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Tajikistan

First some Information:

Visa: 45 days Evisa or 30 days visa in the Embassy, 50$
GBOA Permit: 20$
24$ Import tax for the car 15 Days, we extended for another 15 days in Khoroug, 15$
7$ Tax for some “disinfection”
Internet is quiet bad and expensive, you can text, but it will be quiet stressful to work online anywhere east of Kulab. Around 10$ for 3GB
Diesel in the Pamir 1$, in the west around 0,80 Cents, LPG is available outside of the mountains.
Currency is TJS (Tajik Somoni), 1€ = 10,58 TJS; USD is widely accepted, 1USD = 9,44 TJS

The country

You can split Tajikistan more or less in three parts, the West with the Capital Dushanbe, the North with the City Khujand which is cut off from the rest of the country through the Fan Mountains and the East, Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region (GBOA). GBOA covers almost half of the country, but only around 200 000 People (Tajikistan has around 9,3 Millions) are living in this complete crazy mountainous Terrain.

Border crossing Armenia – Georgia

Because we don´t have the carnet de passage, the only way out of Armenia is going back to Georgia.

Duygu left Armenia earlier, because she had to go to Turkey for a few days. So I was alone decided I want to drive from Yerewan to Ninotsminda crossing the border in Bavra (the border crossing on the left).

Border crossing Georgia – Armenia

We used the border crossing between Sadakhlo and Haghtanak. As everywhere in the Caucasus the drive was very beautiful.

We arrived at the border. The Georgian Side was very quick, keep in mind, they check your insurance! So have it, otherwise they will give you a fine.

Armenia:

There was only one car in front of us. At this border checkpoint passenger have to go separately across the border.

Vakıflı

It is said to be the last Armenian village in Turkey. Approximately 70 people still living here. Once there were 7 villages in this area.

When the tensions in 1912 in the then Ottoman Empire rose, people fled from here, one village has remained. We spent a few days here to find out what happened.

Flat tyre repair set

Everyone knows about having a flat tyre! It can happen so quick and could cause a big headache. So one of the most important think in a car is having a spare tyre with you!

Last time when we were in Germany my brother in Law, Alfi gave us a self repairing set for a flat tyres. It only works if you have a nail or something like it stuck in your tyre.

How to fill up a Gas bottle?

The first thing we do every morning is boiling water for our coffee. We use the gas stove for it.

One of the advantages to have a mobile home is the already installed gas system. It is connected to the fridge, gas stove, heater and warm water depot (yes, that is correct we can have a warm shower 🙂 ). We have space to storage two 11kg gas bottles.

In wintertime when we used the heater everyday for 12-15 hours (temperature dropped to -8°C) a bottle lasted around 5 days. Now in spring time we use the heater every now and then, one bottle is enough for around 2 weeks. In summer time is around 4 weeks or even more.

So, what are we doing when the bottle is empty?

Driving in Georgia

Here are some interesting facts for travelling Georgia with a car:

Both, Duygu and me can stay up to 1 year without a Visa in Georgia. But be careful with your car. It is only allowed for 90 days inside. Then you would need to make a visa run with it. Going outside and returning the same day is possible. I guess there would be also a possible to go to the department of transportation. But we haven´t got any information about it.

Russian Visa

The Russian Visa seems to be a headache for many people. It is required to apply from the country of your registration, it is not possible to apply more then six month in advance, entry and exit date is fixed.

This conditions are giving big borders to many travellers, Tbilisi in Georgia is giving a solution for it.

Border crossing Turkey – Iraqi Kurdistan

Growing up in the Schengen area, I remembered border crossings in Europe from my early childhood as something very easygoing and as a child actually quiet exciting. Well the more you grow up, the more you see.

Nowadays I really don´t like to cross borders. It is also something different going through a border checkpoint on a airport or crossing by land.

Crossing by land means you will cross the same way like smugglers. Crossing in a old and big caravan makes yourself even more suspicions. Therefore we had a lot of police in our car, checking for drugs, weapons and humans. Just depending which direction you go.

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Stanexpress

Maybe you sat once together with other travellers, talking about travel stories and destinations. Then you might heard the expression „The Stans“.

Mostly they are talking about Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Afghanistan and Pakistan are also part of the Stan-collection, but because of many reasons they are not so frequently travelled.