It is amazing what all sorts of restrictions the old days had in petto. I'm reading "Odd Tom Coryate", The English Marco Polo" . He travels from 1608 till 1617 ( when he dies on a dusty road somewhere in the North of India) across Europe, the Ottoman Empire, the Holy Land, Iran, Afghanistan.
Incredible to read about all the formalities he had to respect as far as customs and paper work and passes to get sometimes only from one town to the next. Standing in line to pass customs in our days is peanuts compared to his troubles.