Oh no, thats sad !! :(
I hope things change till september or maybe one of you guys brings back any good news before we're off to the Caucasus.
Next week I'll give the Swiss Embassy in Tbilisi a call to see what they mean...

:funmeterno:

This answer I received from Gerogia embassy in Sweden:

Only border crossing point between Russia and Georgia is Upper Lars, which is from time to time closed. Georgian authorities allow to enter EU citizens but it has to be checked with Russian border authorizes whether they are allowing. Shoule you have further inquires feel free to address to me.

Best regards,
Valerian Bodaveli


First Secretary, Embassy of Georgia
Karlavägen 60, 2 tr.
SE-114 49, Stockholm

Hi Hemuli
Thanks for the information, we will be crossing Georgia/ Russia in August will PM you nearer the time, as i have previously said i want to ride the Military highway anyway so if its closed maybe a bonus as i get to ride it twice!
But lets hope nearer the time.

Eric

I will be in same area during August.
Plan to continue from the to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirgistan and China (early September).

check this link out

- Soviet Truck

and this

Russian Georgia border - Lonely Planet travel forum

Georgia-Russia
 

Looks o.k. !!


So What is the Latest on Russia-Georgia Border? - Lonely Planet travel forum


can confirm that Verkny Lars is open for non-CIS citizens; it has been open since last July as far as I know.
I have crossed both ways (Georgia - Russia and back) one month ago, with my Slovene passport. I know of other non CIS nationals (Swiss, Canadian) who have done the same in the past few months.
The border is quite modern, the guards were surprisingly nice and the procedure does not take much time - depending on how many Russian tourists there are. The road is OK, except for the part from Gudauri to Kazbegi. I heard reports that they would be cleaning the snow regularly during winter time, and the road is supposed to stay open.

Good luck to all those who are planning the trip!

Hi Hemuli
Looks like we have a very similar route and time scale, we should be crossing into Russia from Georgia between 19/21 August and will be entering China to Kashgar on the 6th September, will be nice to catch up.

Eric

What I dont understand is ..why would the Person at the British Embassy in Georgia tell me that I could enter Georgia , but I could not exit Georgia at the Russian boarder :confused1:

All very Confusing doh

Dazzer

One thing I can tell you mate is that in my experience, embassy people know JACK SQUAT about stuff like this. And its about the lowest priority they have, giving out tourist information. They don't have a department for advising Brits that want to travel there. The British embassy in Georgia will have the odd bored commercial attache (not a lot of business to be done with impoverished Georgia) and the rest will be political operatives / Military attaches. So its always easier for whoever picks up the phone to say no, when they don't know. Which is 90% of the time. If you are getting your travel info from embassies, you might as well ask the neighbours dog for their opinion while you are at it. Honestly, they neither know nor care about stuff like independent travel border crossings.

+1. I was just about to say the same.

Embassies and Consulates usually have no clue about that, so don't ask and don't rely on they tell you. It's not that they are incompetent, it's not their work, just like that, they worry about other matters. They provide a rough idea about countries and always in case of doubt and if tricky, they'll go the safer way: NO, not possible, don't do it, don't try it. Why? If you happen to be arrested, taken for a spy or even die in an accident, it will be their job (and a pain) to solve it, so that's why they will try to deter you.

So go for 1st hand info about people who made/tried it.

Hello,
In may with my friend ,Ben men we want to travel this border, so if we can , we writte if is't possible or not.(sorry for my english)

Tiger
www.lesroutesdailleurs.com

Good Man Tiger just keep us posted in May will still leave me time to get a Azerbajain Visa if closedbier

yeah, same here !!

THX Tiger !! :thumbup1:

No good news from the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affair in Tbilisi. This is the reply to my e-mail…

Kazbegi checkpoint is open only for citizens of CIS countries

I strongly rely on first hand info, but I’m a bit confused:(

:confused1::confused1::confused1: