Georgia to Kazakhstan via Russia - July 2024
 

Hi all,

I'm doing a solo ride from Europe to Singapore this summer/fall.

While I was initially planning to take the Baku-Aktau ferry, I'm now exploring alternatives since the Azerbaijan land border is still closed until October.

Instead I'm looking to drive from Georgia to Kazakhstan via Russia somewhere between 10-20 July (travelling on a Dutch passport).

Anyone fancy driving together? Safety in numbers and all that.

Well, there's currently a minor uprising in Dagestan, the area of Russia you would be driving through - 20 people dead so far... plus the fact of giving your money to Russia in the first place.

You can ship your bike across the Georgian border in Azerbaijan and fly in to meet it, then take the ferry - plenty of people have done that.

How do you plan on getting around Myanmar? Crossing China from Kyrgyzstan to Laos or across from Nepal?

Of course Dagestan is to be avoided at the moment. If I was to take this route, I would be looking to go around (North Ossentia, Stavropol Kai, Kalymkia, Astrakhan) and drive like hell to spend the least amount of time here as possible.

Shipping between Tbilisi/Baku is an option. Given the Azerbaijani government announced only yesterday that the land border would not open per July 1, I'm still searching for information on prices, contacts etc.

I'm getting around Myanmar via China from Nepal to Laos.

This week's attacks in Dagestan were by a small group of dissidents and have been quashed in any case. If you avoid every part of the world where there are some bad people you wont go far. Plus, to travel from Georgia to Kazakhstan you don't need to go near Dagestan. Don't seek out trouble and it won't seek you out. As for crossing Russia in the first place, many people have done it and left politics out of their travel plans. The Russian people are good people, as British and American ones were when their governments were invading Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Azerbaijani land and sea borders to open. They cite covid but the real reason is to keep out the flood of Russian draft dodgers that went into Georgia and Kazakhstan. The borders will stay closed as long as the conflict continues.

I think you’ll be too late for me, I’ve got tentative plans for that route but will want to be earlier in the year.

How did you get on??
 

Hi mate, I'm about to attempt the same route. How did you get on? Or did you manage to find an alternative? I've made it to Greece through Europe (the easy part) and now looking to get into Central and across to China. Keen to hear how it went for you. Cheers.

Apologies for the late reply, you've probably already done the route but I'll put my experience here anyways for others who are thinking of doing it.

I crossed at the Stepantsminda/Russia border on July 16, 2024. Arrived at 530am and getting out of Georgia was quite easy, entering Russia was easy as well but it just takes long with all the paperwork. Total time was approx 3 hours to get through.

From the border I followed the google maps route to Kazakhstan (i.e. via Chechnya, Dagestan). No issues on the road. Lot of police and military activity but I was only stopped when leaving Dagestan. Some drivers notice you are a foreigner but they dont give you any trouble (I had obvious NL plates on my bike). Rather the opposite, some are very happy to see western tourists in their country as they have the impression we hate them.

Spent the night in Astrakhan and was off the next day to the Kazakh border. In total I spent 1.5 days in Russian crossing. Overall, road quality is good, people are friendly, government officials (police, military etc) will help you. Overlanders I spoke to in Central Asia who also did this route said the same thing and crossed no problems.

Hi. glad you mad it thru Russia with a good experience. Planning on going the same route this summer. Did you use the e-visa to get in at Verkhnij Lars and out at Astrakhan or did you use a normal tourist visa?

The evisa only works at specified crossing points, which are specified on the evisa page. If you're going into KZ, there are no evisa crossing points. So, no. You need a normal tourist visa, unfortunately. Transit visas on the road are possible I believe, but quite restrictive on route and itinerary.