Back to Europe from Kyrgyzstan
 

Hello all,

I do hope you are all well and willing to travel once COVID restrictions are entirely lifted.

I am planning a motorcycle trip for 2022, mainly starting from Europe, Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and then starting the well-known Pamir Highway (Wakan valley). Finally ending my first part of the journey in Kyrgyzstan (Issyk Kul lake).

I have several doubts regarding my way back to Europe. What are your suggestions?

Some alternatives I am considering are:
- Crossing the border into Kazakhstan and then into Russia (Kotyayevka). Then follow the coast to Georgia.
- Crossing the border into Kazakhstan and take the ferry in Aktau to Baku (Azerbaijan).
- Crossing the border into Kazakhstan and then into Russia (Tamozhnya Ural'sk). Then continue to Ukraine.

I have read that Russian visa is rather difficult to obtain. Also that the region of Dagestan is not the safest. Not sure of which way to take, really.

Any feedback or other alternatives are more than welcomed.

thank you all.

Russian visa shouldn't be too hard to get if you use experts like realrussia.co.uk

Turkmenistan visa OTOH could be hard to get and doesn't allow much flexibility to travel.

Not so much difficult as annoying, and possibly expensive. It's not like you won't get it, it's just that you will have to do a lot of paperwork. Even then, it's getting a little bit better, they're slowly introducing e-visas, though they are not valid for every overland crossing yet.

The other question is - where exactly do you want to end up? Azerbaijan/Georgia are not quite Europe yet, you'll have a big boat trip at best from Georgia to Bulgaria (or Ukraine).

Azerbaijan and Armenia are freshly off a war with each other, so having Armenian stamps in your passport will make Azerbaijani border guards nervous. Probably not a dealbreaker, just something to keep in mind.

Crossing at Uralsk is probably the least stressful option in terms of the road back to Russia's western borders.