Up to Four Hours to Cross In From Greece: The Bogorodica Jam That Repeats Every Summer

Summer means a holiday, but also queues. At the Bogorodica border crossing (Evzoni on the Greek side) the wait reached up to four hours to enter Macedonia from Greece. Long lines of cars, buses and motorcycles stretched for kilometres in the border zone, under the scorching summer sun.

Among those stuck were many families with small children. The queues had formed as early as the previous afternoon and carried over into the next day - a classic picture for a peak-season weekend, when thousands are returning from or heading to the Greek beaches. So far there is no official explanation for the cause of such a long hold-up.

And here is what grates the most. The jams at Bogorodica are no surprise - they repeat every summer, at the same crossing, in the same windows. The season is predictable to the day, and yet every year the same four hours of waiting are accepted like a force of nature no one can influence. Can more booths really not be opened when everyone knows the crush is coming - or does no one simply care enough?

Advice for those just setting off: check the situation at the crossings before you leave, travel early in the morning or late in the evening when the crowd is thinner, and bring enough water for the children. When the institutions don't ease the journey, the traveller's only weapon is patience and good planning.