Far side of Europe and beyond?

Sergeant Pluck

Sergeant Pluck

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Me and a mate are leaving in April for a dash across the continent. We'll be going something like: France, Germany, Czech Rep, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Ukraine, then possibly Russia via Volgograd, Kazahkstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, then blah blah back to blighty. Something like that anyway.

Most of it we're pretty happy with, but does anyone have any knowledge about the Russia, Kazahkstan, Turkmenistan section? The Russian bit in particular (Volgograd) is just north of Georgia and Checknya etc - are we safe?! We won't be going far into Kazahkstan and Turkmenistan - skipping down between the Caspian and the Aral sea's and into Iran. Neither of these two countries are listed as particularly dodgy (if you stay west) at the FCO - any knowledge of this area? Not too much on horizons....

Many thanks.

Pluck.

PS Anyone know where there's a good Africa Twin for sale? (Not for me!!)
 
Metal Man knows Georgia really well, they have been married for years,:D lovely lass!
 
Been there, done that...

Have a look at our route on:

www.sorebums.net

You could benefit from a copy of our book (also available from the site)! I'll PM you my phone number so we can talk it over.

Simon
 
To Iran you need to get via Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan both if going around the Caspian Sea, no official border post between Kazak-Turkmen-Iran i'm afraid, i considered it as well on our Iran trip, but went trough Turkey. To get into Georgia via Russia is very hard as i've heard from Horizonsunlimited.com, foreigners mostly can't, so consider it less possible. Altough you can get into Georgia via Turkey or with ferry from Ukraine, from Georgia you can ship the bike over the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan, cross the fantastic Karakum desert (as i told you can't access the neighbouring countries Kazakh or Iran from there - only from the east) and choose whether you want to go down to Iran (Masshad border post) or up to discover Uzbekistan, Kyrgostan, Kazakh, Russia.

Note that Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgostan Centra-Asia VISAs are very expensive (more than 100$ each) and it takes time to issue them and not many places do that. Also be careful in UZ and KY - political situation not ideal currently, altough much improved since last internal panic especially in UZ, UZ police are still corrupt after that.

Also there may be some difficulties with Iran VISA for brits (yanks don't get it at all btw). Check if it's true or not.

Margus
 
Tsiklonaut said:
To Iran you need to get via Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan both if going around the Caspian Sea, no official border post between Kazak-Turkmen-Iran i'm afraid, i considered it as well on our Iran trip, but went trough Turkey. To get into Georgia via Russia is very hard as i've heard from Horizonsunlimited.com, foreigners mostly can't, so consider it less possible. Altough you can get into Georgia via Turkey or with ferry from Ukraine, from Georgia you can ship the bike over the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan, cross the fantastic Karakum desert (as i told you can't access the neighbouring countries Kazakh or Iran from there - only from the east) and choose whether you want to go down to Iran (Masshad border post) or up to discover Uzbekistan, Kyrgostan, Kazakh, Russia.

Note that Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgostan Centra-Asia VISAs are very expensive (more than 100$ each) and it takes time to issue them and not many places do that. Also be careful in UZ and KY - political situation not ideal currently, altough much improved since last internal panic especially in UZ, UZ police are still corrupt after that.

Also there may be some difficulties for Iran VISA for brits (yanks don't get it at all btw). Check if it's true or not.

Margus
Click to expand...


Thanks Margus. We're not actually going into Georgia - rather over the top of it from the Ukraine into Russia and Volgograd. From there it looks like you can into Kazakstan and then south through Turkmenistan to Iran avoiding Uzbekistan altogether (which bit too close to Iraq for my tastes!). Scuse me if this isn't quite correct I don't have me atlas in front of me. The alternative is to 'bail out' of the Ukraine in a ferry across the Black Sea into Turkey :D

From what I can tell you can now get a tourist visa of some description for Iran at the border, although we'll be needing friggin carnet's. Interestingly, Iran doesn't worry us at all despite the FCO implying that you'll get mown down by Kalashnikovs the minute you get across the border, or kidnapped, or [insert horrible death here]....!! They don't seem to think Kazak and Turkmeni are quite such a danger.

Thanks Simon - I'll give you a shout later. :thumb
 
Sergeant Pluck said:
Thanks Margus. We're not actually going into Georgia - rather over the top of it from the Ukraine into Russia and Volgograd. From there it looks like you can into Kazakstan and then south through Turkmenistan to Iran avoiding Uzbekistan altogether (which bit too close to Iraq for my tastes!). Scuse me if this isn't quite correct I don't have me atlas in front of me. The alternative is to 'bail out' of the Ukraine in a ferry across the Black Sea into Turkey :D

From what I can tell you can now get a tourist visa of some description for Iran at the border, although we'll be needing friggin carnet's. Interestingly, Iran doesn't worry us at all despite the FCO implying that you'll get mown down by Kalashnikovs the minute you get across the border, or kidnapped, or [insert horrible death here]....!! They don't seem to think Kazak and Turkmeni are quite such a danger.

Thanks Simon - I'll give you a shout later. :thumb
Click to expand...

Noup, i checked this Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran route in 2004 and it was not possible - no border posts for foreigners. Had to go trough Uzbekistan where the main road goes. Maybe it's changed, but i don't believe so - between Kazakhstan and Iran from east Caspian side is Karakum desert with not much roads, i guess they never wanted to build transit-road there in West-Turkmenistan from north to south. From west-east there is that main transit road where transport comes and going over the Caspian sea (the possible way via Georgia as i mentioned). But there's not much driving via UZ, just you need to go further east in Kazakhstan.


Are you safe? Well, there are good and bad people everywhere. We travelled through Iran remote places and kurd's conflic places with my girlfriend alone with no problems and very much liked it. I didn't have any cell phone coverage in Iran until we was 50kilometres from Iraq border, so if there was something to happend we were helpless, but didn't care about it at all - we feeled incredibly safe in muslim culture where the traveller is a "Gift of Allah". I guess you can get more likely robbed, raped or killed in Europe than there where people aren't poisoned by capitalistic £££ lifestyle and it's agressive survival tricks yet. Most of the people are poor there, and their hospitality is unparalleled anything you see in western culture, they share the last piece of bread with you...

Trust your instincts, do not be paranoid, trust the other people, but not too much, and you'll manage.

Margus
 
Re Trip

the trip sounds ace, a query regarding insurance, a group of us are going to transylvania in may, bmw insurance doesnt include rumania, is it just a case of buy admin insurance at the border, and take the chance that nothing happens, my mate left his bike in norway on a previous trip so he is abit wary.
 
Sergeant Pluck said:
Thanks Margus. We're not actually going into Georgia - rather over the top of it from the Ukraine into Russia and Volgograd. From there it looks like you can into Kazakstan and then south through Turkmenistan to Iran avoiding Uzbekistan altogether (which bit too close to Iraq for my tastes!). Scuse me if this isn't quite correct I don't have me atlas in front of me. The alternative is to 'bail out' of the Ukraine in a ferry across the Black Sea into Turkey :D

From what I can tell you can now get a tourist visa of some description for Iran at the border, although we'll be needing friggin carnet's. Interestingly, Iran doesn't worry us at all despite the FCO implying that you'll get mown down by Kalashnikovs the minute you get across the border, or kidnapped, or [insert horrible death here]....!! They don't seem to think Kazak and Turkmeni are quite such a danger.

Thanks Simon - I'll give you a shout later. :thumb
Click to expand...

PM Micky on this site...............he did that route in 2005

Here's his website

www.adventure.gs
 
Quote - 'From west-east there is that main transit road where transport comes and going over the Caspian sea (the possible way via Georgia as i mentioned). '

Whoops - someone forgot that Azerbaijan gets in the way - Georgia doesn't have a Caspian Sea coast.

But otherwise everything written here looks OK.

Pedantically yours

Simon
 
sorebums said:
Quote - 'From west-east there is that main transit road where transport comes and going over the Caspian sea (the possible way via Georgia as i mentioned). '

Whoops - someone forgot that Azerbaijan gets in the way - Georgia doesn't have a Caspian Sea coast.

But otherwise everything written here looks OK.

Pedantically yours

Simon
Click to expand...

Yep, Simon's right - i confused it with Azerb afterall, there's VISA needed for Azerbaijan. It is Georgia where estonians don't need a VISA, with 90 days stay limit, so it wasn't concern - just pass it trhough. Check if those terms apply for brits as well.

Cheers, Margus :beerjug:
 
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