Baarle (🇳🇱 🇧🇪) - what the world needs more of.

Eet smakelijk, 

Said to me with a bright smile on his face by the ticket inspector in the NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) train. NS, by the way, is the state-run train service in the Netherlands. This is the first time I've heard something from a train ticket inspector. That was right away a cultural shock within the first two hours of entering the country. I didn't have much anticipation coming into the Netherlands. It was the first time I travelled for non-academic reasons. But seeing this, I realised, “Okay, this country is indeed something. It is going to resonate well with me and I can see it right away”.

Before this was another incident when I tried to board a bus in Eindhoven, where I landed, I was stuck with the ticket machine, and suddenly got unsolicited help from the driver. So, yes, the thought I had was built quite solidly on the foundation. And this little gesture by the inspector hit me harder because I had a really rough day before that.

I started the day on a terribly wrong foot. Starting my journey from Gdańsk, I did not check in online for my journey on one of the LoCo airlines. This was my first time. Stupidity, you say? I say you’re damn right. I was indeed stupid, but not for the reasons you think. I was stupid enough to remember and not check in online deliberately. I was hoping I would have my boarding pass as a souvenir. It is a thing I do - I have almost all of my boarding passes with me. I have every one of my major boarding passes so far. But look what it has gotten me? A hefty payment! Well, at least I got my boarding pass (the most expensive one I own so far), so I am a bit happy in retrospect - I paid the price for my ignorance and wisdom at the same time, plus I got my boarding pass.

On top of that, it was NS maintenance that day, so Ajay had to take a detour to come and receive me. Such a rough day started getting better when we had a nice coffee at Albert Heijn, and it peaked into a good vibe when I heard eet smakaleijk when I had a nice bread and hummus spread with amazing spring strawberries. It felt like the Netherlands 🇳🇱 telling me, “Hey buddy, relax, you are going to be okay here”.

It was the very moment I realised what even a small kind gesture can make a huge difference to a person.

We got down at Tilburg and continued our journey towards Baarle-Hertog-Nassau enclaves, eagerly thinking about what awaited us. I was exhausted, at the very least. Ajay’s friend from Pakistan joined us. I am particularly mentioning Pakistan as an Easter egg to you, which I was unaware of during the journey to Baarle. It was a gloomy day. Rain was practically teasing us the wholeday until we were rain-defeated. We reached Baarle, and it already started raining. I was already told about Baarle (and Antwerp) by Ajay. Here is the blog link on his journey. But nothing could really prepare me for what I was about to see. We got down at Baarle and all I saw were lines with ‘+++++’ — quite literally.

What are enclaves?

To give you a Wikipedia definition, an enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity.

Baarle is a Dutch municipality that has Belgian enclaves — some of which, in turn, have Dutch enclaves inside them 😅. No, I’m not high, not blabbering, and definitely not joking. Let me say it again for my own sanity: there’s a Dutch town, inside of which there are chunks of Belgium, inside of which there are tiny slivers of the Netherlands again 😅.

To quote the BBC article on this, 

“They look like cartographic amoebae"

A tiny bit of history?

Not to turn this into a full-on history lesson, I’ll keep the Baarle-puzzle short. It dates back to the Middle Ages, when dukes on both sides divided the land like a cake. The Dutch part — Baarle-Hertog (hertog means “duke” in Dutch; that’s also where 's-Hertogenbosch gets its name — Ajay’s favourite 🫠. Mine is 's-Gravenhage, but more on that later). The Belgian part? Baarle-Nassau.

When Belgium and the Netherlands got separated in 1831, they left behind this non-quantumly entangled border situation that no one wanted to touch for over a century. It was such a tangled web that even governments just... let it be. It wasn’t until 1995 (yep, that recent) that they finally sorted it out and handed the last bit of no man’s land to Belgium.

So, how was Baarle?

Border place? Careful? Bro, this felt like my backyard—like a quiet village living in eternal harmony. Especially as an Indian experiencing this with a Pakistani friend - you can imagine my mindset. Seeing a border handled with such casual peace, with someone from ‘the other side,’ was honestly life-altering. My entire perception shifted. Baarle shouted out whispered in my ears, we all are children of the Earth. After seeing Baarle’s criss-crossing enclaves and seamless coexistence, I genuinely believe borders can be peaceful. They should be peaceful. We’re meant to live, to cooperate—not to hoard, fear, or fight. But hey… no political statements, right? 💀💀💀"

One honest question: Do any of these look border to you?

Seeing borderlines run through houses, shops, cafés — everything — just blew my mind. Rolling through the streets of Baarle, I picked up my usual souvenir (fridge magnet gang ✌️) and landed at the tourist info centre, marked by two flags: Dutch 🇳🇱 on the left, Belgian 🇧🇪 on the right.

Hi, from in between 🇳🇱 and 🇧🇪

We walked in — and that’s when my brain went phewww… 🤯🤯. There it was: the Baarle-Hertog-Nassau souvenir passport. Now, as someone who is a Passport enthusiast, ardently follows r/PassportPorn on Reddit, and is a souvenir enthusiast, this was completely orgasmic.

Here is my copy of the souvenir passport that I picked up in Baarle. Have I completed it? Of course not! Shouldn't I have an excuse to go back? 😉. This passport has a preface in which the mayors of Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau have given a nice warm welcome note to those bearing it. 

Baarle fridge magnet - my first Dutch souvenir

Baarle, the world capital of enclaves, doesn’t just challenge you to visit the eight Dutch enclaves in Belgium and the twenty-two Belgian ones in the Netherlands — no, it dares you to go globetrotting: 

• Germany 🇩🇪 in Belgium 🇧🇪

• Germany 🇩🇪 in Switzerland🇨🇭

• Austria 🇦🇹 in Germany 🇩🇪

• Spain 🇪🇦 in France 🇫🇷

• Italy 🇮🇹 in Switzerland 🇨🇭

• Cyprus 🇨🇾 in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧

• Oman 🇴🇲 in the United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪

• The United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪 in Oman 🇴🇲

• Bosnia 🇧🇦 in Serbia 🇷🇸

• Croatia 🇭🇷 in Slovenia 🇸🇮

• Russia 🇷🇺 in Belarus 🇧🇾

• Armenia 🇦🇲 in Azerbaijan 🇦🇿

• Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 in Armenia 🇦🇲

• Bangladesh 🇧🇩 in India 🇮🇳

• Tajikistan 🇹🇯 in Uzbekistan 🇺🇿

• Tajikistan 🇹🇯 in Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬

• Uzbekistan 🇺🇿 in Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬

• Kyrgyzstan 🇰🇬 in Uzbekistan 🇺🇿

  
  

Quite an insane challenge, but I am taking it up, hands down!

Here's my first stamp from Baarle enclaves, while I purposefully did not get stamped on the rest - I will come back, Baarle 😉

Baarle takes its unique 'enclave culture' so seriously that it even features a signpost indicating the direction and distance to each enclave.

I was not able to cover the signboard in full ☹️

Picking up the enclave's souvenir passport, we marked our spots on the world map they placed there — you know, just to remember we’d been there. Then we hit a coffee shop, I enjoyed a dark chocolate while the other two of them enjoyed their coffee, and carried on with our journey home. Oh boy, what a journey it was! Thanks to the NS maintenance 😅, we had to take a detour through Ajay’s favourite city, ’s-Hertogenbosch (yes, that one), before finally reaching Den Haag — my favourite ’ 's-Gravenhage I told you about, the city that would go on to deliver me one hell of an experience.

Back home, we invited another friend over and made dosa — that thin, crispy South Indian pancake made from fermented rice and lentil batter, like a savory crepe. We had an absolute blast and called it a day, buzzing with excitement for what Amsterdam would bring tomorrow.

Baarle changed the way I see the world

Baarle shifted my perspective once and for all. It was my first time seeing borders at peace. Sure, I knew about Europe’s open borders and their (mostly) harmonious coexistence — but still, borders, by default, are expected to feel... uptight, right?

In front of the Baarle church

Let me repeat: 

"Baarle is what the world needs more of". 

As humans, we shouldn't be selecting where we belong, not Belgium or the Netherlands, not USA or Canada, not India or Pakistan - we belong to the Earth 🌍

Lived, albeit for a while, in both the Netherlands and Belgium at the same time.

Baarle is a living, breathing postcard of peace — and good luck convincing me otherwise. Forever! A day in Baarle was the day I truly felt what it means to connect with the world. To explore. To travel.

The three of us!

Allow me to finish with a nice phrase I found in Baarle, which I strongly believe in and resonate with

"Nice smiles have no borders".

Thank you, Baarle. And I will talk to you from Amsterdam.

Until next time, Eet smakelijk, y’all :)