Around the Caspian sea

Hi there,
My next trip is going to be around the Caspian sea. I will do a full circle, starting in Russia, Volgograd, going east and around. Includes Kasakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Aserbajan, Georgia and across Caucasus back to Volgograd.

All in all I plan three weeks, starting in the the beginning of july.



Haakon

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Haakon

Sounds an amazing trip. I'm planning to do Nordkapp and returning via Finland and St Pete, but it won't be this year. Probably France with the daughter is the best I will do.

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XT660R (2006)
XT600E (1994)
Triumph Trident 750 (1992)
My blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

Wow. Well I was planning a trip to Spain in April, but sounds rather sad compared to yours...

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(Now sold on, sob) 2011 Blue XT660X with gold wheels, was 26,500 km.
Engine mods: K&N Stage 1 filter, DNA Stage 2 filter, snorkel removed, Kev fuel mod fitted.
Plus: smoked Puig screen, Yam aluminium sump guard, Yamaha / Acerbis handguards, Givi Trekker aluminium side cases, Leo Vince X3 cans plus Kev front fork mod and Fender Xtender. Just fitted Michelin Road Pilot 3 tyres.

SOLD the XTX for a Super Ten 1200. And just bought a Raptor 700 so staying on here for some tips....

Around the Caspian sounds great. We're planning to go to Ulaan Baatar, MON. But due to logistical reasons that will have to wait until 2015.

So for this year we have already planned:
- trail riding weekend in Wales end of March
- 5 days of Schwarzwald on tarmac in July
- trail riding weekend in Wiltshire in August
- trail riding weekend in Brabant, Belgium in October
- probably some long weekends in the Eifel and Mosel regions in between.

And then there's an opportunity to put the bikes on a truck and pick them up at Burgas airport in Bulgaria for next to nothing. So we'll probably do that. Just not sure yet where to go from there. We have 8 days before the bikes need to go back on the truck. So might ride down into Turkey.

I'm currently sorting the bike in order to enjoy a couple of months in Morocco getting lost on Pistes. Due to work commitments being extended from February to Easter, I have ruled out heading further south into Africa due to the temps warming up, especially on the return leg.

Given this later departure date, I probably won't go further south than Western Sahara and am aiming to return to the Continent early June to head north to avoid the heat.

This leaves me with 6 weeks left of my Sabbatical to wander the earth like an unwashed gypsy. Not entirely sure where that time will be spent, but I am currently reviewing Turkey or a lap of the Black Sea.

A lap of the Caspian sounds grand, but doing it in 3 weeks is too fast for me

This, and then some....

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I spent a lot of money on travel and racing motorcycles - the rest I just squandered.

XT660Z - Commuter, Adventurer...Racer?

www.dashmoto.net

Other bikes >> MT-03 / CG125BR-J / ER-6F
Departed >> ZXR400L3 / EC300 / DR-Z400E / DR800S / GPZ500S / GS400

Looks like much excitement ahead for you guys also, both in Europe, Africa and America.

I agree that three weeks around the Caspian might seem short, but I need to do something this year, and this is manageable and a nice compromise with my family.

Visa to Kazakhstan, check :-)

Thumper up

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Haakon

only get a weeks pass,26th july ferry portsmouth cean then down to grenoble gap area then make our way back to calais then home.

�ber. You doing the TAT on the Tenere ?

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Ride hard, Fall Softly. [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Yep.

__________________
I spent a lot of money on travel and racing motorcycles - the rest I just squandered.

XT660Z - Commuter, Adventurer...Racer?

www.dashmoto.net

Other bikes >> MT-03 / CG125BR-J / ER-6F
Departed >> ZXR400L3 / EC300 / DR-Z400E / DR800S / GPZ500S / GS400