Paul & Bermuda, same here. My plan B is also via Latvia....
I also want to avoid applying for yet anotehr visa (Bielorus) and via Turkey is quite a long way....

We plan to leave 22d of April but travel slow as we are on 2 honda XR.

Bermuda, if you still try Ukraine, let us know here how it goes as you are ahead of us!

__________________
Maria

www.franglais-riders.com

Will do. I will be collecting my friend from Berlin on 10th April and should be entering Ukraine about 13th and exiting into Russia about 18th April (if all goes to plan). We'll make the decision in Berlin whether to head through Ukraine or whether to take the Latvia route.

Our proposed route is via Lviv, Kiev and Kharkiv, so it is well clear of Crimea. Obviously, all depends on the state of unrest and any military action by 10th April.

__________________
2014 overland adventure to Russia and Central Asia in Land Rover Defender www.bermudarover.com

I leave for Ireland on March 26. I have reached the point in my preparations where I have given up trying to plan for every little thing and stopped worrying. I have enough visas for a good adventure. In January I reckoned a Russian visa was my safe bet to make it to Mongolia. Things change so fast. I always figured I could cross the Black Sea from Turkey to Ukraine and get easy entry through Russia if it looked like Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan would be a problem. This will be a very interesting summer!

My parts and camping gear made it to Ireland by mail. I am planning to be at Motocamp in Bulgaria by May 6 and pick up some tires. http://motosapiens.org/motocamp/Info or contact Ivo at motocampbgATNOSPAMALOTyahooNOTACOMMABUTAcom I have not updated my itinerary yet. But I will get that to all of you.

Tom Bosman - are you still planning to go to Baku, obtain a Turkmenistan transit visa, and then cross the Caspian by boat? That is my plan and I would like to travel with you.

Noel and Tom C - I assume you both still plan to cross Iran (a nice safe place) and obtain a transit visa for Turkmenistan.

It appears that four of us will be in Istanbul on May 19, most of us a little earlier. I will be there May 9 - 19. If things have changed so much in Eastern Europe by then anyone interested in traveling with the Noel, Tom C, Tom B and Fritz group, should send some emails to noel or me.

Fritz

Hey All, Fritz,

Yes, still on the Iran route. Looking forward to that. My passport is now at the embassy, should be back on Tuesday, fingers crossed. I'm still at the worrrying phase :confused1: trying to think of everything! And anoyingly, my email has been down for days now and I am starting to get a bit angry with my provider! So if the personal mails bounce, you know what it is. I'm planning on arriving in Istanbul 16/17th of May and will (most likely) be staying in the Antique Hostel in Sultanamet. But we will be in contact before and should exchange cell phone numbers one of these days. If have to turn in my company cell so can't give my number yet as I will have to buy my own cell phone soon.

It's a nice blog Fritz.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello !
We are leaving Norway in 3 weeks(by plane) to pick up our bikes in Leipzig Germany. Then we are heading south to Istanbul. I think we will stay one or two weeks there to arrange visa to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
You can follow us here: Round The World on MC | Driving Around the World
Click on "Hvor går turen" and you will find our route on google maps.
Maybe we see you(and many others) on the road.

Greetings from Åse and Nils

The smell is overpowering. I put seam sealer on the new tent. But I had to set it up inside because the weather is still bad. So it is drying in my basement. Whew!

I have posted again on my blog www.fritztomongolia.blogspot.com

Nigel
We plan to be in Bryansk (south from Moscow near the Belarus border) heading east on 20. of may. Perhaps we could ride to gather some part of way or at least meet up! Our info is in the "travellers list Mongolia" Excel sheet.

Only 5 weeks to go! We have found a tenant for kur house and have had all our jabs. Even have one Visa so that is good.
We should be out of Moscow by 20th May. If we are then lets meet up. We are getting our Mongolia visa in Moscow as it will start from the day we apply. So it is good to apply later and not in London.

The Mongolia visa gives you 90 days from the date of issue in which to enter the country, and then your 30 days starts. Your 30 days doesn't start ticking on the day that it is issued.

I got mine earlier this month and have until early June to enter the country.

__________________
2014 overland adventure to Russia and Central Asia in Land Rover Defender www.bermudarover.com

The rules until last year (and I presume still) on Mongolia visas was you got 30 days and had to enter within 90 days of issue. So if you entered Mongolia 89 days after issue, you then still had your 30 days.

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Simultaneous answers

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Friends,

I have received an email with instructions to obtain a Turkmen transit visa that will be of interest to many of us traveling the southern route. Very good news. Just need to get my paperwork in order and make a choice of border crossing. The text follows:

==== Real Russia message below - please reply above this line ====


Thank you for your email!

Turkmenistan transit visa.

Under normal circumstances the Turkmen transit visa needs to be applied for in advance and is valid for the exact dates that have been applied for with the validity period of a maximum of five days. This would prove inconvenient if your travel plans were to change. To solve this problem we have negotiated a special arrangement with the Turkmenistan authorities in which a transit permit will be issued and once you approach the border you will use this to obtain your visa. This way the visa will give you a full five days to transit through Turkmenistan. The permit will specify a period within which you need to obtain your visa. These dates depend on the approximate entry and exit dates that you will confirm on your application.
Please note: We cannot apply for this permit too early as it is only valid for 90 days.

Our company will support Mongolia Charity Rally this year, and we have agreement with the Turkmenistan Consulate that we will submit the bulk application just once to process a transit invitation letter with which it will be possible to obtain a Turkmenistan transit visa at the border or at the Consulate in the neighbour country.
All participants transiting Turkmenistan have to decide in advance which country they will arrive from and also which border point they will cross.
This is a crucial information since once the transit visa permit has been applied for, and this information has been be passed onto the relevant Turkmenistan authorities, you will not be able to change your mind. Please take this into consideration and plan your trip accordingly.
It takes approximately 3-4 weeks for the Turkmenistan Foreign Ministry in Ashgabat to approve and issue the transit visa permit with a special code. Once obtained, it will be emailed to you. Please make sure that you print it off and keep it at a safe place as you will have to present it.
There are two ways of applying for your transit visa using the permit:

1. At the border when travelling overland from Iran or Kazakhstan.

In addition to the printed copy of the transit permit, please have two (2) recent passport size photographs with you. The waiting time for your visa can be anything up to a few hours. The cost will be approximately $100-$150 (US Dollars).

1. consulate in Baku, Azerbaijan if travelling to Turkmenistan by ferry.

Please note that the visa has to be obtained before you take a ferry to Turkmenistan. Bear in mind that the consulate is open only on Monday and Friday from 9.30am until 12.30pm. You will have to present the printed copy of the transit visa permit, two (2) recent passport size photographs and fill out a visa application form. When confirming the date of entry to Turkmenistan on the form, confirm the actual date of your border crossing with the visa officer in order to ensure it is correct. Once the paperwork has been completed, you will be required to go to the closest bank to pay the relevant visa fee, which should be around $95 (US Dollars) before returning to get your visa stamped.
Please be advised that we have been given these application procedures as guidelines only. We have had no issues regarding these procedures in the past; but if the Turkmen consulate inform us of any change to their requirements we will update this information accordingly.
Once you have decided which border point you will use to enter Turkmenistan, please send an email to visas@realrussia.co.uk following the instructions listed below:

• Please submit one email per each person.
• Name the email “Turkmenistan Transit Visa – Team Name – Name of Team Member“
• Include the following details in the body of the email whilst respecting stated formats:

- SURNAME (block capital letters), First and Middle Name (as stated in your passport), e.g. GRIFFITHS, David Nigel
- Date of Birth (e.g. 24 August 1984)
- Gender
- Nationality
- Passport Number
- Passport Date of Issue (DD/MM/YY)
- Passport Date of Expiry (DD/MM/YY)
- Anticipated Date of Entry to Turkmenistan (DD/MM/YY)
- Point of Entry (Turkmenbashi from Azerbaijan, Gaudan from Iran and Begdashi from Kazakhstan)
- Cities to be visited/ passed by in Turkmenistan - last year, the participants used these four routes approved by the consul and relevant Turkmenistan authorities :

• Entry from Azerbaijan:Turkmenbashi -Ashgabat – Dashoguz – Uzbekistan/ Turkmenbashi - Ashgabat – Mary – Turkmenabat – Uzbekistan
• Entry from Iran : Guadan - Ashgabat – Mary –Turkmenabat- Uzbekistan
• Entry from Kazakhstan: Begdashi - Turkmenbashi -Ashgabat – Mary – Turkmenabat –Uzbekistan

• Please note that you should be allowed to visit other cities too, these routes were selected only for the purpose of getting the transit visa permit.

• Please attach the following files to your email :

- A clear colour scan of your passport information page (please name the file as Your Surname-Transit Visa-passport.PDF)
- A clear scan of the filled in and signed questionnaire (click here). Please glue your recent passport size photograph on a designated place.

We will need to submit the original questionnaire with your photograph to the Turkmenistan consulate so please post it to us at your very earliest opportunity to the following address:

Real Russia Ltd
Unit 5, The Ivories
6 Northampton street
N1 2HY, London

The deadline for submitting the listed documents is 1st May 2014 (this date is TBC). Please bear in mind that we have only one chance to apply so if you miss this deadline we will not be able to obtain the transit visa permit for you.


I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Anastasia Filatova
Visa Support Administrator (Ext. 403)

You can view previous messages related to this email at: Message history


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Good luck!

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Travelled the Russia route twice before (pre-conflict) with no problems, just the usual corrupt cops. Due to cross again later this year (also assessing options on taking Caspian route detour!) and will be keen to hear how its looking in the east and any issues on the eastern Ukraine-Russian border, since they have been known to cause delays and look for 'donations' on that border in the past!