Abkhazia-Georgia (Inguri) border crossing Q&A

[steven]

Please read and post reports on the Inguri border crossing between Abkhazia and Georgia below.

We summarize all info on the Georgia border crossings and Abkhazia border crossings pages.

[Bulut]

Hi everyone,

Two weeks later will visit Georgi. During my visit I also want to see Abkhazia. So will use the Inguri border. Below link is seems up to date:

http://caravanistan.com/border-crossings/abkhazia/

But today I talked with Abkhazian local via mail and he said: "For last 4 months I have never seen any tourist pass from Inguri, they all have to return from border. You have very little chance to pass border". Does it true?

Does anyone use this border in last 4 months? I use Zugdidi night train from Tbilisi in both ways. So if I can not enter the Abkhazia I will spend 16 hours in tran (8x2) for nothing.

By the way I tried to buy train ticket via Georgian Railways website. But website gave an error. Can I find Tbilisi-Zugdidi train ticket one day before the trip?

Thanks in advance.

[steven]

Please let us know what happened, Bulut. First time I hear of nobody passing the border, but I am not so up to date about Abkhazia so could be true.

[Bulut]

Hi Steven,

Two weeks later I'll try to pass border. I'll update the information while I'll be in Abkhazia. I asked same question to several Abkhazian and they said that "You can pass, there is no problem." I want to take my chance.

[Bulut]

Hi everyone,

I returned from my Abkhazia trip. I want to inform you about Ingur border crossing.

I arrived to border via taxi at 6:30 am after reaching Zugdidi train station. Georgian border opens at 9 am. So officer said to me: 'You should wait until 9'. But you can pass Georgian control without stop. They may not realise that you are tourist, especially if you wear black like locals. In my case I went to Georgian border control myself with to reasons. First passing Ingur Bridge at 6:30 am may be dangerous because no one exists in this area at that time. (even Georgian officer sleeping when I arrive). Second I wanted to give my information and make them inform about my entrance to Abkhazia. Because if they stop me while leaving from Abkhazia they wanted to see my entering information in their system. So, I woken the officer when ı arrive. I recommend that you visit Georgian side in both ways.

At 9 am other Georgian border officers came. They scanned and took photo of my passport and they made several phone calls. After one hour, at 10 am they said that you can pass.

Ingur Bridge not too long, so you can pass the border by on foot. After 9 am border traffic also increase, you can see a lot of locals at the border crossing.

After 15-20 minutes walk I reached Abkhazian side. They asked a lot of questions about my visit. They took some information like: phone number, occupation, accommodation adresses in Abkhazia etc. After waiting 1.5 hours they let me pass. I only saw one backbacker at the border, an American tourist. He said that: ' They hold me here for 2.5 hours.' Waiting time in Abkhazian side is unpredictable.

When I leaving the Abkhazia process become faster. I only wait 1-2 minutes at each border control.

In conclusion, passing the border from the border via Adler/Sochi is easier but still Ingur border works well.

[tripsta]

Hello fellow travelers!

Has anyone actually traveled from Georgia to Russia trough Abkhazia and than backwards to Georgia by car?
Somewhere I read,maybe even on this forum, that Russian authorities doesn't stamp your documents if you enter to Russia from Abkhazia, is this correct information?

Was thinking maybe about visiting some costal places like Sochi,
Tuapse, Novorosysk etc. The shortest way would of course be trough Abkhazia, but I am not sure if it is worth a hassle as you need to obtain visa and you might not be allowed back to Georgia the same way and even facing legal actions. Other option a bit longer tough would be trough Larsi pass.

[steven]

http://caravanistan.com/border-crossings/abkhazia - this may or may not be correct information. There is always a chance that things have changed.

[dinozzaver]

Hi,

also just returned from Abkhazia, I entered thru Georgia (Enguri bridge). There is a marshrutka (1 lari) from Zugdidi to the border. There was bunch of locals passing the border.
Actually didn't know that I should register at the Georgian checkpoint and nobody stopped me. I was there in the afternoon. On Abkhazian side everything was ok, I maybe waited 10 mins "sit and wait" even I heard that some people were waiting for an hour or two. They just asked few standard questions as where I'm staying, if I know anyone in Abkhazia and what's my job. Nothing special at all.
There were marshrutkas to Gal (50 rub) and bunch of taxis, and another marshrutka from Gal to Sokhumi (200 rub). Bring USD or EUR and possibly get some rubels before entering Abkhazia, laris are impossible to exchange, but ATMs work.
Visa for a week is 400 rub, you can pay at the visa office (they also accept credit cards). When exiting they took my visa out of a passport, so I didn't even take a picture of it

All good, didn't have any issues, Georgians stopped me on the way back and didn't bother much that I didn't register.

[semtox]

Hello everyone!

I asked by maill Abkhazian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about crossing Ingur Bridge by personal car and sadly it's not posible :<
Only Psou (Russia border) you can cross using personal car

It may be good idea to add this info in Abkhazia border crossing article

[Milad]

I just arrived back in Zugdidi after spending a few days in Abkhazia. Here's what I saw:

I arrived at the border at approx. 9:30 Georgian time, after taking a taxi to the border (10 GEL from Zugdidi), as I had no idea from where the Marschrutkas left. Differing from what others reported, at the Border, the Georgian Police checked the passports of everyone crossing, including locals, dressing inconspicuously to avoid being checked is impossible. I saw locals using some kind of ID cards in Georgian, but also Georgian, Abkhazian and USSR(!) passports. They took my (German) passport and told me to wait. After waiting for twenty Minutes in the heat, they "permitted" me to at least wait under a nearby tree with some shadow. There I stood for annother half hour until they let me pass. No questions whatsoever asked.

I walked over the border, where I showed my passport and the paper you get from the MFA to the first Abkhaz post, where they quickly waved me through. Afterwards, there was a second passport control booth, this time not manned by the Abkhaz, but by the Russians. They told me to wait on a somewhat decayed bench, after 20 minutes I was "invited" into an office in a container with a huge Russian flag on the wall, where I was interrogated by some guy of the FSB. As my Russian was about as bad as his English, we spoke in a mixture of both languages. He asked the usual questions (where do you want to go, where do you work etc.), the only weird thing was that he had me write down my Address in Germany - using the Cyrillic script! He then looked up my Adress in his iPhone (he didn't find it as my transcription didn't match the one used by Google Maps, but he didn't really care). He also had me unlock my Phone and give it to him which was somewhat intimidating, although he put it away after a few seconds so I doubt he really searched it for compromising content. Afterwards, I was allowed to go, the Abkhaz customs just waved me through, my bag didn't get checked. There was a Marschrutka to Gal (50 RUB), which had zero storage space, so my backpack took up annother place and I had to pay twice. At the bus station of Gal, the most dilapidated and dodgy place I've ever seen, was a bus going to Psou via Sukhum and Gagra. Using it to Sukhum did cost me 200 RUB.

Going back, there was no Marschrutka going to Gak or even Ingur available at the bus station of Sukhum, and as I wasn't keen to loiter there, I took a taxi to the border (2000 RUB). In Gal, the taxi was pulled over by the cops, but when the cop saw my driver, they both smiled, exchanged a few words, hugged each other (!) and then we left. The driver told me that the cop was his товарищ (comrade), well... At the border, everything was much faster in the return direction. The FSB searched the bags of everyone crossing today (they didn't on Monday...) and were quite rude to some locals, but friendly to me, and told me that the Chacha I bought in Abkhazia was the best souvenir of all, but I should hide it well, as the Georgians would confiscate it if they found it, however, the Georgians didn't even search my bag). Passport control was quick, the guy took my visa out of the Passport, my question if I could keep it as a souvenir earned nothing but a firm "njet!". The passports of some locals were stamped, mine wasn't.

Georgian side didn't even take a minute going back, the Marshrutka to Zugdidi cost a mere GEL1.