Time to say no.

This is the story of a day trip that did not go to plan. The attempt was prompted by a chat with a friend from choir in which she mentioned the wall. In fact, this was the first time anyone had alluded to the wall, which until 1989 divided West Germany and East Germany. Up until this point it hadn't occurred to me that Bad Salzdetfurth isn't actually that far from the former Inner German border (about 50km). I did some google-ing and decided to visit the Helmstedt-Marienborn border crossing, also known as Checkpoint Alpha. The crossing point allowed the shortest land travel route to Berlin, thus Checkpoint Alpha was the main checkpoint used by vehicles travelling from West Germany to West Berlin. Following the fall of the fall, Checkpoint Alpha has been made into a memorial to divided Germany: the Gedenkstätte Deutsche Teilung Marienborn.

So I set off. The first problem was that the trains out of Bad Salzdetfurth weren't running, instead replaced by a replacement bus service. Time to say no?

Predictably, the bus arrived late so I arrived at Hildesheim Hauptbahnhof at 9:45 to catch a train at 9:45. Great. I sprinted through the station, making the train with a whole three seconds to spare. But that didn't matter, I was on the train and actually got to Braunschweig. To say there was a strong police presence at the station would be an understatement. Alarmingly, there were increasingly more policemen as I got closer to my platform. Time to say no?

I avoided the carriages full of 'unusual' people and found a safe-looking carriage right at the back with one other passenger: an elderly lady. We decided that with so many policemen around we would be fine, especially as all the 'normal' passengers congregated in my carriage. Plus eight policemen. Apparently there was a neo-Nazi march taking place in Magdeburg (a few stops on from Marienborn) and the protesters were travelling there on my train! So yes, I travelled on a train full of neo-Nazis! Having survived that, I was a little concerned when I got off the train at Marienborn, as the only thing there was a derelict house. I couldn't even work out how to get to the other platform! Time to say no?

I got out my (hand drawn) map and started walking. Google maps suggested this walk would take about 45 minutes, but that's not a problem. What google maps did not say is that there is no pavement after the first minute, and that is a problem. Time to say no?

There was a sign to the division memorial so I followed it, hoping that pavement would appear after every turn. It never did. I walked along the edge of the road, jumping onto the verge whenever I saw a car. This method guided me along various roads and a level crossing. However, the division memorial sign then directed me down what appeared to be the slip road to the Autobahn. Yes, the notoriously fast German motorway. Time to say no?

I value my life so decided not to head down the slip road, and try the road/track which seemed to run parallel. My hope was that the track was some sort of access road to the site, as I knew it was just off the A2. Half an hour later all I had encountered was a lovely herd of roe deer. Still, I kept walking. However, I then came across a fork in the increasingly narrow and muddy track. Time to say no?

This was the point at which I said no. I didn't know where I was, noone else knew where I was and even if by some miracle I made it to Checkpoint Alpha I would still have had to get home. So I turned around. After a nerve-wracking walk back to the station and a 70 minute wait for the first of three trains I made it home safely. One day I will visit Checkpoint Alpha, but when I do it will definitely be by car!