Georgia Military Road and eastern Turkey in early Nov.
 

Hey all,

I'm currently in Bukhara and exploring the best options back to Europe based on the weather. After reading about some riders crossing the Russian/Georgian border I've been tempted to give it a go myself.

Does anyone know what kind of weather conditions I can expect on the Georgia Military Road and in eastern Turkey at the end of October/early November? I expect I would cross into Georgia around the end of the month and try to make my way west across Turkey rather quickly. I know much of central and eastern Turkey is at a decent elevation and I could see snow - I had thought if I stuck to the Black Sea coast it may be a bit warmer/less chance of snow - am I mistaken?

I have a heated jacket and don't mind riding in fairly cold weather, but would prefer not to be riding in snow/ice!

My other option is across Ukraine/Romania etc.

Any opinions on what the best choice is here? I don't really have a final destination in mind in Europe so where I end up is a bit irrelevant - have thought of possibly continuing the ride to Morocco, but I may just call it a day and store the bike somewhere.

Hi Mcole,
At the northeast Turkey weather will be tough i guess (around Kars)
you can make your route a cross down like from the border to southwest
note: Cappadocia and Pamukkale to visit.
Blacksea region is always under heavy rain, sometimes snowy..
Have a nice ride...

georgian military road
 

HI,
I was there 2 weeks ago and it became really cold. A russian guy crossed 2 days after me and had to cross some snow. so in the meantime i guess it will be kind of hard to cross there...

Lets keep in touch on facebook when you need we can send you schedule for busses and trains to Istanbul from East Anatolia or arrange your transportation here when u are stuck somewhere in Turkey/

Riding into Ukraine and Romania might be your best option, there both pretty cheap and good places to ride even thought the roads are very bad in places. You should def go to Morocco, it is excellent and well worth the ride. If you dont want to ride all the way down through france and spain and back i found a cheap ferry from Genoa/Geneva i think it was, it was only 330 euro, its sold as a luxury ferry which it certainly is not but its good for getting from Italy to morocco, it takes 2/3 days.

We took it as we rode to morocco from England but as europe was expensive it was a good way to save some money to get back.

Georgia is great if u do get to ride through stop in Batumi. There is a road from batumi all the way along the coast that is really low so you would not have any problems from there, but i dont know from Russia. We went all the way along that coast road from the Istanbul area.

Good luck.:thumbup1:

Thanks for the all the advice. I think I will hold off deciding until I cross into Russia and have a chance to look at the weather reports. Leaning towards trying the Georgia/Turkey route, was in Turkey last year for a month and loved it and would like to see a bit of Georgia, but I will keep my options open.

I rode the Military Highway in late November 2010. No problems on the road, just one patch of ice in a shady area at elevation. Cold but sunny. The road does go through a ski area, and there are avalanche tunnels so I imagine it could get snowed on quite early and unexpectedly.

Hi MCole,

In late October, Turkey will be cold and can meet snow at many places not only Eastern Turkey but also central Turkey including Sivas, Kayseri and Cappadoccia area. If not snow it will be cold.

Better to stick Black Sea coast to minimize freezing.

Istanbul Motosiklet Club's offer seems reasonable too.

Crossed the Georgia Military Road last week - no problems. There was a small amount of snow on the mountains, but the road was clear. Just had to be careful of ice in the villages. In Trabzon now, raining today, but the forecast looks decent so I think I shouldn't have any problems.

Hi,

Does it mean that you have crossed the border from Russia into Georgia ?
It would be nice to know...

have a safe trip !

Peter

Sure does.

I crossed the border at Verkhniy Lars with absolutely no problem. American passport. The Russian border guards are very friendly, they had some difficulty deciphering my customs document prepared by the Kazakhs, but after 45 minutes or so I was through. The Georgian side was also very friendly, taking about 5 minutes.