Routes north of the Caspian Sea?
 

Trying to construct a ´general route map´ of the most commonly used overland-routes in Asia. This will be for an article on a magazine. The southern route from Turkey to India I´ve done myself, and most other options do seem pretty clear... but it seems I´ve now hit a "blank spot" regarding routes from, say, Moscow to Tashkent (Uzbekistan) or Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan).

Google maps, and my Silk Road paper map, both indicate, that from Volgograd (RUS) to Beyney (KAZ) to Nukus (UZB), especially that last part is a very small road on the southwest side of the Aral sea... any idea, if it´s do-able at all? And in any case it probably does not qualify as a ´major´ overland route, am I right?

Then from Samara (RUS) to Aktobe, Baikonur and Kyzyl-Orda (KAZ), the road, at least on the map, looks like a bigger one... any info about this route?

...Or there is some other main route, that I am completely missing (my aim is not to include every possible route, just the "main" ones)? Any info highly appreciated!

Dont have anything to add yet but would lvoe to see the artilce when you're done though.

Didn't the LWR boys go Astrakhan to Atyrau and on down to Shymkent? Don't know the exact route.

I took this route from UZB to RUS last summer. Straight, 2 lanes, lumpy, somewhat broken/potholed pavement on the Uzbek side- pretty easy riding- though hot,flat and lonely and not much chance for gas or water. On the Kazakh side it is dirt/gravel, somewhat loose and deep in spots. Lots of trucks on this road making for dusty riding, poor visibility and dangerous passing.

http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/z...eyneuKZ001.jpg



http://i831.photobucket.com/albums/z...eyneuKZ006.jpg

From Beyneu to Aterau, Astrakhan and then to Rostov na Donu all paved.


................shu

It´ll be in finnish language I´m afraid! ...But I can put the map(s) into my site, once they´re ready, and post a link, so then we can all laugh at my ignorance on the whole subject :rofl:

And thanks Shu, that´s already very helpful!

ok, here comes something (but I´ve never posted pics here before, so hoping this will work out... and these are just screenshots of a version, that is not the final one yet!)

Routes inside China are marked as red, and I´ll need to include a few words about the requirements & costs. In fact I havent heard of a single biker, who had done the entire China from Kazakhstan to Laos, but right now there´s a bus going from Finland to Bangkok and they´re doing that route, will be interesting to see!

Should probably include the ferry to Egypt, as well as land route from Libya to Egypt, when I´ve got the time. Someone said that north side of the Black Sea to Sochi might also be one to mention.

I actually do not know exactly, how you can go overland through the Caucasus, so I´ll need to do some more research on that. But the Sochi-Trabzon ferry should be a usable ´plan B´ for that.

Note that I´ve started with a Mercator projection map, but here I´ve made the latitudes so that they are always evenly spaced (gives you a better idea of real distances north-south, when you´re a long way from the Equator). Longitudes have been left untouched.

Also thinking my scale might be a bit off, that 1000kms actually looks a bit long. Well, I´ve still got about 2 weeks to finalise this before it´ll be printed.

I´d like to include some kind of ´elevation map´ into that solid green, but that´s going to need a lot of work, don´t know if I can do it. Plus if I´m not careful, it might just make it harder to read. Think I´ll also play a bit more with the texts, to make them more clear.

Routes in Southeast Asia are not included here.

And especially the freighting routes are just plain examples.

Oh, and "Matkateema" means "travel theme".... and "Pietari" is Finnish for St.Petersburg! And here Warsaw is just cut out of the left border.
Any comments and/or fixes will be welcome!

(oh, if possible, could this thread´s title be changed to ´Asia overland route maps´, as these now include a bit wider region than the Caspian Sea..?)


http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/...4_1024px_A.jpg

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/...4_1024px_B.jpg

I am not sure 100%, but I hear its close border from Tashkent to Bishkek. I will go this way on the summer (Astrahan- Aterau - Beyneu - Samarkand - Pamir Highway........). I hope its mistake news!?

Bravo
 

What a fantastic set of maps to help us who are planning to see the options. Thanks for taking the time to do this

Looks about right. One key variation I would add is the route from Baku To Beyneu, via ferry and Aktau (shevchenko on old maps). This is increasingly popular and important as Turkmenstan visas get harder to obtain and as the Turkmenbashi ferry gets more and more expensive and less and less reliable

Also there are no flights from magadan to alaska. The only way people are gettiing out of magadan these days is by taking a ship to Vladivostok.

A couple more suggestions
 

... in blue ... Take them or leave them as you see fit for your purposes:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/...24f6154d_o.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5019/...f2648c0b_o.jpg

I thought the option of air freight from Magadan could be outdated, thanks for clearing that up (and for the other great info, too!!)

And thanks for your compliments Navalarchitect - I´m very glad, if these can be helpful! But remember, I haven´t done so many of these routes myself, so there could be some mistakes.... and drawn here are just rough guidelines, nothing more. Also political and security situations are an ever-changing process.

WOW, this is really a great job!

Congratulations!

Excellent work - this is a good job. I'll be in touch by PM to talk about a project I'm working on at the moment and perhaps we can collaborate.

We rode last in Kazakhstan road from Quandyaghash (city south of Aktobe road to Aktone is as good as it is in that part of Kazakstan which means lot of deep holes) to Shalqar and then to Yrghyz and there to Aral -> Baikonur -> Qyzylorda

Almost whole road going north from Aral was under big road construction work so i belive that it will be good road this year. I hope to hear if someone rides it how it is. Last summer major route went on the side of contruction site and was everything between soft sand to small rocks. After Aral road to Baikonur was reasonable ok with tarmac and occasional holes.

SamiV

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

eastbound to mongolia
 

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