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WEEK 4 BLOG

Robert Echard's Suzuki DR650 in open fields of Russia

With our new plan to enter Abkhazia cemented we submitted our electronic Abkhazian entry permit applications that would take 3 days to be issued, we were all excited to be taking this detour through this unknown territory, that was until were received word that we CANNOT depart Abkhazia using a different border than the one we entered?? so departing Georgia and entering Russia was suddenly not possible!!! Spirits were dashed and plans were in tatters as we scrambled yet again to find an alternative route.

After 2 days locked in the Marriot hotel in Tbilisi, furiously planning, it was decided to go back to Europe via Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania & Latvia before crossing into Russia, 9 days behind schedule. We rewrote the entire itinerary and were still able to see everything as per our planned itinerary but any more delays would mean we would have to skip Kyrgyzstan to catch up.

We explored every option including getting an Azerbaijani visa, 5 days, crossing into the Ukraine from the Georgian port of Batumi, another visa delay for Australians, crossing the Caspian Sea via notoriously unreliable Baku to Aktrau ferry or getting a transit visa for Azerbaijan then entering Russia and riding through Dagestan, all the dire governmental travel warnings and local advice turned us off that idea, Europe was the only option and a bad one at that.

Night view of TbilisiWe rode out of Tbilisi the following day bound for Turkey, while crossing the border into Turkey it was the Georgian border guard that first alerted us to the fact the Larsi border between Russian and Georgia was opened again the very day we were leaving Georgia. Reports were sporadic at best and accurate information was impossible to obtain so we continued on to the Black Sea resort town of Giresun. Making numerous calls and sending many emails confirmed that indeed a temporary road had been built and the border was opened again. Once again a new plan was hatched and it was decided to again enter Georgia and give the border a try. This decision meant that Brian is not going to see his bike again for the remainder of this expedition, apparently it’s too much for his US shipping agents to manage to crate his other bike stick it on a plane and get it to him!!

Seriously how hard can it be?