The Couriers

Then we spotted a VB State Police road block up in front of us. We were waved over and stopped. They lit us up with search lights from two vehicles (not good). There were two Czech VB vehicles and multiple officers. A couple stayed on the lights and two approached our vehicle. One spoke in Czech to John who was driving. We didn’t understand. Lane spoke up in German and asked “Kampin, wo est eine kampin platz, bitte?” (Camping? Where is a camping place please?) I thought good job! But it didn’t work. They were using their individual flashlights to shine down into the van; they didn’t back off but kept pressing John. They were giving us a good look and visual inspection. The lead VB was not easily distracted, and he was not a friendly sort. He was a pretty stern dude. He did not respond to Lane when he spoke up but ignored him and abruptly took charge. He spoke sternly in Czech. He wanted to establish that he was in control and that he would be asking the questions. He then broke into limited German, wanting to know where we were going, “Wo gahen sie?” Ignoring Lane in the passenger seat, he addressed John behind the wheel. He wanted to see our papers; we coughed up our visas and passports which seemed to satisfy him some. I spoke up and said in a friendly tone, “Wir gahe zum die stad fur essen und trinken, den Kampin? “Wo ist eine Kamping platz, bitte?” He was lighting up our vehicle with his search light and wanted to see inside. He could easily see through the windows with his bright light. He pointed at some items. He wanted a book of matches which we had brought from Holland with Dutch logos and phrases written on them. The guy is good! I thought. We could be in trouble.