Hi,

great job!

One thing: you indicate a direct line from Erzurum in Turkey over Armenia to Baku in Azerbaijan.
As far as I know the border between Turkey and Armenia is closed. Also the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is closed.

You have to go to Georgia (via Tiblisi) and then to Azerbaijan.If one wants to visit Armenia must enter from Georgia and exit the same way.

Best regards,
Adrian

plus 1 for the above.
The Azeris hate the Armenians and vice-versa, had a lot of discussions with people in AZ about this and also with Armenians in TM and Russia. It seems that the Armenians slaughtered the Azeri population in Yerevan and the Azeris did the same to the Armenians in Baku (never quite found out who di what first. Theres a lot of bad blood on both sides and from what I was told at the border if you have an Armenian stamp in your passport you can forget being let into AZ. People were getting very emotional talking about it so its a fresh wound. The Azeris also feel let down by the international community - as a Muslim country they feel that the west has sided unfairly with the Armenians (Orthodox Catholic), and that the Armenian community has more influence in Washington and the Hague (which may well be true, couldn't comment).

The dispute seems to have sprung up/worsened since the USSR collapsed and there was some visous fighting in the Nagorna-Karabakh region. This has settled a bit and looks like a beautiful part of the world - high on my list of places to take a bike!
As usual the Azeris I've met are a great bunch of people, and so are the Armenians. I never really understood international politics!

Following Walter Colebatch's blue line it seems possible to get a ferry from Kazakhstan (where exactly) to Baku. Anyone know a bit more about this ferry service ?

Am I right in thinking that from Azerbaijan it is possible to enter Georgia (no visa for UK citizen) nand then from Georgia enter Eastern Turkey ?

Also we are on a RTW westwards from the UK currently in USA and shipping to Vladivostok in June from Seattle. We do not have Kazakhstan visa does anyone know if it is possible to obtain en route in Russia (we are UK citizens) ? We will only need a single entry or a transit visa not multi entry.

If it is possible has anyone any idea how long the Kazhak embassy takes to issue them ?

Sorry for all questions but having trouble with internet connections so have not had time to spend researching on Northern Asia section so apologies nif these threads with these answers have already been published.

Martin

I will follow exactly the route on the map through Volgograd-Tashkent-Bishek-almaty _ ulaanbaatar between may and june.
Will report soon on possible problems (hopefully not) and nice spot, btw great job!

There is a ferry from Aktau in Kazakhstan (formerly known as Shevchenko on old maps, and google maps) to Baku. Its becoming more popular due to the unreliability of the Turkmenbashi ferry and the difficult Turkmen visa issue.

More info at the following two addresses:
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-caspian-43986
[url=http://www.brakingboundaries.org/aktau-to-baku-ferry-ticket-information]Braking Boundaries

__________________

Hi all,

First thanks for the info and maps on this post.

Will ride from Europe to Australia starting in netx July.

Not sure what route to take from Turkey to Tajikistan, what countries do you recomend??

Thanks for the advice

Jose

This is great information. Good work! Helps a lot. Still trying to figure the route from Istanbul to Vlad, for this American, on a 1200adv, in August/Sept.
Can all visas needed be obtained from that area of the world? Seems like the better idea as dates and routes are not clear at this point.
Thanks, Kent

A georgian client recently made inquiries & told me that the Larsi Border to Verkhniky Lars straight north from Tblisi may be open for overland travel. I suppose the ferry to sochi could be an alternative? We have decided to avoid Azerbaijan and take the long way around to kazakhstan, maybe even all the way over to Orenburg to visit people we know A previous poster mentioned difficulties between Armenia, Turkey, & Azerbaijan. Some of it is a bit off but its definitely a rough situation. Turkey keeps the border closed in solidarity with Azerbaijan who fought a war in the early 90s with Armenia over Karabagh which today is a semi autonomous region accessible from armenia. many accusations of atrocities on both sides, always the subtext of the 1915 Armenian genocide...I dont think religion has a whole lot to do with it, fyi Armenians are orthodox (not catholic). There has been a cease fire in Karabagh but no resolution and incidents do flare up on occasion. A recent one provided the means for armenia to boycott Eurovision this year (in Baku). I am armenian (american) and I'd love to visit azerbaijan but its just not worth the hassle. I went on the embassy website and the first thing i see is "armenian aggression." yikes. I hear Volgograd is lovely I definitely do plan to go to Armenia, I was there in 2008 and it is great to visit. In the meantime I will hope for the future...
We havent thought much so far about the overland route from russia to Kyrgyzstan & beyond, I will watch this thread with much interest. If anyone has any suggestions for that kind of north to south route from Orenburg to Samarkand, holler! & thanks