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