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 24th - 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 24th - 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 24th - 18.00
– July 25th 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 25th - 17.00
– July 26th 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 26th 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 ;-)
