The purpose of bureaucracy is to sustain the bureaucracy. The longer it takes, the more job security they've got.

It was a national holiday in Russia. I saw the piles of migration forms and, starting the shift at 8am, i was the 4th person to cross the border (11am). So they were plain bored I think. And they couldn't figure out what I was doing in Latvia!.
It seems to be strange (even for nationals of my country) to have simultaneously many passports (three in my case). Because going to US Customs showing a handful of stamps of places like Colombia, Nicaragua or even Russia gives them a nice reason for having an extended chat with you...
Plus, Argentine new biometric passport has only 32 pages, from which the first 5 are voided. My third passport is only 2 months old and is up to page 11 full. Passport 1 is completely full (but some visas are still usable) while passport 2 has just 2 pages left. I also applied for a fourth passport which should arrive to my parents house on the next few days...

Just came back from a pretty fun trip to Moscow myself. Was my first time there and it was quite different from anyplace else I've been.

That's an interesting itinerary you had. You skirted just east of everything I've seen. Any recommendations from the places you stopped?

I would recommend the next time you go a bit further west and drive through Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Ljubljana (very nice city to visit), and possibly even end at Venice.

The longest land border crossing I had was at Buffalo on my way in to the US, really quiet day for crossing (no sports games!). Went into the little office, no one else in there. Thought 'oh this will be nice and quick' - famous last words! We sat there while the border agents did nothing. At all. Then we were joined by 3 or 4 other people. Still no one doing anything, we are just sitting there. Then suddenly we all get called over to the windows, and just as they start asking us the usual questions, a VIP and their entourage enter. We had clearly been kept waiting to give this VIP something to see, show they were busy, who knows. I was not impressed. Best part of an hour!

That's not really strange. If you are American or Canadian it should be a standard procedure to cross the borders often, and although they might look lazy (maybe they are) they can be reported. I recently reported a CBP Officer on JFK Airport because of being so kind and gentle, and for his absolute perfect knowledge of both Russian and Spanish. I sent a congratulation letter to him via the CBP website, and he received it and thanked me for that gesture.

Being a foreigner, entering Russia from Latvia, on a Montenegrin Audi, in winter, on a national holiday, early in the morning, sometimes seems strange. I've done the same with the Audi entering Romania from Hungary with two friends, one from Israel and the other Argentinean with an US Passport. That was a very strange moment when immigrations officers from Romania, new EU Member, though not yet Schengen Area member, got overwhelmed by the situation and thought we were certainly dealing with drugs. Most of my Audi was disassembled in the search of narcotics or other ilegal products. Specially as one of the guys had a pretty interesting passport, with stamps from most of Romania's entry points with Ukraine and Moldova (even by sea, train and unknown roads) but never from a "serious" country from the west.
After over 3 hours they let us in.... The Audi was put back in shape and drove us safe to Ždiar in Slovakia, for an amazing week in the High Tatras...

Sometimes, even being a native seems odd. Entering Argentina at Villazón/La Quiaca border post (with Bolivia) is mostly intense (something as Tijuana/San Diego) because of smuggling. Worse is when you have a plane to catch (from Jujuy Airport, 400km south) in less than 5 hours, and you get to the immigration queue just 20 minutes after the Ferrocarril Central Boliviano (Bolivian Central Railway) has arrived from La Paz, Oruro, Uyuni and Tupiza carrying over 1000 passengers, from them 80% continuing on foot to Argentina.
My moral is against bribing, but my friend's moral wasn't, and as he was the one hurried to get to Jujuy Airport, we skipped the queue and spoke directly with The Boss. Less than 5 minutes later we were on my car (parked in a big lot 300m from the border) driving on the RN9 south to Jujuy "Horacio Guzmán" Airport.

Last and best story was with my mother, two years ago, returning for a short trip to Valparaíso (in Chile) crossing the border at the Paso de Agua Negra, that joins La Serena with San Juan. Is not a paved one, and is only used by local traffic in summer, as in winter is blocked with snow (therefor is closed between March and December). As is one of the highest in the area (4780m or 15680ft AMSL), the check point in Chile is about 60km from the border Guardia Vieja (IV Region - Coquimbo), and the check point in Argentina is 150km after, in the city of Las Flores (San Juan Province).
So, we drove from La Serena uphill to Guardia Vieja, when we arrived at 5pm. Saw most of the modest migration and customs building closed. Went inside. A soldier guarding the place. Told us the people from migration and customs works until 3pm, and they wouldn't return until the following morning. He told us hotels were just in La Serena (206km to the West), and there was nothing besides a small town (Vicuña) just 60km before La Serena. Mum and myself decided to take the brave idea of spend the night in the car. It was an amazing experience. The guard allowed us to use the restrooms, and told us he was from a very small village, just 15km before, where we should find a house with a red roof, and the lady who owns the place would maybe offer us some food. We drove there, and the lady sold us (well, it wasn't selling, she gave us, mother gave her the last CLP we had) some bread and oranges. At 18, the generator went off, and by 20:30 it was completely dark outside. We never saw so many stars like that night. It was windy, we were pretty high above the sea level and mum wasn't very confortable. But she made some amazing photos the following morning. We had a pleasant sleep, we were invited to join the soldier to share his small breakfast (with our oranges), and at 9am, a small bus brought all the personal of customs and migrations. We crossed in no time, and in Argentina we were asked by the SENASA (agriculture control) why where we carrying oranges. We couldn't explain it in a reasonable way so they took them away.
It was the last trip I did alone with my mother, and quite certainly the best one.

PD: off the record, mum willing to taste the water of the river next to the place where we parked, felt into the river. No much water, no hurt, but a laugh attack from all, including the soldier.
http://www.dangerousroads.org/south-...gra-chile.html

Benin to Togo was similarly nutso. I've been to 132 countries and it was the worst border crossing experience (aside from Jordan - Israel).