The longest border crossing ever: 48 hours!

After driving 12 hours through crazy Azerbaijan, we made it at night to Baku. The next morning we were supposed to go from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan) in a cargo ship via the Caspian Sea. This was no easy task because there was no information at all of how to do it and nobody seemed to know anything either.

We heard it was possible though, and we were decided to try!!

July 24^th  - 08.00 – 11.00: Where is the harbour?

The first thing we had to found out was where the harbor actually was located. Nobody in Baku knows from where the cargo ships to Turkmenistan depart. There is nothing on the internet either, except for rumors and contradictionary blogs. So, after driving for 3 hours around the city, asking various people on the street with hands and legs (our Russian is improving by the day though!) we finally found the dock of our cargo ship....and with it a group of 15 other Mongol ralliers waiting patiently… for days!

July 24^th  - 11.00  – 18.00: Can we get in?

As said, this is a cargo ship, not a ferry. This meant that we had to wait in the harbor for 7 hours on the street at 40 degrees with no food and almost no water to know if there was space enough for non-cargo like us. But we were lucky again! While some of the others were already waiting for more than 5 days hearing the same story from the harbor people every day (80% chance it will leave today, 100% it will leave tomorrow!), the day that we arrived the cargo ship was finally filled up and there was still space for us!

July 24^th  - 18.00  – July 25^th 17.00: The Caspian Sea trip.

After having heard and read horrendous stories about the ship, it wasn´t that bad. We had a decent little cabin, steaming hot during the day though, which resulted in a cool vibe as all the passengers were sitting around in the 25m2 space of shade on the upper deck.

The hardest part was still to come. While we knew the boat trip would be overnight, nobody could tell us if it would be 10 hours or 48 hours. As the harbor of Turkmenistan came into sight, our boat suddenly stopped…there was too much wind to enter the harbor. How long we would have to wait in order for the boat to get closer was unknown. Finally after 3 hours of waiting the captain announced we were going to shore. This however did not meant that we were able to get off the boat. Another two hours passed until we could finally disembark…to again wait another 3 hours in front of the customs. By now, we really started to feel like a bunch of immigrants.  

July 25^th  - 17.00  – July 26^th 03.00: Amazing bureaucracy.

After 35 hours of trip, now we had the best part: police control. Nobody, we repeat NOBODY that has not been in the police control in Turkmenistan can even imagine what it is like: an unforgettable experience! Everything happened in just one big room with many small desks. We were about 15 Mongol Rally participants and we went from one desk to the other, and back to the first, then to the fourth, back to the second…. filling documents, medical controls, passport controls, stamps, payments, more documents, more stamps, … like this for more than 6 hours!!

July 26^th 03.00 – 07.00: Resting with the truck drivers.

When we finally made it through at 3 o´clock in the morning we were K.O., so we decided to camp just outside the police line in the middle of all the ship containers with the truck drivers from the ship. An unforgettable first night in Turkmenistan ;-)