Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan

KYRGYZSTAN Within two minutes of being in the country we are flagged down by a policeman.  He asks Martin to follow him to his car where he pulls out a piece of paper with Russian-English translations on it.  The most important one according to him is ‘You must pay a...
Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

KAZAKHSTAN           27TH October We are forced to transit Kazakhstan to reach Kyrgyzstan, due to the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan being closed due to ethnic tensions.  This adds several days to our journey and also hundreds of miles.   We know the weather...
Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

UZBEKISTAN 18TH October   The Border We pass from Turkmenistan very quickly to the Uzbekistan border.  As we arrive we notice the border gate is closed. We stop behind another car in anticipation of them opening the gate.  30mins later there is no sign of any...
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

AZERBAIJAN Baku     12TH October Checking out of the hotel, we leave Tbilisi anxious about the long drive to Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku.  We had read and heard scare stories from other travellers about police bribes and harassment so we were not expecting a smooth...
Georgia

Georgia

GEORGIA Batumi     2nd October Entering Georgia, we head to Batumi, a Black Sea resort, which the LP suggests is a modern lively place.  As we enter the town, we are met with dilapidated buildings, torrential rain, flooded streets, huge flooded potholes everywhere and...