BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey, I'm looking for info on this route, if anyone has any.

I want to travel overland from Russia into Georgia and over to Azerbaijan. From Baku, Azerbaijan I would like to take the ferry over to Turmenistan.

Has anyone done this route? Did you have any trouble getting the Azeri and Turkmenistan visas? Has anyone used StanTours to get assistance with this?

I know I'm full of questions! :-) After that I would like to get to India. Would Ashgabat airport have decent flights to India, or would it better to get into Uzbekistan and try from there?

I've just started researching this and unfortunately besides StanTours, haven't been able to find too much.

Thanks all!

Brooke

quote:

I want to travel overland from Russia into Georgia and over to Azerbaijan. From Baku, Azerbaijan I would like to take the ferry over to Turkmenistan.

I haven't done this route, but have already spotted a flaw: the border between Russia and Georgia is closed, you'll have to fly. (This might conceivably be old information, since I researched Georgia a few years ago, but I know the conflicts that were causing the closed land border were still going strong a few months ago, so I doubt it's changed)

Damn! I read that wrong on the lonely planet site it said that a highway was closed but then it mentioned ones that are open, probably not from Russia. But other websites I was just looking said there was no entry that way. D'oh that sucks. I thought that would have worked out well. Well maybe I can get a flight into Baku and go from there.

It is not possible right now to get from Russia to Georgia by train, plane, or automobile. The Russians are in a snit and there is no public transportation between the two countries. I wouldn't expect that to change anytime soon either. Border closed until further notice.

I was in Baku about a year ago....why would you want to go there? Give Azerbaijan a miss. People are nice but there is no there there. Besides there are more Azeris in Russia and Iran than there are in Azerbaijan.

The ferry across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan is otherwise known as a s_l_o_w b_o_a_t. 12 hours on a lucky day. And since the fearless Turkmen emperor Nyaziev died recently, I'm not sure it would be altogether safe until the dust settles around the new head of state. This is a tightly closed and locked up country.

Turkmenistan is generally a pretty weird country anyway. Heed this: there is NO international banking in Turkmenistan. What that means in practical terms is that there is NO WAY to access money in ANY foreign bank account when inside Turkmenistan. If you don't bring it with you or don't have a Turkmen bank account you cannot get Turkmen (I think they're manat)cash, the only currency they deal in. Not from ATM's, no travelers cheques, no nothing. Any money you might need in Turkmenistan you would need to bring into the country with you IN CASH. You can change foreign currencies, but not access money held outside of the country.

You might want to save this Russia/Georgia/Azerbaijan/Turkmenistan excursion for another day.

aw, well that was a disappointing post. :-( thanks for the info, i'll keep investigating.

If you want an overland route, I've heard that there is ferry service from Sochi to Poti into Georgia. Unfortunately, I have not heard good things about many of the most interesting parts of Georgia. The Russian border is closed for a good reason: secessionists have made spectacular mountain ranges, Abkhazia and parts of western Georgia unsafe for foreigners, and even for Georgian citizens who are not natives of that particular region.

I'm dying to see the Caucasus myself. Food, wine (the word 'wine' comes from the Georgian, and the stuff itself very likely originated there), mountain treks, the legendary hospitality--it's a lifetime destination, and as with all lifetime destinations, if not now, when?

I would suggest if you're going this year, stick to Tbilisi, Gori and wine country, and spend some time in Armenia, with reputedly equally majestic mountains. Start in Armenia, then go to Georgia if you plan to go on to Azerbaijan (which has virtually closed borders with Armenia).

Thanks Sputnik. I hear ya.. I'm very intrigued by that whole area. I figure by that time in our trip we should pretty much be travel pros and we'll decide if that's a route we want to pursue. Have you ever checked out fullpassport.com? They traveled for 3 years and went to all those countries without much difficulty (or so it seems from the site).

I've been heavily researching Caucas travel myself. Just ordered a used LP of the three countries, anxiously awaiting its arrival, not that I'm an LP fan, but its the only guide I found covering all three.

I've done several searches from various european cities into the Caucus capitols and everything seems really expensive. My plan is to fly into Turkey, cross Turkey by bus, stoping several places across the way, though I'm not sure what is worth stoping for in eastern turkey (any suggestions?). Then after I've had my fill of the region, take the ferry from Batumi/Poti to Odessa/Illichevsk in Ukraine. Here is a site with the ferry details.

By the way, the more I look into Azerbaijan the less appealing it becomes. Like Sophie said, just doesn't seem to be anything there.
Armeniapedia has some good info hidden within it. Check out the attraction ratings page.

Other than T'bilisi and a few monastaries, I'm not sure what to see in Georgia. I'd really like to visit the mountains, maybe in the Northwest part of the country, or just anywhere well west of Ossetia. Anyone got suggestions on that?
Anyone happen to catch Globe Trekker Georgia/Armenia? It looked pretty sweet!

I was researching a similar route, and found this:

It is (or was) possible to take a ferry from Odessa in the Ukraine to port cities in Georgia. I"m assuming it is possible to travel from Russia to the Ukraine/

Georgia sounds awesome, especially if you like the outdoors and wine. I'm a fan of both.

From Georgia, the best / cheapest way I found in to Central Asia was to backtrack to Istanbul, and take a plane to Tashkent in Uzbekistan. Travel between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan looks do-able, and in season you can cross into Xinjiang province in Western China.

I didn't really read up much on Kazakhstan - tah tmight be an option.

I haven't done any of this - it's all fantasy at this point!

Unfortunately after much googling, I cannot find the original Mercer survey from which this information was excerpted. Worth a quick gander. And after having spent time in Baku, I must wholeheartedly agree.


The Moscow Times

"Moscow is worse than St. Petersburg and Kazan in terms of health and sanitation, but no city in the world is quite as bad as Baku, according to a new survey.

At the top of the list of cities with good health and sanitation services is Calgary, followed by Honolulu and Helsinki, the only European city in the top five, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, a U.S.-based company that advises global companies on how to structure remuneration packages for their expatriate employees.

Moscow placed 201 out of the 215 cities surveyed, lower than St. Petersburg (184), Novosibirsk (182) and Kazan (174).

"Scores are based on the quality and availability of hospital and medical supplies and levels of air pollution and infectious diseases," Mercer said in a statement. "The efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems, water portability and the presence of harmful animals and insects are also taken into account."

A spokesman for the Health and Social Development Ministry said Wednesday that he did not have enough information about the survey to comment on it.

Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, placed dead last, trailing Dhaka in Bangladesh, Antananarivo in Madagascar and Port Au Prince in Haiti."

Unfortunately there is also an issue with the Kur River (i belive) in Azerbaijan and pollution. One of my professors was working on the council to help with this issue as a lot of pollution was being dumped in by Georgia (if i remember correctly) and they are working on some sort of system to get all the surrounding countries involved in the resolution... they were having trouble bc those countries don't get along too well. It's been a while since we talked about it, but my professor loved Baku and thought it was a wonderful place to visit... so I think i'm still going to have to check it out.

Brooke-

I just returned from the Caucasus. The border is closed between Russia and Georgia. I have a lot of info about our travels in the region, but I'm going to sit down and make a big posting for them so look it up. Hit me with any questions you've got!

-Katie

This press release sounds encouraging, but there's no telling what may actually happen......


The Moscow Times
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Turkmenistan Opens Up to Foreign Tourists
Reuters


ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan -- Turkmenistan, isolated from the rest of the world under its former leader, plans to open up its Caspian Sea coast to foreign tourists.

State television said the Central Asian country aimed to ease visa requirements for foreigners wanting to visit the Caspian city of Turkmenbashi, named after the late leader and which the government plans to turn into a resort area.

"The document includes measures aimed at developing rest and recreation activities and international tourism in the country, including simplifying visa requirements for foreign tourists wishing to rest on the Caspian Sea," said a news presenter.

The presenter did not say when that might happen. Saparmurat Niyazov, who ruled Turkmenistan via a personality cult for 21 years, died in December. The new president has taken steps to soften some of Niyazov's harshest policies.

The new president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, has shown signs that he might ease some of his predecessor's most unpopular measures and vowed to improve Internet and mobile phone access.

Turkmenistan has a law allowing it to deport foreigners for "immoral behavior" and bar its people from going abroad for "fears that citizens might fall victim to human trafficking and become a slave while abroad".

Turkmenistan is home to ancient sites dating back to Parthian kings and other tourist attractions.

On Tuesday, Interfax reported that the Turkmen state airline, Turkmenhovaellary, will resume weekly flights between Ashgabat and the Kazakh largest city, Almaty, from May 26.

The airline will use Boeing 737s for the flights, the agency reported. Ticket sales have not begun but the airline is already taking reservations, Interfax said.

rock

I'd also advise staying away from Azerbaijan. I hate to say "it isn't worth the trouble" but, ahem, it isn't worth the trouble. Georgia and Armenia are a different story.

quote:

Originally posted by KatieInez:
I just returned from the Caucasus. I have a lot of info about our travels in the region, but I'm going to sit down and make a big posting for them so look it up.

It'd be great to get some feedback from a recent visitor, Katie. Please post when you get the chance.