Russia
 

Hello, Can anyone give me any tips about travelling in Russia. I want to go to Archangel but not sure whether this will be feasible. Tips about fuel availability, weather, what currency to carry etc etc. Will be going next July. All the best to everyone.

Hi,

first I had hoped to have a go and ride around the Black sea. But I am afraid recent developments in Chechenya nad Georgia are making that a bit to adventurous.

So the idea now is to ride south-east from Belgium to the Black sea (Oukraine and Russia) and then head straight north going as far north as we can before we need to head West again to get home in time. All this in about 33 days, september october next year.

I have tried to get info together. Up up to Roemenia you can find plenty of info and most of the info seems to say the same thing.
But once you head into Oukraine, Moldavia or Russia...
Besides how to get a visa there ain't much info on how to travel through Russia out there.
I will meet up with some Russians from Tsjouvachia (about 300km east of Moscow) and with the help of a translator I hope to get some first hand info.

Questions are:
* state or the roads?
* reliable maps (that I can read)?
* fuel?
* go's and no go's?
* stay on the main roads or venture of on the little roads?

Maybe it might be helpfull if we exchange the info that we get together? Although I do realise you are going North while I go South.
What draws you to Archangel?

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

Hi Fireboomer, why Archangel? Not sure it is just a name that leaps out of my chilhood memories and no one I know has ever been there. Am I correct in thinking a Transit visa is the one I want. I will enter from Norway or Finland and exit into Estonia. I will defo keep in touch and swap any info I can get hold of. Take it easy: Richard

Hi ;
Answers to your questions ,with recent information( I made a tour from Sochi to Petersburg and back in August )

Roads: All paved road ,
Maps: Realiable maps are sold in bookstores.Since they are thick as a book its quite normal.Price is around 10 EU.
Fuel : 95 octane is everywhere. Distance between fuel stations is sufficient.( even for my 9 lt.tank it was )
Go & no go's : No limitation what so ever.
Main or little roads : Main roads have heavy traffic. Little roads are better. And no problem of security.

But keep in mind that english is not know by almost anyone.So its useful to learn some russian.

If anything else you would like to know ,i will try to inform you as much as possible.

Both ,take care

Huh, all roads paved? Do I get this right? Hmmm, I have this image of Russia wich includes endless unpaved dirt / mud roads. Crossing little villages from time to time... That is if you stay away from the main roads. And that is also what I would like actually.

I know about the language barrier. There are 2 Russians staying at my dads place and the only speak Russian ;-)
Trying to get some info from them is close to impossible.

Right now the plans looks like:
Riding down to Rostov at the black sea. From here start following the Wolga inland all the way to "Cheboksary", 300km east of Moscow. From there see how much time is left over and then head back west.

Funny thing. The Russians say it is a 2 day trip from Kiev (Oukraine) to Moscow. Thats understandable. But at the same time they say it takes them a day to ride from "cheboksary" to Moscow....? Hmmm, I wonder if the roads there are paved.

Two questions:
Does this seem doable in a month without always taking the main roads? I would rather like to follow the arrow on my GPS as close as possible? Thus taking little roads.

Is fuel no problem along the little roads?

Is it worth considering Micheling deserts from somewhere in Roumania? And use them to cross Roumania, Moldavia, Oukraine and Russia.

Richard, how long do you think to do over your trip?

Thanks already for the info.

I agree with you about riding in secondary roads.Its more fun and therefore prefered. But except for little-little roads almost every road is paved.But dont worry they are sometimes very curly and there holes scattered here and there.Only at little (x 2) roads ,you will find dirt ,of various kinds. Still the trip was well worth the effort.

I havent been to Cheboksary ,but was in Sergey-Posad ( ~ 600 km ).And the roads are ,most probably ,as i mentioned.The russians are right : its about one day trip.If you pick the side roads and stroll around.. hmm .. 3-4 days at most.

Between Pskov and Novy Oskol i rode in little roads only ,even tried tiny roads when ever possible ,and my 9 lt. tank and 5 lt. jerrycan was enough. ( ~250km.range )

I dont know the pattern of Mich.desserts but i have equipped my Husqvarna with Mich.Karoo, with the same hope as you : dirt and mud in tiny roads, and it was way too much. I think a tire with the patterns of Mich.Sahara will be sufficient.

Ahh ..dont know about 1 month .. its from where to where ? ... but 40 days were enough for me. 3000 km. in roads which can be considered as little, 500 km. no road, 2500 km. normal road .So it might give you an idea.

Two things although you didnt ask.
1- No mechanic or spare part can be found what so ever.You can consider your self as alone as if in a Moroccon desert.:O)
2-Rostov was a biig town. Why there among all the others ? I can recommend Pereslavl - Zalesskiy for example..very cute village

Hope its been helpfull

OK so maybe Micheling Deserts will be a bit too much (they are for ex. used by most Paris Dakar riders).
But It is almost impossible to puncture them... that's a good point. If I go for road bikes I would choose Michelin T66.
Find it quite unbelievable that those Russians managed to pave so many roadmiles... Hmmm, too bad ;-)

Fuel seems to be no problem, that's nice.

About mechanical problems... I know I'll be out there on my own (or our own). It's a risc you take. For a part I just hope my trusty transalp will stay as loyal as it has been. And I'll take spares with me for minor problems (fuses, sparkplugs, fuelfilters, chain stuff, inner tubes...)

Why Rostov, because that's where the Wolga comes in the Black Sea and we hope to follow that river upstream to Cheboksary.

I think we will go well over 10.000km. That will be part of the challenge to get the distance covered without taking the main roads. We see the trip as a sort of roadtrip. We ride as long (or as short) as we want. If we have to we turn west earlier, doesn't matter. And if one place really gets us we'll stay there.

Thanks for all the info. Looks like we just have to start looking at the map. Any places we should really go?

I will keep that information about Mich.dessert in mind ,about how hard to puncture them. I really dont like changing tires ( just like everyone http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif ).Even if it means wearing out the tires faster.

I havent been to many places on your route

* Nova Chearsk-susatkiy-trofimov-morozovsk ... nice little roads ..and even nicer people .. pull over to any place ,ask for shelter .. and you got yourself one already.Wonderful people.

After that ,we started to get away from your route .. you plan to go further east while we went almost directly north.If you can try Pskov-Straya Lagoda-Novgorod triangle. Tiny tiny roads .. lakes .. heaven for off-road lovers.

But i want to recommend you Sergey-Posad also.Very close to Pereslavl-Zalesskiy.Both very nice places.Rostov was also very very nice.

Take care ,

Ps : Wasnt that famous river Don ,which reaches Black Sea at Rostov-on-Don ?

Thanks for the info. I'll hold on to it.

Ask around for shelter??? Do you mean verbally? Hmmm, guess I'll have to use hands and feets and express myself visually. ;-))))))

If I have any more questions I'll put them out here. For now I can go and start planning a bit more.

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

Why don't you simply learn a bit Russian.
You can buy CD-rom lessons for € 45,--.
I learnt a little bit Polish that way.

People will respect you for trying to learn their language.

Freek(nl)

A friend of me speaks fluently Russian. Might ask him to give me some lessons.

Freek, very true, locals respect it when you do an effort. I'll try to do so, but still hand and foot work will be needed from time to time I believe. That's half of the fun! ;-)

hello
i was in russia this summer for one and half month

visa made with www.ryh.ru, reliable, cheap

it was great great , amazingly nice people

i ve been from st pet to moscow, ekaterinburg, novosibirsk, altai, tuva, baikal lake, irkutsk, ulan ude then ulan bator (mongolia)
and back to russia irkutsk, novosibirsk, semipalatinsk (kazakhstan)

roads : almost asphalt everywhere, not always good quality, offroad in altai, tuva
fuel : almost everywhere 92 or 93 or 95, i had to put once 76
police : i had no problems they tried to get some money but i managed not to have to give, smile, be sorry, etc ...

i did it with metzeler enduro 4, perfect almost all the time on my r100gs

if you have problems, which i don t wish you, they know to repair bikes nicely, i experienced unfortunately

learn a bit of russian, it s an excellent idea

more info on my website
http://vincent.danna.free.fr/

i ve also been 4 months in central asia, if you need any info, email me please

happy trails

Hi there, seems you and me think along the same lines. i was thinking of messing about around scandinavia and just popping over the border in to Murmansk, sometime this summer.
It would be good to share info ( not that i have any....) or maybe meet up somewhere.
I plan on doing it on a Aprillia Pegaso so abit of dirt would be a welcome relief.

Seems we al are turnig towards the North.
We decided to forget about Georgia this year because situation too unstable. So we took up the plan B circumnavigate the Baltic Sea.
Up North to Murmansk and then back.

Two quick questions:
* what is the best time: june or September. how should one prepare (clothing wise) for each of the months?
* around the baltic clockwise or counterclockwise. is one of both preferably and why?

thanks for any info.


Fireboomer.

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

[QUOTE]Originally posted by fireboomer:
[B]Seems we al are turnig towards the North.
We decided to forget about Georgia this year because situation too unstable. So we took up the plan B circumnavigate the Baltic Sea.
Up North to Murmansk and then back.

Two quick questions:
* what is the best time: june or September. how should one prepare (clothing wise) for each of the months?
* around the baltic clockwise or counterclockwise. is one of both preferably and why?

thanks for any info.


Fireboomer.
Hi fireboommer
I reckon either June or July would be the premium months to travel, if the winter comes early, september may be a bit wet in the far north. It will be lighter for longer also.
Your plan B sounds good, i had not given the southern Baltic states much thought because of the paperwork aggro. I,m quite new to travel outside western europe and it seemed much easier to go through scandinavia.
As for clothing, normal fabric jacket, heated waistcoat. Leather pants, Waterproof overtrousers with rubber overboots, two pairs of gloves should cover it nicely..
Should leave lots of room for tent, maggot and a handfull of spares.

I would like to know if you need a carnet for Russia. I know I will need an invitation and visa to get in but what documentation will I need for the bike?

Data from August 2002

- June is the time of "White Nights" in St. Petersburg.
- In August St.Petersburg required sweaters. So i think in September, it would require polar jackets.
- Carnet was asked from us, while entering from Sochi ( by ship , due to present situation in Abhasia )
- For a nice place in St.Petersburg refer to Friendly Acc. topic.

Nice trip to all of you.

Have nice

Hi all, Looking at previous posts of trips alot of people travelling overland were not asked for a carnet, seems entering by a seaport the regulations are abit stricter. I plan to enter via Norway and it seems straight forward enough..famous last words.

Blackjack,


Will you take the bordercrossing nearby Kirkeness?

How much open bordercrossings are there actually between Russia and Norway, and Russia and Finland? Are they scarse or isn't it a problem and is it pretty much possible to cross the border basicly via every road that is indicated on the map?

Is it possible to do a 're-entry' in Russia in about a weeks time? From Murmansk we would head South, ride back into Finland so that one of our friends can take the boat home and then we would head back into Russia. Will they allow this?

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

Just had a look at the maps available for Scandinavia and Russia.
Freitag & Bernt maps:
Norway: 1/800.000, the whole country, 1/400.000 several maps needed to have the whole country
Finland & Sweden: Idem dito

ING maps:
Norway, Finland and Sweden in 1/750.000. All in one piece and printed on one side.

Russia: nothing good found yet.

For Scandinavia I have chosen the ING maps. There are easier to use then the 1/400.000 from Freitag & Bernt. Also they are smaller and you only need one map per country. I used the ING map and the Michelin map in Marocco and the ING was really good.
In the ING maps detail they are as correct as the 1/400.000 ones.

I am getting them laminated on both sides. (bomproof maps ;-))))

I'll keep you posted on Russia.


CU,

Pieter Maes.
Fireboomer

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

Hi fireboomer, sorry for the delay in replying.
Yeah i was crossing at Kirkeness, there is infomation somewhere on here about getting a visa from a travel agency in the town. I just need to hunt it out...
I,m finding out how many border crossings there are between Finland and Russia from a friend who lived in Finland for a couple of years.
Vincent danna mentioned www.ryh.ru for a visa. It looks a good site and you can do multiple entries. Check it out and i,ll see you Sunrise tour.......when you cross the line behind me.....heh,heh,heh

Thanks for the link Blackjack. Seems to be good info.
WOndering how much it will cost..?

Something else is not completely clear. You need to register your visa within 3 day after entering the country. Can this only be done in the place who helped you to get the visa? For ex, if you get your invitation from the int. youth hostel in St. Petersburg. You enter Russia in Kirkeness. Do you then need to get from Krirkeness to St. Petersburg in three days to get you visa registered?
Or can you get your visa registred pretty much everywere? (policestations and so...)

I'll get the maps tomorrow I'll then start looking at the tiny roads inbetween Finland and Russia to ask you if there is a bordercrossing ;-)))))

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

Maybe this is interesting for you;

http://www.finnbike.com/allroadtour/index_en.html

Freek

Hi ;

After the info about paved roads i hate to give you another bad news, but unfortunately its like you said.

Only the company who has sent the invitation for your visa, can apply to OVIR for registration. Therefore if that company has a office in Kirkeness then they will register you there. But if not .. then you have to get to St.Petersburg in three days.

Sorry ..

No panick yet. Clearly there is homework to do and research.
Looks like you have to find a company who is based as close as possible to the point were you enter Russia. Also, this outrules reentry becouse you have to get you visa registered again I suppose. And we wont enter twice via the same point... Unless you can 2 companies close to the according borderpoints.
Is there anybody with experience on this?

And are there companies who are bases nearby Kirkeness / Murmansk that can send you an invitation? (starting my homework ;-)))

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http://users.pandora.be/pieter.maes2/

Hi all. Cheers for the link Freek. That looks like fun!
I hear all the questions you ask Fireboomer cos they all went through my mind. With the multiple entry visa, would it be necessary to register everytime you crossed the border? I would have thought the attraction of having it would be so you did not have to send your docs off each time.
Agreed, if your not in St petersburg i would not like to post my documents....!
When I,m a bit more organised I will give them a call to get more info.
I,m sure a danish guy sorted a visa short notice at Kirkness, to cross into Russia. Its just finding the thread or company.
If I find out anything else I will post it up.
regards
Blackjack