Way to Russia Talk Lounge

maximilian · Frequent Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 13

Is there anyone who has done this that could contact me with some advice. My other alternative is to go to Sochi from Batumi. If anyone has some exciting suggestions about getting from here to Moscow I'd love to hear them.

thanks
Max Wink

greg222 · VIP Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 534

I almost did this trip a couple of months ago but couldn't be bothered crossing Turkey so ended up flying back to Moscow from Istanbul. My options at the time were:

1. a direct train from Baku to Moscow (goes through Dagestan Shocked

)
2. a direct bus from Tbilisi to Moscow (there's no train) which takes 48 hours and only leaves once a week (Saturday or Sunday, I don't remember which)
3. a ferry from Batumi to Sochi and then a train/bus/whatever to Moscow from there

I'd take the third option myself. You can find information about the ferry here:
http://www.waytorussia.net/Transport/International/Ferry.html

However you do it, please write a post about it. I'd be interested to hear how it goes.

maximilian · Frequent Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 13

hi!

Thanks for the reply -

Does this mean then that the Russians will let me through either at the Georgian/ or Azer border. I was up at a place called Kazbegi the opposite side of the border from Vladikavkaz - and they said the border was closed but with a bit of bribery it might be ok.

Is the bribery going-without-saying in your opinion?

cheers
max

greg222 · VIP Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 534

If you can get onto either the bus or the train then crossing the border shouldn't be a problem. I don't know much about border controls down there but I do know that the west is much safer than the east so I think the bus from Tbilisi would be the better option.

That said, the ferry is the only route I can really guarantee, but if you do go overland it should be a great adventure. Sorry I can't give a more straightforward answer but that's about the extent of my knowledge on the matter.

maximilian · Frequent Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 13

Hi greg,

I just got back to Tbilisi from Erevan hoping to catch the boat tomorrow to sochi but its sold out. Then someone told me the train resumed three days ago to moscow.

maybe something was in the papers about it? although that's unlikely...off to investigate.

all best Laughing

max

greg222 · VIP Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 534

Right you are. What good luck! The first train to Moscow in 13 years left Tbilisi on Saturday! It still goes via Baku though. Next train is on Wednesday, cost is between $80 and $130 and it takes three days. See here:

http://www.interfax.com/3/160359/news.aspx

Have fun and let me know how it goes.

maximilian · Frequent Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 13

it leaves 17.15 today Smile

as for the border - a lot of peoples say its closed to foreigners but I will just have to see for myself what's what.

will indeed keep you posted -

all best
m

maximilian · Frequent Guest Joined: 13 Jun 2005 Posts: 13

finally-I get a moment to reply!

Sorry Greg for taking so long - truth is I've been going quite quickly recently.

I made through the Caucausus and now sit in Irkutsk.

So this is what happened;

I asked a lady in a Tbilisian internet cafe if she knew from which bus station the buses left for Vladikavkaz. She asked why I wanted to go via car when the railway between Tbilisi and Moscow had just reopened. My jaw dropped completely and I ran to the train station to the information window. Everything was in Georgian but someone told me that there were now three trains a week running to Moscow. Mine left Tuesday and got in on Saturday. Feeling so pleased with myself I bought a ticket and then realised that I would need an Azeri transit visa for the next day. So I had to get up early the next day and find the Azeri embassy.

He gave me a transit visa and that was no problem. To be on the safe side I looked around on the internet for information about the border and everyone was saying the border was not open to foreigners.

Then I had a vision of not being let in to Russia and not being let back into Azerbaijan. I was going to go ahead with the whole thing when I met a friend in the street - a Georgian - who persuaded me to take a boat to Sochi from Batumi leaving in two days. He made a few calls and said he'd booked me a seat.

So I went to Batumi and went swimming by the Turkish border which was lovely. To my right as I looked at the beach I could see a mosque and to my left a church. I swam out to the buoy marking the border.

the boat was the best boat I have ever taken. It was a little Russian passenger ship called Mikhail. There was an upper and lower seating level for about 100 people, a small window for tea and coffee, and an Infinity (very expensive car) loaded onto the back.

we waited for about two hours to set off on a 24 trip. The passengers were mainly georgian go to other towns on the Russian coast for business. Although you had to sleep seated in a very stuffy and well-lit area - you could stand on deck with the smokers - whose number only grew as the hours passed. One pretty blonde girl worked her way into the captain's cabin where one would assume there was a bed.

At dawn - the sun rose up and over the Abkhazian Caucausus - their jagged tops were suddenly lined with a blaze of fire while the mountains sank into the sea in a mist. It was most pretty.

When we pulled into the sochi the next day - i had to fill out 15 custom forms for some Georgian babushki who then stuffed me with chachapuri and called me zolotoi but then started saying - what have you done? I had written their names down in English rather than in Russian - if you Georgian names (bingbangyshivili) it's too much for a man with a hangover and a sleepless night.

As the boat pulled into sochi i got a fantastic sense of the city. Dolphins glided alongside us. The Russians made us wait 2 hours at sochi because someone had switched off the 'svet' - pederasti. the customs woman gave me a long look and called in a man in a suit to inspect my passport.

Eventually I was through and on my way to Irkutsk.

So if anyone happens to be in Georgia and needs to get to Russia - this is a cheap and really enjoyable way of doing so.

greg222 · VIP Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 534

Sounds like a fun trip. I'll be heading down that way in September hopefully - can't wait! Strange about the border not being open to foreigners - presumably that means non-CIS foreigners. I would like to test it out but getting turned away would cause a lot of hassles. I think you made the right choice in the end. Anyway, thanks for the reply - was really interesting. Enjoy the rest of your travels!