It used to be simple to cross the border, I am told, taking only minutes for a passport check. Now it takes hours or days. Tractor-trailer trucks are parked alongside the road for several miles. The drivers sleep and eat in their vehicles, waiting for the chance to deliver their loads to Kosovo or to Serbia. Their chances come infrequently, and usually at night.
Military convoys take precedence, followed by civilian vehicles and buses.
Most locals do not try to drive over the border. They take buses as far as possible, then walk through the checkpoints, their heavy belongings hauled by enterprising young boys with wheelbarrows. At the other end they board another bus to finish their journeys. Military personnel are everywhere in Kosovo. They glare at me when I try to take photographs of children selling cigarettes.