Poland - Russia, Braniewo I
Krynica Morska Braniewo 2415 - 2417 Braniewo 2410 - 2414 Gronowo Grzechotki Szczurkowo Ostre Bardo
Braniewo

Here my first trip started. On Friday afternoon I arrived at Gdansk airport and picked up my car. Than I drove via Elblag to here. From Braniewo I took some small roads which brought me here. The land here is flat, many creeks and little canals where you sometimes see people fishing. Here is the most western part of the border before it goes through the water to the peninsula Krynica Morska.
I planned to see the borderpoles 2417 until 2415 and afterwards I wanted to drive a bit to the east to see the borderpoles 2414 until the railroad crossing. I hoped I could do this all before passing the border to Russia at night. My plans were a bit too ambitious. I had an encounter with the Border Guards at borderpole 2415 and after more than an hour of waiting at that spot they took me to Braniewo. All by all it costed me more than three hours and 500 Zloty for entering the 15 meter zone.
When I was a free man again it was almost dark.

III-1 20140407 Approaching the border
No doubt, I was on the right way. The well-known warning signs I saw already at many borders welcomed me. From here I took a narrow path that led to ther border area. As soon as I entered the inspection road on the Polish site, I heard a kind of an alarm. I came from a small detector as a warning.
III-1 20140407 The reed border
Here the border ends in the water. The land you see behind the horizon is Krynica Morska.
The last 100 meters here are covered with reed. However, on the border strip, it looks to be mown. There is no indication of the exact border. It gave me the opportunity to enter Russia and to go back again. No fences, no border guards so far...
III-1 20140407 Looking East
Looking to the east, it is easy to follow the border line. It goes uphill, at the end you already see the white borerpole 2417.
At the left two strange signs. One big mast with a triangle in top, and a sign with a '0' hole in it. The meaning of them was not clear to me.
III-1 20140407 The mast and water
Picture taken from the east. Again the mast, the '0' sign and the mown reed. Now I go up the gentle slope to the last bordermarker.
III-1 20140407 Uphill
A nice overview over the border overview. The woods, the inspection road, the strip that is regularly plowed to detect footsteps of intruders, the real border and the (unused) inspection road on the Russian side.
III-1 20140407 Bordermarker 2417
What a surprise on the top of the hillock! Not the standard two bordermarkers here, but one bordermarker looking like a small monument. This side taken from the Russian side, contains the Polish weapon and the Polish number. The inscription "Ustawiony 1957" means 'series 1957'.
Later, when I was home, I saw a picture of such a bordermarker on Krynica Morska. When you look through the slit on the left side in the middle, you see the mast with the triangle. You see also a direct line from here to the mast: I think that direct line is the border! If I had known that before, I could have made a picture through the slit.
III-1 20140407 Bordermarker 2417
And this is the Russian part of the marker, seen from the Polish side. The number fails. Only the weapon is visible. By the way, the weapon is made of plastic.
From here it goes downhill again. The next pair of borderpiles is only 200 meters away.
III-1 20140407 Border poles 2416
For the way down I took the Polish inspection path. I thought that would be wiser than to go via Russian soil!
The small pole in the middle is the real border. The border makes a slight angle here. It's funny that you only see the weapon and the number of the country that you're in, is only from the country that you're not in.
The Russian pole is made of stone, the Polish one is made of plastic. I read that these Polish markers are rather new and that they replace older ones made of stone. I found it rather amazing that there is no fence and only a 15 meter zone that is forbidden to enter.
III-1 20140407 Border poles 2416
A look at the straight line to the east. This border has hardly any angles.
The ideal position to take a picture...
III-1 20140407 The Selfie
A selfie with the Russian borderpole 2416. I took it with my small Sony RX100 camera.
III-1 20140407 Between 2416 and 2415
I walked just over the border. I was a bit careless and didn't respect the 15 meter as you see...
III-1 20140407 Border poles 2415
The sun began to shine. A nice view downhill.
Picture taken from the strip.
III-1 20140407 Polish border pole 2415
The last picture here today! Unfortunately. Just when I finised here I wanted to go back to the car, because it was quite far to 2414.
When I turned back, I saw two border guards with a dog going in my direction. The beginning of a long story. First wait for more than one hour, then taken to their office and after more than three hours and after answering lots of questions I was free again.

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Krynica Morska Braniewo 2415 - 2417 Braniewo 2410 - 2414 Gronowo Grzechotki Szczurkowo Ostre Bardo