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Crossing into Russia from southern Estonia Crossing into Russia from southern Estonia
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Photo by Stefan Thiel of Mark Hammond crossing a river in NW Mongolia

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Stefan Thiel, of
Mark Hammond crossing
a river in NW Mongolia



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  #1  
Old 10 Jun 2017
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Crossing into Russia from southern Estonia
Did this on June 1. It has the same queue system as reported at Narva. They charged us 2.5 euros each to go in the holding area, but sent us straight to the border.

Slow on the Estonian side, but then it got slower. The Russians seem to be making it hard to cross (if not Russian). Only one booth open.

We sat in no man's land for two hours.

The girls in the passport booth were friendly, confused by our business visa and us saying we were here for tourism, but once we mentioned Mongolia they cracked on with sorting stuff out.

Total crossing time 5 hours. That beats any south American crossing.

Glad we chose to stop in Pskov.

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Originally Posted by BruceP View Post
Did this on June 1. It has the same queue system as reported at Narva. They charged us 2.5 euros each to go in the holding area, but sent us straight to the border.

Slow on the Estonian side, but then it got slower. The Russians seem to be making it hard to cross (if not Russian). Only one booth open.

We sat in no man's land for two hours.

The girls in the passport booth were friendly, confused by our business visa and us saying we were here for tourism, but once we mentioned Mongolia they cracked on with sorting stuff out.

Total crossing time 5 hours. That beats any south American crossing.

Glad we chose to stop in Pskov.

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Is this the crossing which is called Shumilkino (Шумилкино) on the Russian side, across from Luta in the far south of Estonia?

If so, do you have the waypoints for the holding area / ticket booth? I'm planning on crossing in August and would really appreciate any info which might speed things up.

I remember paying this fee at the Narva border crossing once. On a 4.5 year trip around Eurasia I think it was the only time I had to pay to enter a border. Still, it was worth it to get out of the EU and back into Russia

Thanks,

EO
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Old 10 Jun 2017
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EO, if you are asking about the Estonian side, then there's the official site with all the info. Including the how long are the queues.

https://www.eestipiir.ee/yphis/borde...ngAreas.action
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Old 11 Jun 2017
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No way points, sorry, we don't use GPS. But yes, that is the border.

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Old 11 Jun 2017
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To speed things up, don't use this border. :-). We met a Swiss guy who only took 2 hours from Latvia. ( The M9 crossing).

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I don't think it took me more than two hours to get through this border from Estonia, although I was on a moto.
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I don't think it took me more than two hours to get through this border from Estonia, although I was on a moto.
We were on two. When did you cross?

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Old 12 Jun 2017
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I crossed in 2014. I've crossed the Russian border many times and speak Russian so that probably helped.
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Old 13 Jun 2017
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Originally Posted by eurasiaoverland View Post
Is this the crossing which is called Shumilkino (Шумилкино) on the Russian side, across from Luta in the far south of Estonia?

If so, do you have the waypoints for the holding area / ticket booth? I'm planning on crossing in August and would really appreciate any info which might speed things up.
Unlike Narva, you don't need waypoints because you're not going out of your way.

By the way, I would recommend crossing not at Shumilkino, but at Koidula, into Pechory. It's a big crossing, equipped for lots of traffic. There's a brief and dumb "toll road" on the Russian side, but you can stop and have a look at both Pechory and Izborsk - two very ancient Russian cities, more preserved than Pskov, which just has the old Kremlin and not much else of note.

Let me know when you're passing through Estonia.
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AnTyx, what do you mean with "toll road"? I'll be crossing from there on Friday. At first planned Narva, but the queue wait time is a lot longer than the SE Estonia ones.
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Old 14 Jun 2017
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Originally Posted by fnormet View Post
AnTyx, what do you mean with "toll road"? I'll be crossing from there on Friday. At first planned Narva, but the queue wait time is a lot longer than the SE Estonia ones.
It's literally a hundred meters of road, straight from the Russian border station to the main road junction, and they charge a few hundred roubles for it. Only a few euros, but an annoying ripoff/official scam.

NOTE: At the Narva crossing, there is 10 minutes in every hour reserved for motorcycles, as a priority. If you go to the booking system at https://www.eestipiir.ee/yphis/preRe...Vehicle.action and select Category A (motorcycle), you will see that Friday is wide open.
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Unlike Narva, you don't need waypoints because you're not going out of your way.

By the way, I would recommend crossing not at Shumilkino, but at Koidula, into Pechory. It's a big crossing, equipped for lots of traffic. There's a brief and dumb "toll road" on the Russian side, but you can stop and have a look at both Pechory and Izborsk - two very ancient Russian cities, more preserved than Pskov, which just has the old Kremlin and not much else of note.

Let me know when you're passing through Estonia.
Hi!

I saw that crossing, wish I had taken it last time. I have a rule to return to a target country at the same crossing that I left it... so Shumilkino it will be. I was thinking to visit both Pechory and Izborsk.

I have less than 9 weeks to reach Magadan so I'll be passing straight through the EU countries, no time for stopping I'm afraid

I laughed when you mentioned a Russian toll road. I once got onto a road heading south from Pskov to the Belarussian border. I was flabbergasted to be asked for money to use a road (first time in many thousands of kms in Russia), and then just laughed to see that the road was really sh*t and hadn't even been cleared of snow, so was far worse than regular toll-free Russian roads. But then in Russia the old adage 'you get what you pay for' rarely applies.

Cheers

EO
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