hi there,

we're planning to ride around the black sea in august/september.
weatherwise i'd prefer to go clockwise, but i've been checking out various posts and contact but don't seem to get any clear info on how possible that is, so i try again here:

-is the russian / georgian border open or not, and in which direction? does getting into georgia from abchazia pose a problem or is it possible in two directions? (cf the kosovo trick)
i was told you can get a permit letter from the georgian embassy which solves the truble at 'abchaz'-georgian border...

-is there a ferry from crimea (kerch) to poti or batumi, and / or from odessa to batumi? how 'reliable' is it, and does that depend on the direction of travel (i presume odessa is the easier port)?

-if on the boat, are the bikes treated as cargo in the harbours (complicating matters and implying taxes) or is it really roll on roll off?

-how safe is southern abchasia? (given that we are two girls on two bikes)

-do we need carnets anywhere in the region (oekraine, russia, georgia, armenia, nogorno-karabach, turkey)?

-the cesme-ancona boat seems to have disappeared. is that true?

-what would the driving time be from the russian border to the abchaz-georgian border?

thanks a lot & more to follow!
g