Crossing russia

[ComicMonster]

Hello fellow travellers: first of all I must say I am perhaps an intruder here, since I have started travelling with a CAR
Anyway, Iwould try to get an answer from your gentlesness and wide open minds…
THAT'S WHY:
My wife and I are projecting, among other possibilities, a trip to Kazakhstan, departure from Norhern Spain. As I have said, we will go with our own 4x4 (a camperized Toyota HZJ78) and would like to take the Northern route, that is france-Germany-Czech Republic-Poland-Ukraine-RUSSIA and Kazakhstan.

Our question is: Is it possible to CROSS Russia wit a car of our own —to go and come back? Is it expensive —in terms of Visas and bureaucracies? How long does it take to get a Visa (more or less)? How far in advance do we have to take Visa?
We have been amazed to see that Google maps is unable to build routes through Russia: does that mean Russia is closed to foreign road traffic?

Of course we will ask in Russia's Embassy, but we know for sure that the info you travellers can give us is probably much more accurate and reliable than statal one…

Please travellers of the world, do help us…………

With many thanks in advance

Tomás and Beatriz

[Trumpton]

Hi,
when are you thinking of going, I have friends (who I have previously travelled Mauritainia, Libya & Egypt with) who are currently in Russia in thier landcruiser 80.
I get a daily update of thier co ordinates & they have gone through the 'Stans into Russia, east to Magadan & then up through siberia.
they are due back in november & I could put you in touch with them for probably all the info you need.

Andy

[strimstrum]

Originally Posted by ComicMonster

Hello fellow travellers: first of all I must say I am perhaps an intruder here, since I have started travelling with a CAR

Hi Tomás and Beatriz

I don't think that this site distinguishes how you travel so the fact that you want to go by car won't cause any negative comment here I'm sure.

I travelled from Vladivostock to UK (via Ukraine) in July/August this year and the country is open to foreign registered vehicles. With regard to visas you will have to get information about requirements for Spanish citizens (Ukraine has no visa requirements for EU residents for tourist visits up to 90 days).

Depending on how far east you will be travelling it would be in your interests to learn the cyrillic alphabet and buy a Russian road atlas (Stanfords sell these). You can follow the roads in Google Earth.

You will without doubt enjoy the experience !

Martin

[motoreiter]

There's tons of information on this site for crossing Russia, everything from visas to routes to vehicle import docs.

The fact that you're asking if it is even possible indicates that you haven't done much research on this site, so it'd probably be helpful if you spent some time doing basic research and then coming back with more specific questions, I'm sure people will be able to answer almost all of them...

[Knight of the Holy Graal]

Of course you can travel in Russia with your own vehicle, I did it three times on my motorbike with no problems whatsoever.
You can find plenty of info on this and other sites.
One thing: don't be scared by all the tales talking about predatory Police in Russia, things have changed a lot over the past years.
If you respect speed limits and traffic rules carefully, they will not bother you at all.
Russians are helpful and good people, I've always had fantastic experiences with locals.

Different is Ukraine: watch for corrupt Police there, I crossed the Country two times with no problems at all, but some friends of mine have been heavily fined with invented infringments.

[Tony P]

Originally Posted by ComicMonster

Our question is: Is it possible to CROSS Russia wit a car of our own —to go and come back? Is it expensive —in terms of Visas and bureaucracies? How long does it take to get a Visa (more or less)? How far in advance do we have to take Visa?
We have been amazed to see that Google maps is unable to build routes through Russia: does that mean Russia is closed to foreign road traffic?

As said above - it's not the vehicle type that keeps us together, it's the tracks and roads we go to. Welcome, brother!


ROADS.
Russia is open to all traffic except for around a very few, generally remote, clearly marked military areas.

COSTS.
Visa. They depend on your 'home' citizenship, visa type and duration. It sounds like you will need a double entry visa which are valid for 90 days. If you need longer you will need a Multi entry visa valid for a year but they are still restricted to 90 days per 180 days. Costs are listed on your local Russia Embassy Website. You will need an Invitation as well for which the going charge is 50-100 Euros. Alternatively, if you have no contacts within RUS, there are Agencies who do all the visa paperwork and handling for a fee.

Fuel. Currently petrol about 0.66 Euro/litre. Diesel 0.60 Euro/litre. These are Moscow prices. It tends to be 10% - 15% more in remoter areas.

Accomodation. Motels on main roads are about 40-45 Euros for a twin room per night. Regular hotels, in larger towns cost a little more. Moscow is the very expensive exception!
'Wild' camping is allowed and free.

Vehicle Insurance. If you do not obtain a Green Card at home, you can buy 'legal minimum' RUS insurance around the border areas. Costs depend on power and duration. As an example, I recently paid 76 Euros for a 1800cc Ford Mondeo for 3 months.

On each entry vehicles are issued with a 3 month Customs Entry document. This is free. This can be extended during it's validity period.

Breaking traffic rules could cost you fines (or cash bribes that are generally negotiable, cheaper and quicker!). Crossing a white line 12 Euro, Speeding by up to 20kph 25 Euro. But they will try it on to get you to pay more.
Strict zero alcohol limit.

Learn the cyrillic alphabet - at least for place names.
Preferably also learn basic phrases too.
Understanding of English is generally uncommon except with younger people, Older people often know some German.

Enjoy - great country and people.

[ComicMonster]

Hello everyone: these are great news! First of all we have to say a big thanks for your encouragements and for call me Brother. It has really touched my fiber!

Well, concerning the info I must said that Tony P has given us a perfect answer. What we see is that we have a lot o job to do ahead of us.

To Trumpton (Andy): we plan to go there from June to August 2012 (60 days in all), so it woukd be great if we could get in touch with your friends. We could also offer them (and everyone) info about some other countries we have already been in, like Botswana, Mongolia, Australia, Namibia, Mauritania and more… Should you want to have a look you can start having a look to our (very modest) web page: Vuelta al mundo - ¿Quiénes somos? WHO ARE WE? For specific-country searchs you can click on the right column, so, for example, Mauritania is in Vuelta al mundo - Mauritania-Marruecos 2011 an so on…
Concerning contact, you can send me a private message through this forum (I really don't know exactly how to do it myself) or click in the "Contact Us" section of the aforementioned page… Thanks anyway for your explanations and offer…


Hope we will keep in touch…

CM

[Griffdowg]

Originally Posted by Tony P

Visa. They depend on your 'home' citizenship, visa type and duration. It sounds like you will need a double entry visa which are valid for 90 days. If you need longer you will need a Multi entry visa valid for a year but they are still restricted to 90 days per 180 days. Costs are listed on your local Russia Embassy Website. You will need an Invitation as well for which the going charge is 50-100 Euros. Alternatively, if you have no contacts within RUS, there are Agencies who do all the visa paperwork and handling for a fee.

Just a quick one to jump on the back of this.

Were looking at a double entry visa for the 90 days. Hopefully we will exit KAZ into the Altai region and then drop into Mongolia for 30 days before exiting near Baikal and onwards

Does our 90 days continue even when in Mongolia? or is it 90 days 'in country'?

We may have to change our plans if its 90 days from entering Russia the 1st time

G

[strimstrum]

It is 90 days in total in country

[Tony P]

Originally Posted by Griffdowg

Does our 90 days continue even when in Mongolia? or is it 90 days 'in country'?

We may have to change our plans if its 90 days from entering Russia the 1st time

Stimstrum is not quite right on this.

It is not even 90 days from your first entering RUS.

A 90 day double entry visa is valid only for the 90 days on the visa (which comes from the dates on the Invitation) whether you are in the RUS or not. You get no credit or extra days for not being in RUS within the visa validity period.

So - if you plan entering and exiting RUS to re-enter and exit later, that second visit must still all be within the original 90 days quoted on the visa/invitation.

If your second visit is planned to extend outside the original 90 days you need a different type of visa - perhaps a Year Multi Entry.

However all Tourist and Business Visas for longer than 90 days have a '90 day out of 180' restriction to visits. This includes Year Multi Entry visa.


Note.
A week ago it was announced here that the 90/180 days will now be monitored by the Border Computors which record your every entry and exit from 'swiping' your passport & visa. In the past it was for the Officer to work out the 90 days in his head.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/a...ed/444051.html

They are fed up with people living here full time on Visas and going on an annual 'visa run'. The 90/180 day rule was introduced 3 or 4 years ago to stop this, but that was still being abused so now it is the computor that will flag up excess period when your passport/visa is swiped on exit.

The consequences of being here outside visa terms and validity would be inconvenience, penalties and denial of future visas for a number of years (I can't remember if it is 5 or 7).

[Griffdowg]

Thanks Tony, that is what i feared.

So it looks like a 6 or 12 month double/multi entry then.

I dont know how long it takes to get from KAZ to Mongolia but say its 10 days that leaves me with 80 days from Mongolia to venture as far as I can (and include the shipping from Magadan or Vladivostok) on which I can still spend a good month in Mongolia.

cheers,

G

[Griffdowg]

Thanks Tony, that is what i feared.

So it looks like a 6 or 12 month double/multi entry then.

I dont know how long it takes to get from KAZ to Mongolia but say its 10 days that leaves me with 80 days from Mongolia to venture as far as I can (and include the shipping from Magadan or Vladivostok) on which I can still spend a good month in Mongolia.

cheers,

G

[Tony P]

Originally Posted by Griffdowg

I dont know how long it takes to get from KAZ to Mongolia

It depends on chosen exit/entry points in and out of RUS.
If time is a worry, you could do it in a day, just, via KAZ Altai to RUS Altai and entering Mongolia on the M52.

Check KAZ/RUS borders - in that area they are not all full International borders but are restricted to locals only.
(see Colebatch's blog/report on ADV/forthcoming book for the situation in 2009)

[Griffdowg]

Originally Posted by Tony P

It depends on chosen exit/entry points in and out of RUS.
If time is a worry, you could do it in a day, just, via KAZ Altai to RUS Altai and entering Mongolia on the M52.

Check KAZ/RUS borders - in that area they are not all full International borders but are restricted to locals only.
(see Colebatch's blog/report on ADV/forthcoming book for the situation in 2009)

Thanks Tony, I did look at it a while back but I should really start taking notes/firming up plans etc! I would like to explore the Altai region as I have heard many good things.

Thanks for your help.

G

[strimstrum]

Originally Posted by Tony P

Stimstrum is not quite right on this.

It is not even 90 days from your first entering RUS.

A 90 day double entry visa is valid only for the 90 days on the visa (which comes from the dates on the Invitation) whether you are in the RUS or not. You get no credit or extra days for not being in RUS within the visa validity period.

Thanks for correcting my post Tony. I should have read the question more thoroughly - my answer was only valid for visas with a length in excess of 90 days.

Martin