Georgia to Russia Border crossing (Zemo Larsi - Chertov Most)

[rads]

Hi Mark, the route looks fine until Erzurum. After that it follows a very twisty and mountainous road, when there are other easier options. The easiest and shortest (time-wise) route to the Georgian border from Erzurum is via Kars and Ardahan or Kars and Cildir depending on which crossing you use. If you have plenty of time then the twisty route might be a scenic option but all the area is scenic Unfortunately, the area near Gole (on your route) did experience some attacks last year FYI.
If you take the Çildir crossing there are then two route options to Tiblisi. We shall take the more southerly route via Tsalka as we have done the Borjorni/Gori route, which may well be quicker.
The Çildir crossing allows for a visit to Vardzia, which lies not to far off the route to Tiblisi, and is quite a tourist attraction.
Feel free to ask any questions about places along the way in Turkey.
Your route through Russia looks very like ours. Will you try to do the Russia section on a transit visa or tourist visa?
Cheers. Mike.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the heads up about routes. I'll have a closer look at the route now.

I have a Multiple Entry Business Visa for Russia. It was the only way I could find that would allow me to enter Russia on 3 separate occasions (Georgia-Russia, Kazakhstan-Russia and Mongolia-Russia).

Thank you.

Rads.

[rads]

Hi Mike,

Here's a better link to my route. You can scroll right in using Googlemaps.

https://goo.gl/maps/pVqyxKUxjCq

Cheers,
Mark.

[k.m.homayouni]

Hi I am after recent security update for the Georgia into Russia Border crossing using the military highway. In particular the situation on the Russian side. Thanks

hi everyone
i am planning to cross Georgian - Russian border next month and i have russian and georgian visa , so is it possible to cross the border for international tourists ? thanks for any reply

[Crazydre]

Yes you can

[steven]

I agree with Crazydre if you need a third opinion.

[Biscotte Adventures]

Word is that there was a mudslide 23 june and no crossing possible... for at least 4 days.

Unconfirmed.

24 June and its raining hard. I'll try tomorrow 25 june...fingers crossed.

Source: fb Overland to Asia

[Biscotte Adventures]

Nope closed. Some are telling us 1 month closure. On the waw back to Tbilisi we saw at least 4 oversized bulldozers on flatbed trucks heading up. Clearly lots of earth to move.

[Biscotte Adventures]

http://agenda.ge/news/60663/eng
http://agenda.ge/news/60760/eng
tldr: landslide at the border, 800m missing of the road on 23 June 2016. Estimates 2 weeks to reopen.

[steven]

2 weeks closure reported here: http://caravanistan.com/forum/viewtopic ... t=20#p6424

[Biscotte Adventures]

We 're a bit stuck here in Georgia now. Our Russian transit visa dates from 25 jun to 2 july.

We tried the Roki tunnel and got turned away at gunpoint. We applied for a Abkhazia visa...no prob, they were very responsive to emails (in broken but understandable English) but 5 days processing and a very uncompromising hardline about being illegal to transit Abkhazia. You go in and out the same border- i dont understand how they can refuse you to cross into Russia if you have a visa.

We did go to the GEO-ABK border on the 25th and there was something happening politically. The Georgians were refusing the Russian tourists from entering Abkhazia (2 days and counting) while the Abkhazian authorities were willing to permit the CIS passports to transit. The feeling was very sketchy.

There is a passenger and car ferry from Batumi. Costs for a car from Batumi to Odessa Ukraine seem very reasonable. However it is a 50 hr sailing (price includes meals, showers...) and it sails probably 2x per week.
www.ukrferry.com/eng/schedules

We just spoke to the russian consulate. They are up to date on the landslide and were very helpful. They told us they will change the visa _free_ as soon as we know when the road is open and it seems that the date correction can be done in one day or less.