Are we going to be adding Russia to the growing list of countries that we will be pretty much banned or heavily restricted from travelling in ? Such as Iran and China etc.

Especially if you're in possession of a British or US Passport. The universally despised nations of war mongering and interference.

Pandemic bullshit now followed by war ?

So much of the world is being closed off because of conflict and the meddling and warmongering of sociopathic World 'leaders'

I fear the world is getting bigger again. Not smaller. But for all the wrong reasons.

I am KICKING myself for continuously putting off a central Asia/Russia trip over the last ten years. But then again, I had a lot of family issues to deal with. MEH !!!

Should I forget it for the foreseeable future?

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I am in wait and see camp myself. Not buying into tabloid hysteria.

As for central asia they're slowly opening up and you can get there bypassing russia; there is a ferry from Azerbaijan to Kazakhsta. At least there was one before pandemic.

This is pretty much where I am too. Though last I heard KZ land borders were also closed? They have had their own unrest there of course, but things are much calmer now.

I don't believe the Ukraine standoff will develop into war. From what I understand of the Russian mindset they regard Ukraine as a sister state not one to occupy and spend decades fighting an insurgency. They would rather support Donbas staying in Ukraine and influencing its policies. They don't need the natural resources, they have plenty of their own. Plus of course Russia could have walked in years ago if they wanted to, and nobody could have stopped them. So despite all the war of words (especially the idiot Johnson, Biden's errand boy trying to distract from his own f*ckups) I reckon within a few months it'll all be calm again but Ukraine will have got the message not to poke the bear.

Within Russia/CIS there may be some individuals who feel aggrieved by the actions of the US and its allies, but like in our own countries most ordinary citizens are good people.

My take on it, borders will stay closed for a while yet while Omicron is ripping through countries, but we will see a gradual easing over the next year, by which time today's Ukraine crisis will be tomorrow's chip paper.

To point out the obvious: they HAVE occupied two major regions of Ukraine since 2014.

Without seeking to pull the topic even further off topic (!), the history behind all of this goes back way further than the last 75 or 100 years that Ted and TomKat mention.

A very good read that I highly recommend is The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy. A very thorough history, that certainly left me thinking that the current problems are just the latest iteration of problems that have existed for nearly a millenia.

Ta,

Ed

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Where Next Barney? / Trans Morocco Trail

Let's review:

The subject of this thread--established by the OP and by its location in the North and Central Asia forum--is future travel in relation to the current threat of war and/or sanctions in and around Ukraine. This doesn't include the posting of inflammatory screeds--and responses to inflammatory screeds--about the politics of US, Soviet, U.K., or other countries. Please resist any contrary temptation you may experience, and stick to the topic.

I've placed several posts into moderation, which means they're invisible except to other moderators and Grant. If they disagree with me, the posts might reappear. On the other hand, it's also possible that *more* posts will vanish.

Thanks for your forbearance,

Mark

Thanks Mark - appreciated


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Where Next Barney? / Trans Morocco Trail

I share your concern Ted, having had to pull my own trip to the Altai in April 2020 due to COVID and as someone who has craved to return to the Pamir. But there will always be places we will want to go to, but never quite make it!

However, as Cyclopathic says, there is still hope if you want to visit that part of the world - the ferry from Baku to Aktau is an option, if you then cut down through the Silk Road cities via Beynau. The Azeris are reviewing their COVID land border closures in the next few weeks. Uzbekistan is arguably more open than it was five/six years ago, even if Kazakhstan is less stable. If you've got an EU passport, Tajikistan is now also visa-free.

Right now, Russian land borders are closed to non-citizens anyway, due to COVID. If they do open up again, I would say that there will always be shades of grey to the situation - exploring the Russian side of border areas, always sensitive, might be a no-no if only due to the security presence, but further away from them people are people.

One question in my mind is whether there might be more restrictions for land crossings for GB/UK passport holders if and when things open again, but then that arguably would have to apply to all NATO countries too. Would Russia want to miss out on that western tourism? Is the Russian Government of the nature of Iran/Burma/China, who have similar restrictions?

I'm not convinced. I think the wider situation is no longer what it was, but anything short of full-on war, I'm optimistic that things will eventually open up again.

Finally, it's worth watching Georgia/South Ossetia - that's a very similar situation to the Ukrainian one, and one that's be rumbling on for much longer.

Ed

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Where Next Barney? / Trans Morocco Trail

That's not entirely true; I was told by contact the border is open for travel by airplane and trains the land crossings restricted to russian plated vehicles only. So you can get in if you ship bike across. IMO it is unlikely that there would be any additional border restriction tightening but it is a question for how long covid restrictions would stay.

That's interesting -hadn't thought of doing that. Useful to know, thanks.

Ed

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Where Next Barney? / Trans Morocco Trail

Not completely true.

Land borders are closed yes, but you can get in with extra permission of the FSB.

you can apply for this permission on good visa agencies.

I definitely know some people who have done that this way, ans I am planing the same.

And shipping the bike to Russia is more likely a custom pain in the axx and I guess, it would take longer to get custom clearance than to try to get into with a permit

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www.klausmotorreise.com

Hi Klaus,

That sounds promising about getting the special permission. Do you have any more information that you might be able to share on that?

Thanks,

Ed

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Where Next Barney? / Trans Morocco Trail

There are at least two possible outcomes of the current situation-- (A) war breaks out, any non-Russian not in a war zone may not be able to drive anywhere, all foreign bank accounts frozen, NATO citizens will be in jail or some sort of "camp". (B) it blows over in 2 -4 weeks, everything back to normal. Best to wait a few weeks and see if there are other places to visit. Your choice.

In Europe, you can do that with good visa agencies, they can sort that for you.
in Germany I definitely know that works

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www.klausmotorreise.com

Hello

Only russias dictator Putin can put Russia on any list.
Only he is responsibly for the current tensions and only he knows if Russia (Putin) is going to invade Ukrain.

If he is just bluffing, well played, all western leaders are kissing his ass.

If he does invade Ukrain, let's hope there will be few deaths.

Russia has never been intrested in western tourism, just look at the visa process, compared to other countries that require visa AND are interested in tourism.

sushi

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My RTW:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere