The road into Puthaditsaba is tarred and in good condition. Through the extremely busy town it becomes a paved road, even better. But the last 6 kilometers leading to the border post at the top of the pass, is a rocky gravel road that should not be attempted in sedan cars.
This was the first of fourteen border posts to Lesotho on our tour. At an altitude of 2245 meters, it is so far the highest border post where we have been. It gets very cold here and in winter the border post is often closed due to snow. The normal operational hours are 8:00 to16:00.
Due to its geographical location very few South Africans make use of this border post. It is mainly locals from the Lesotho side that cross the border here to do shopping on the South African side, or to come and sell some of their produce. It is the odd tourist that will cross here into Lesotho.
What makes this border post very different is the fact that there is no Lesotho border post on the other side. I do not know why, but it is probably due to the majority of one-way traffic. We were warned not to cross the border here and then try to re-enter South Africa at a different border post because of this. The bad condition of the road on the Lesotho side was also given as a reason not to cross. We decided to do just that so that we can see for ourselves.
The border post was quiet on the Sunday morning that we crossed. Both the immigration and police officials told us they do not know what will happen when we exit Lesotho without having entered it through a border post.
The next border post, Caledonspoort, is 80 km away on the Lesotho side. During the first 500 meters, we descended 200 meters down the Maluti mountains. The road was recently upgraded to a cement road and going down was no problem at all. But that was the only section of the road that was upgraded. The next 55 km of rocky gravel road took us two-and-a-half-hours to complete. It is up and down, through small villages, crossing small rivers. Not dangerous, but you just cannot go faster. The last 25 km is a tarred road in good condition.
We reached Caledonspoort 3 hours after entering Lesotho and we did not know what to expect. What happened was a shock. Read the next post on Caledonspoort.
 |
| The last 6km up Monantsa Pass towards the border post is not recommended for sedan cars |
 |
| The view from the border post over Puthaditsaba |
 |
| Start of the 500 meter cement section on the Lesotho side |
 |
| The 55 km, rocky, gravel road took us two-and-a-half hours |