And again extended to november 1st. No permits provided according to embassy.

I'm at crossroads to trying to load the bike on the ferry and fly in from Kz or take the way around via Russia at this time.

I can see the pros and cons of both. However, if driving:
- Are land borders closed, or just sea ones?
- Can you get a Russian visa on the road?

If those can be answered in the affirmative that's probably the approach I'd prefer.

Ill bypass the bloody country then. passport is at the embassy

Fingers crossed!

Just go through Russia. I did it in July right after they lifted covid restrictions it was non-event. Yes Vrkhniy Lars is a b!tch, yes ride to Astrakhan is boring, yes there is no road from the border to Atyrau for 268km but it is a quickest way.

Bonus pointer : bring blue pen, black pan is no-go at Russian customs good luck.

It occurred to me that the Azerbaijani multiple land border opening deadlines shenanigans were just a huge crock of dudu, so got a Russian visa (in my German passport from Bonn) and flew to Kyrgyzstan the other day. Bike is getting work done (piston rings and valve guide stem seals) and I aim to set off westwards via Uzbekistan/western Kazakhstan and Volgograd, then Georgia and Turkey to Bulgaria early next week.

It'll be cooling down in the Caucasus, so likely to avoid the hilly bits en route. I'll probably return there ( = Caucasus lumps) again when things warm up again next year as part of a ride to India/Nepal, along the usual 60s hippie trail.

Look out for a big red pig (the only red bits are the front and rear fenders... but big white, red with a translucent tank doesn't roll off the tongue so well :mchappy: ) with a loud pipe, answering to the name Engelberta :D

I definitely know a german couple who just did exactly this maybe 3 weeks ago.

They did send the bike with the ferry to Alat and took the plane, and picked up the bike in Alat