route planning : old silk route / eurasia / middle east 2022
 

Hello Everyone!

On this thread i wanted to ask fellow travelers that will do something similair route and date wise, to share information regarding open/closed land borders and such.

I'm starting my trip the 15th of april from the Netherlands to Siberia or south east Asia, depending on current and future land border (covid / geo political) situations. Not sure about the exact route, but it could look something like this ;

Plan A to Siberia : Netherlands , Germany, Austria , Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia , Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazachstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Mongolia, Siberia, South Korea, Japan
Plan B to se asia : Netherlands , Germany, Austria , Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia , Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Seria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India , Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia.

Since there is a lot of information out there on websites, social media, and other sources, and sometimes hard to know what's right or wrong, let's try to keep some things in mind. Please share your source and the date when you got the information (day/month/year) .


Also regarding me being solo and looking to make some friends on wheels to do bits and parts of the trip with, i started a thread in 'Travellers Seeking Travellers' topic.

Greetings and looking forward to sharing information and meeting you on the road!

Pete ( social meda : good_life_pd )

borders update
 

1. Adjan from kazachstanreizen.Nl on the 27th of March ;

‘ My latest information is that the borders are open between Uzbekistan
and Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is expected. ‘

2. Then another update from Rusreis.nl (travel agent that got helped me with my 12 month mulitiple entry work permit visa that i can hopefully pick up the 6th of April ad dutch russian visa centre ) guy named Peter on the 26th of March ;

‘ As of March 30, entry/exit restrictions will be lifted at the Russia-Kazakhstan and Russia-Mongolia borders. I've been looking at the map for a while, and as far as I roughly understand your travel route, I think you could get rid of all the nagging about those annoying and expensive entry permits! ‘

:thumbup1:

Least I read land borders were closed for Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. This makes any trip east difficult! That situation may have changed or may soon change, however Russian borders may remain a problem for western travellers for some time, for obvious reasons. Rather than relying on hearsay from an internet group you should check the websites of the embassies of those countries for the accurate information.

Plan A will get you as far as Georgia Plan B as far as Turkey.

I would say there is a good chance that Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan open their borders soon, but they are currently closed as far as I know. Same for India.

Russia is a big unknown, Lavrov announced 'restrictions for citizens from unfriendly countries' but I have not heard more. Interesting that your visa agent is promising a 1 year multi entry business visa, please let us know if you get it.

I don't think there are any ferries running between Russia and South Korea, shipping might still be possible.

Turkmenistan I think will not open this year, they have long been keen to keep foreigners out and are still denying that they have any covid cases.

I think we can forget about Myanmar overland for a few years.

You can get to Syria from Turkey via a ferry to Lebanon, you cannot cross the Turkey Syria border directly.

Sorry to say, but I doubt you'll make it to Siberia this season and am pretty certain you won't get close to SE Asia without shipping.

EO

Actually, contacting consulates and embassies seems to be not the way to go. The KZ consulate told me about a month ago that borders are open when that was clearly not true.

Regarding route A: Maybe the AZ and KZ situation changes soon and is viable. But Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan is still closed, is it not? If your visa actually is enough to cross the land border into Russia you could of course still get to Mongolia.

Regarding route B: I have talked to three people that said that the land border Pakistan-India is now open. One of them said his personal friend crossed a few days ago. So that sounds promising. Some weird situation about the Indian high commission not giving out visas to foreigners in Pakistan so that needs to be prearranged.

I have also talked to a Malaysian who is pretty confident in crossing Myanmar from Thailand to India in May. Of course I am very curious if that turns out to work out but it is the first such attempt I have heard in a while.

Cheers,
Benjamin

Air borders have been open for some time, it's land borders that aren't. Government websites are the definitive source, though the information you're after may take a little finding.

Since I travel by motorcycle I called the consulates and asked about specific land borders.

Cheers,
Benjamin

Thanks for all the reactions, keep 'm coming !

Ps. I think as long as we share our sources and the date on when we gathered that piece of information there must be some nice Eurasia riding soon!

And it's up to the reader to descide wether a message like 'i heard from a pall on facebook that read it somewhere on the internet' is a reliable source to choose or not to choose to go out there for some adventure any time soon ha ha ; )

I'm interested to hear about your Russian visa. I used to live in the Netherlands and got several Russian visas there - it all went through an agency in The Hague and they would not let you apply for a multiple entry business visa without having visited Russia in the proceeding year. Perhaps various agencies have better relationships with the embassy and can get one (or perhaps you have been in Russia in the last 12 months of course).

With the current sanctions (obviously you will need to take cash for your entire stay in Russia), and expulsions of diplomats, I would be quite surprised if visas are as easy to get as they were pre covid / war.


EO

update russian visa for dutch citizen
 

Oke my friends ... today i am glad to take you away on the good news train. Or at least, good news for me.

Today i went to the russian visa centre in the hague (netherlands) and there the lovelee lady handed me over my passport with a awesoem new stamp, my 12 month multiple entry work visa . Ok, if it will be valid when i arrive at the border is something else, but for now, it's another win i would say ; )

@eurasiaoverland : have never been in russia before, and the agent filled in all the paperwork, went to the visa centre myself, and i looked like it worked .

:mchappy:

Wow, congratulations! Good to hear that visas are still available, I must say I am surprised. Hopefully the borders are open again - seems you have a good chance to get to Siberia after all.

EO