tchetchenia dagestan
 

hi,
anyone have news about security in russian caucasus ( tchetchenia and dagestan) ?
we have to ride through those area on the way to kazakhstan in spring 2018 !
thanks
Mickael

The UK foreign office advises against All travel in those regions . Recently there was s TV programme about a guy who walked the silk road , he went through thete and described it as very dangerous with lots of jihadist activity . Certainly the Russian troops/police who appeared at check points seemed to b of the shoot first ask questions later variety . I'm sure u will blend into the background on ur bikes Not .

If you go by the advise of the foreign office you won't go anywhere. My own country advises against travel to London or Paris in light of "increased risk or terror attacks".

We crossed that part of the Caucasus in 2016 without any incident. People were friendly and helpful. There were a lot of military and police checkpoints on the main roads, mainly in Chechnya and Ingushetia. Not so much in Dagestan, at least not the part you cross on the way to Kazakhstan.
We were always waived through. They seemed only interested in busses and trucks.

that's why i prefer hear something about someone went there !!!
thanks

Definitely over-hyped. The usual 'expert' crowd who have never been there but watched a lot of TV will try to scare you off going. I have never met anyone who has actually been there and would tell you not to go. I have made multiple trips over the years, even lead the first tour there for a UK based travel agent. It's a fascinating region, the people are extremely friendly and because your average tourist is sacred off, you can have some really nice encounters with locals.

Ingushetia - does have some simmering insurgency, but it's between local guerillas and the security services. Seems to be pretty quiet at present.

Chechnya - this is ruled with an iron fist by Kadyrov, with lots of financial support from Putin. I think these days it's as safe as anywhere in Russia or the South Caucasus

Dagestan - this is the real gem for me, the mountain valleys of Dagestan have to be some of the most interesting (from a cultural point of view) places in all the Former USSR. At one point there was quite an active insurgency in some of the coastal towns (e.g. Kaspiysk, Izberbash). I even once saw a shoot-out in Makhachkala. However, since the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and a lot of anti-terror oerations by the FSB, plus the war in Syria (which drew lots of insurgents out), it is way calmer. And the mountain valleys are very tranquil.

Not saying that the region is without problems, but security is much better than it was a few years ago, and government travel advisories are not updated to reflect this.

EO

:thumbup1:

Was there last year and year before, the area is very nice, roads are ok, Last year went to Kazakstan from Astrakhan, prepar for bad road in Kazakh all the way to Uzbekh.
saso


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Hi Mickey76,


meanwhile you should have passed through yourself. How was your own experience with those two provinces?


Greetings from south of the High Caucasus


Panny

azerbaidjan
 

can't got a multiple entry for russia so took boat from azerbaidjan to kazakhstan

Totally ok. I was there during the World Cup in June and faced no issues. People are lovely and security is normal. Actually Dagestan is one of our highlights.
We will have to go back this week as we couldn’t cross Turkmenistan.