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Tags: Passports / Travel News / Souvenirs / Soviet Travel / Liechtenstein / San Marino / Berlin / → All Tags

Would You Pay For Your Passport Stamps?

Is it illegal or is it good, clean fun? The stamping of passports for souvenir value seems as old a tradition as buying those horrific gift spoons, and this rampant passport defamation continues today, except now they're charging for it.

In our travels, we've run across the three biggest profiters from this racket: Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Berlin, although the latter is by far the worst of them.

In the picture above, the passport pages bear four fake stamps from the old Allied and Soviet sides of Berlin, stamps which could possibly invalidate the passport. There's even a discussion thread over at Lonely Planet regarding the legality of this tourist stamping, with particular attention to the prevalance of it around Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie. For 2€ each, you have your pick of the stamps, ranging from 4 different US sector versions to 2 Soviet designs, and even a few French thrown in for good measure.

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Tags: In Soviet Russia Bribe Pays You / Crime / Soviet Travel / → All Tags

EU May Oust Bulgaria and Romania

EU residents: Get thee to Bulgaria and Romania quickly--before the union boots the new members out. Since their acceptance last year, neither country has managed to stamp out corruption and fraud to an acceptable degree, a commission found, and now Bulgaria is on the brink of losing a good chunk of funding because of it.

It came to light earlier this year that millions in EU aid had poured into the pockets of high-ranking thieves. The funding was frozen, and a deadline for Bulgaria to fix the problems causing the corruption expires this month.

Experts say that if the trend continues, there's no way the Union will continue to keep the countries inside the circle. Originally, it was thought Bulgaria and Romania's membership would represent the emergence of former Soviet Bloc countries into the Western sphere. Instead, it's come to show the trouble transforming Communist strongholds into functioning democracies.

So unless you're a thick-neck former body builder with a defective conscience or a travel writer, these two countries might not be the vacation destination for you.

Related Stories:
· Bulgaria Risks Becoming EU Cautionary Tale [IHT]
· Sofia Soft Porn [Jaunted]

[Photo: mbell1975]