow any of these guidelines, we spent about 3 hours parked at the border. Emmanuel’s Kenyan passport was scrutinized once again, Chris and Polly were beckoned to explain all the cameras, American passports were stamped, and the customs officials took a shift-change break. Yulia said we were lucky to have had such a short wait. MIR (the travel company who is assisting with this leg of the trip) has solid connections, which she further explained helped get us all through. Indeed, as we pulled away from the border check point, the line of cars stretched back almost 2km. It would be a long night for some them.